Conversion Tool

[Dr.Al]

I like the design philosophy behind this simple conversion tool so I thought I'd share it:

http://www.tononretard.com

 

[NickM]

That made me laugh.

 

[Stuart]

:text-lol:

That’s bound to offend someone. Does that make it a good thing?

 

[Lurker]

But….
It lists cm as acceptable, everyone knows that only teachers use cm the real world uses mm.
Cm just lead to confusion, mainly by folks who only have a passing knowledge of measuring devices

 

[Dr.Al]

But….
It lists cm as acceptable, everyone knows that only teachers use cm the real world uses mm.
Cm just lead to confusion, mainly by folks who only have a passing knowledge of measuring devices

Yeah, that bugged me too (as did the spelling of metre).

 

[RogerS]

Many years ago, a mate of mine did a similar table but this time the units of measurements was the PGF system.

PGF ? Pole Grain Fortnight, of course .

 

[novocaine]

Many years ago, a mate of mine did a similar table but this time the units of measurements was the PGF system.

PGF ? Pole Grain Fortnight, of course .

how many furlongs per fortnight?

 

[Woodbloke]

Sounds to me like it was straight off Douglas Adam's keyboard :lol: - Rob

 

[RogerS]

Sounds to me like it was straight off Douglas Adam's keyboard :lol: - Rob

IIRC it was about 20 years before he became a household name.

 

[Woodbloke]

Yeah, that bugged me too (as did the spelling of metre).

Yebut it's a retard spelling :lol: - Rob

 

[sunnybob]

But….
It lists cm as acceptable, everyone knows that only teachers use cm the real world uses mm.
Cm just lead to confusion, mainly by folks who only have a passing knowledge of measuring devices

Bizarrely... as I now live in a metric country, they DO use cm. Confused the hell out of me for a couple of years.
5mm is not 5mm, its point 5. Thats it, just point 5. the mm isnt even mentioned.

 

[Eric the Viking]

According to Wikipedia, the "metre" has always been a very handy unit indeed:

The metre was originally defined in 1793 as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole along a great circle, so the Earth's circumference is approximately 40000 km.

So whenever one wants to measure a polar great circle, it is just the job*.

It is also ideal for those of us who struggle with fractions, or counting in anything other than units of ten.
Thankfully we are still able to choose when and where we choose to do either.

Obviously, many French scientists in the late C18th wore sandals, so it was even practical to also use units of 20 without needing to take one's shoes off. Obviously, too, this can cause issues in the everyday workshop, especially if large baulks of oak are being used - steel capped boots (and sticking to numbers smaller than ten) are recommended.

In stark contrast, feet and inches, and the corresponding fractions are almost universally regarded as useless anachronisms. Introduced in antiquity, used by the Romans and all of Europe before Napoleon (and since, on the quiet), it is obvious nowadays that 'we knows better' than craftsmen of old.

Admittedly, it's true that the imperial system does allow exact measures of nuisance values such as thirds, halves, quarters, sixths, eighths, sixteenths, and so on. And of course it does tend to render that very handy** 'unofficially metric' unit, the "smidge," obsolete: in imperial that is exactly 1/64th of an inch (as long as the user is wearing the correct glasses).

It's also true that in daily life we often divide distances into fractions. We like proportions, but we have become really good at using smidges and phone calculators, so we don't need to worry about that any more. Conveniently now, any record of nasty metric fractions vanishes in a pleasing string of numbers after the decimal point, giving those following on an entertaining guessing game as to what calculation the original constructor was using to arrive at the actual measurement.

With metric we need no longer worry. No more of that silly, 'Oh, that definitely needs a 3/8" mortice chisel' or 'It's obviously a 1/4" panel.' For everything else there is the block plane.

Aside: anybody trying to gauge the distances between screw holes for mounting WiFi hardware knows how entertaining that measurement guessing game can be, too. "These are not just arbitrary distances, these are metric arbitrary distances!".

How weird it is then, that some of us, although well able to count in tens by ourselves (with or without socks), actually like units intended to be easily divisible and used in a fractional system.

The French are certain we will get over it, eventually.

E.

*This measurement, though weirdly appealing to the French, was actually wrong. To avoid confusion arising from this (for polar explorers, presumably), the metre was redefined in 1889, 1960, and 2002. Few steel tapes tend to specify which definition is being used, however, which causes many metric users (well some, possibly) to lie awake at night.

** Of course, the actual "handy" unit is four inches, or 0.1016 metres (approximately), as any equestrian will quickly point out.

 

[Dr.Al]

How weird it is then, that some of us, although well able to count in tens by ourselves (with or without socks), actually like units intended to be easily divisible and used in a fractional system.

True, things get so much easier with bases with lots of factors, like 14 (pounds in a stone).

*This measurement, though weirdly appealing to the French, was actually wrong. To avoid confusion arising from this (for polar explorers, presumably), the metre was redefined in 1889, 1960, and 2002. Few steel tapes tend to specify which definition is being used, however, which causes many metric users (well some, possibly) to lie awake at night.

... and presumably some imperial users too, given that the inch is defined in terms of the metre and hence would change length if the metre did.

I know your post was mostly sarcasm, but for the record, the redefinition of the metre was just an improvement of the precision at which it could be defined: the length didn't change (at least to any degree measurable to mere mortals).

 

[AndyP]

And of course over here it is not a decimal point but a decimal comma.

 

[SamQ aka Ah! Q!]

Simply brilliant logic behind that conversion site!

A someone who taught science for 37 years, from speed of light to Angstroms, the centimetre is a bastard 'unit' in both usage and origin. Systeme Internationale units come in powers of three for good mathematical and scientific reasons. Promulgating, being familiar with, or even acknowledging, the hundredth of a metre sham unit (power of 2) only leads to screw-ups of cringeworthy, epic, proportions. Ask any Physics student. Ask any Biologist.

It may just have had some 'traction' as a 'quick'n'dirty' construction unit, but in a world where interaction between real world measurable forces, masses, speeds, distances, ocular quantifications, yada, yada, they all play along happily if you stick to 'the rule of three powers'. Kindly desist this altogether unseemly and quite disgusting daliance with an illegitimate unit, or I'll borrow MikeG's Smithers to beat you all behind the knees with a wet lettuce.

 

[9fingers]

:text-+1: :text-goodpost:

I did O & A levels when cgs, mks and fps were all valid acceptable unit systems.
Exam papers said something to the effect "you may work in any units of your choosing but be consistent"

When doing past papers as homework/revision some of we smart4rses took this literally and worked in mtf ( Mile Ton Fortnights) units. In that system ISTR that most of the physical constants came out as either huge or miniscule.
Bob

 

[Phil]

Having used metric for maybe more than 40 years, I find it difficult to use the imperial measurements.

Any imperial plans are immediately converted to metric.

I have metric rulers as well as metric/imperial.

It is easier to read 25.5mm than something like 1” 3/64

Interesting that lately a lot of the plans from the USofA are available in metric or imperial.

 

[Eric the Viking]

Having come back to a fractional system, after decades in engineering-related jobs, I really like it.

I won't argue for 'pounds ounces and stone' - very anachronistic (and silly), although I tend to think in pounds, only because I grew up with them. It doesn't matter 0.5 as much as distance measurements.

The sad irony of the web site you linked to is that, whilst most users of the fractional system are at least OK with metric, I suspect many metric users, especially those younger than me (early sixties), are actually quite wary of feet & inches, because they aren't taught basic arithmetic in school (specifically fractions), to the extent they are comfortable with them. That is a shame.

There are two basic advantages to the feet & inches fractional system: the fractions and the concept that they are 'human sized' (metres are quite ridiculously arbitrary).

Obviously for very large measurements, such as the height of a cathedral spire, I have difficulty visualising a value in either metric or imperial, but I can see at a glance that my interior doors are 2" thick (rails and styles), without recourse to a ruler. I have a pace that's almost exactly a yard, which is very handy. The houses, roads, fixtures and fittings of the built environment surrounding me were originally set out in feet & inches, and it's convenient to continue to use those measurements for practical purposes.

I find metres, centimetres and millimetres inconvenient for woodwork (although obviously, needs must). I don't feel the need to eliminate the metric system, but I get irritated when metric zealots (of which we historically have had a lot, even with legal teeth, so-to-speak), want to eliminate the fractional system.

 

[Pete Maddex]

Aside: anybody trying to gauge the distances between screw holes for mounting WiFi hardware knows how entertaining that measurement guessing game can be, too. "These are not just arbitrary distances, these are metric arbitrary distances!".


E.

Place a piece of paper on the back of the item rub it with a dirty finger across the mounting holes, slap the paper on the wall and mark the holes.

Pete

 

[Eric the Viking]

Aside: anybody trying to gauge the distances between screw holes for mounting WiFi hardware knows how entertaining that measurement guessing game can be, too. "These are not just arbitrary distances, these are metric arbitrary distances!

Place a piece of paper on the back of the item rub it with a dirty finger across the mounting holes, slap the paper on the wall and mark the holes.

Sir is a genius!

I note in passing that Amazon actually sells A4 carbon paper, which is pleasing...

 

[Cabinetman]

And of course over here it is not a decimal point but a decimal comma.

Totally annoying, when and why did the point move to the bottom line? the Daily Telegraph uses such small dots that without a magnifying glass I find it impossible to see if it’s 15 point75 billion or 1575 billion that the government of the day have wasted! Old enough to remember when a million wasted was a disgrace, now anything 1000 times larger isn’t even noticed.
I know it’s a very very sexist thing to say but in my experience the people who use centimetres and find anything else difficult to understand are mainly women.

 

[Lons]

the centimetre is a bastard 'unit' in both usage and origin.

And that's exactly the word I use when my wife or daughter asks me to make something and gives the sizes in cm :x

BTW re Eric's post mentioning carbon paper, I have a box full, enough to last several lifetimes if anyone requires some though possibly the postage costs might be more than it's worth. :eusa-think: It's unsused but old so bound to be imperial size!

 

[Pete Maddex]

the centimetre is a bastard 'unit' in both usage and origin.

And that's exactly the word I use when my wife or daughter asks me to make something and gives the sizes in cm :x

BTW re Eric's post mentioning carbon paper, I have a box full, enough to last several lifetimes if anyone requires some though possibly the postage costs might be more than it's worth. :eusa-think: It's unsused but old so bound to be imperial size!

Double elephant?

Pete

 

[Lons]

Double elephant?

Pete

I can't remember Pete, I only open the box occasionally if I need a bit then because I have a lot just I throw it away :shock: In the old days I'd have used it until there was no carbon left. :lol: I rescued it from an office when we moved premises, that was a loooooong time ago and I suspect it had been in the cupboard many years before that.

I'm in Scotland for another week but will check when I get back