USA going metric?
- Thread starter Beemerguy53
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Grayfox
US Veteran
I remember back in the 70s there was a big push to go metric. There were some billboards around town that showed a ruler marked 1mm, 2mm, etc and the words THINK METRIC!.
But then somebody noticed the the ruler was actually graduated in 1/16s of an inch.
If you think Japanese metric is tough, try dealing with English metric hydraulic fittings.
But then somebody noticed the the ruler was actually graduated in 1/16s of an inch.
If you think Japanese metric is tough, try dealing with English metric hydraulic fittings.
Hillbilly77
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Here's a picture of my Model 29-3, 10.9MM Magnum.
Just don't have the same ring to it, does it?
Just don't have the same ring to it, does it?
venomballistics
Member
heard the same thing nearly 30 years later.
In theory, it makes perfect sense as it is an intuitive system to work with.
In practice, I'm still going to need a 5/8" socket to remove the lawnmower blades so I can sharpen them with a 10" wheel, prior to mowing a half acre of grass, because the wife hit some 14 ga steel wire with it earlier this week.
DeathGrip
US Veteran
Where we lose is in thinking. Anyone can move a decimal point.
Fractional is a whole different mind set.
When they change the music to metric it's sure gonna sound funny.
Kids who study music usually do better in math.
Fractional is a whole different mind set.
When they change the music to metric it's sure gonna sound funny.
Kids who study music usually do better in math.
OP
Well, folks, I honestly didn't expect my little quip to get such a big response! I just saw that meme on a social media site, laughed myself silly, and had to share it... 
Seriously, though, I have no problem dealing with the metric system. My motorcycles have all been metric, and I haven't owned a non-metric car since I sold my last MG (which was not my daily driver) in 1992. I travel to Europe regularly, and I'm comfortable with the distance signs and speedometers, etc.
Having said that, I cannot imagine the USA converting to metric, at least right now. The cost of changing over just our highway signs, maps, etc., would be unbelievable!
Thanks for the thoughtful and humorous responses...you guys are great!
Seriously, though, I have no problem dealing with the metric system. My motorcycles have all been metric, and I haven't owned a non-metric car since I sold my last MG (which was not my daily driver) in 1992. I travel to Europe regularly, and I'm comfortable with the distance signs and speedometers, etc.
Having said that, I cannot imagine the USA converting to metric, at least right now. The cost of changing over just our highway signs, maps, etc., would be unbelievable!
Thanks for the thoughtful and humorous responses...you guys are great!
I have needed both SAE and metric sockets to get under every vehicle I've owned for the last 20 years. The oil pan drain plug went from SAE to metric on my 2010 from the previous 2003. No worries, converting to metric is the least "invasive" of .gov intent. Joe
Absalom
SWCA Member, Absent Comrade
Beyond all the rationalizations and philosophical justifications:
I think we stick to our customary units for the same reason that the British still drive on the left side of the road: It's a relic of the past and we're too lazy to change it, so we re-interpret it into a cherished part of our identity; and for Americans, any change would have to be dictatorily imposed by government, which is an additional reason to be against it no matter whether it makes sense or not.
The fact that the US military has been using the metric system for decades should at least indicate that there isn't anything somehow unpatriotic about it, an undertone one detects in surprisingly many arguments condemning the metric system.
I think we stick to our customary units for the same reason that the British still drive on the left side of the road: It's a relic of the past and we're too lazy to change it, so we re-interpret it into a cherished part of our identity; and for Americans, any change would have to be dictatorily imposed by government, which is an additional reason to be against it no matter whether it makes sense or not.
The fact that the US military has been using the metric system for decades should at least indicate that there isn't anything somehow unpatriotic about it, an undertone one detects in surprisingly many arguments condemning the metric system.
Metric makes too much sense to be adopted here. This country is incapable of going metric. Nothing to do with the citizenry, the management is incompetent.
Canada went metric was back in the early 1970s. Only took them a year or two. They've also adopted a universal health care insurance program that works. They did that in the seventies too. It's not perfect but is a damn sight better than what our clowns in DC have foisted onto us.
And then there's the dollar coin thing. The canadians had figured that printing one and two dollar bills was a money losing proposition around the same time as the US. Coins lasted longer and therefore were cheaper.
We've tried it how many times? And we're still using paper ones and coins? The solution to making it work as effected by Canada was to simply stop printing one and two dollar bills. And the banks werr instructed to remove the paper denominations as they came in. Duh!
Sometimes we have too much of a blonde mentality here in the US of A.
John
Canada went metric was back in the early 1970s. Only took them a year or two. They've also adopted a universal health care insurance program that works. They did that in the seventies too. It's not perfect but is a damn sight better than what our clowns in DC have foisted onto us.
And then there's the dollar coin thing. The canadians had figured that printing one and two dollar bills was a money losing proposition around the same time as the US. Coins lasted longer and therefore were cheaper.
We've tried it how many times? And we're still using paper ones and coins? The solution to making it work as effected by Canada was to simply stop printing one and two dollar bills. And the banks werr instructed to remove the paper denominations as they came in. Duh!
Sometimes we have too much of a blonde mentality here in the US of A.
John
I had a Kubota tractor and still have a Kubota mower, all metric. Anyone that works on anything themselves has to have double sets of everything. The US gov't tried to get everyone to go metric back in the 90's but failed because of the cost that they weren't willing to pay. They mandated that all DOT's replace all of their signs on interstates with metric and threatened to cut off fed funds if they didn't. Well most states just said they couldn't afford it and just ignored the fed. The fed was bluffing and everyone knew it. That fiasco cost the tax payer millions.
From a civil, architectural, mechanical stand point it makes sense. Civil is feet and hundredths of a foot, architectural/carpentry is feet and fractions of an inch and mechanical is inches and hundredths of an inch. All three different systems of measurement and all three in common use in the US. With the metric system there is only one unit, the meter. The conversion error of our three systems costs millions each year. I had to make the conversions everyday at work. There is 3.2808333 feet in a meter. I didn't have to look it up. When I started a new project I always purchased a box of tapes that had both feet/hundredths and feet/inches so the carpenters could use the surveyors dimensions. I passed them out when I got asked what the conversion was. I could always count on a carpenter to supply me with material anytime I needed it.
From a civil, architectural, mechanical stand point it makes sense. Civil is feet and hundredths of a foot, architectural/carpentry is feet and fractions of an inch and mechanical is inches and hundredths of an inch. All three different systems of measurement and all three in common use in the US. With the metric system there is only one unit, the meter. The conversion error of our three systems costs millions each year. I had to make the conversions everyday at work. There is 3.2808333 feet in a meter. I didn't have to look it up. When I started a new project I always purchased a box of tapes that had both feet/hundredths and feet/inches so the carpenters could use the surveyors dimensions. I passed them out when I got asked what the conversion was. I could always count on a carpenter to supply me with material anytime I needed it.
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Coldshooter
Member
I once had a professor who was a bit pompous and always railed on about how science used metric and using any other system was a type of superstition. For the last day of class someone cut all the meter measuring sticks to 36 inches.
Yeah, and didn't something go SPLAT on Mars a few years back?
Miscommunication between depts. whether metric or not?
venomballistics
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Metric is the system of the future ................. and always will be!
Uh, 5/8 is 10/16, which is smaller than 11/16 . . . .
m1gunner
US Veteran
Those darned decimal points.
m1gunner
US Veteran
Back when I worked them, Boeing was inches, Airbus was metric. I refused to go to Airbus school cause I would end up spending several thousand bucks out of my pocket to work on them.
If NASA is going all metric, it will be easy, cause all that money they will spend is free, it is all tax money.
If NASA is going all metric, it will be easy, cause all that money they will spend is free, it is all tax money.
loeman
Member
I'm all for it! I'm sick of going to the internet measurement converters.
I am too old to start thinking in meters, besides 6 feet under sounds better than 1.828 meters. BTW , I had to look that up.
152 milimeters sounds a whole lot better than 6 inches.
