Laserworks v8 setup, metric vs standard measurements

[Keith Downing]

Hopefully my last newbie question for awhile: I've been trying to get myself acquainted with laserworks tonight and I noticed you can change the settings for mm to cm or inches.

Now I'm definitely the typical American, and I think about measurements in inches. All my current graphic work in adobe is in inches, pixels, and ppi. So I'm tempted to change all my settings to inches in laserworks. However, I'd like some opinions on this from seasoned users.

Is there going to be more issues with the laser, shared files, etc all referencing mm? Should I just make the leap now? I'm assuming it will be an even rougher transition (mentally) later. Or should I just stick with what i'm used to, and how my brain thinks?

[David Somers]

Just my opinion Keith. I would work in whatever system fits your need at the time. I have a Chinese laser and a CNC. I have materials that are measured in mm and some in inches. Same with bits for the CNC. Some are in mm some in inches. My digital calipers can be switched from one to the other. I have multiple rulers that I color code so I dont confuse one system with another. I even keep multiple calculator apps on my phone and computer with each set for a specific system so it is easy for me to switch from one to other. My software (aspire for the cnc and corel and RDworks for the laser) can work in either. I just make sure what I want for a given job and be sure to double check that I am being consistent across the job.

Would be nice if we only had one system to work with but we (meaning the US) continually choose to remain in the Imperial System out of stubbornness and the idea that it is somehow giving up our sovereignty and sense of uniqueness to make the conversion. We have authorized and made the use of Metric legal many times beginning back in 1866 but we have never made it a mandatory switch, and so momentum keeps us stuck in Imperial. It even cost us a $126,000,000 Mars Orbiter back in 1999 when engineers failed to make the conversion between systems, an error that would not have happened if we had been all in Metric. Anyway....I am ranting.....<grin> Be fluent with both systems and use the one that makes sense for the job. Are you making finger joint boxes out of 3mm Baltic Birch? Stay with Metric for the whole job. Be consistent. Are you doing a CNC job with .25" bits? Do the whole thing in Imperial. Got mixed measurements in one system? Pick a system that involves the least conversion for the job and go with that, and measure twice before you lase once! To mangle a phrase! <grin>

[Gene Uselman]

I have RDworks V8.01.12 and I don't see how to convert to imperial units? Is there a newer version? Thanks Gene

[Bill George]

I sucked it up and learned to use Metric when I got my Chinese laser two years ago, even purchased a metric tape measure. Now my ULS laser is set up for metric and my 3D printer is also metric. So I design in metric also, its not that big a deal.

[Jeff Body]

I have RDworks V8.01.12 and I don't see how to convert to imperial units? Is there a newer version? Thanks Gene


I'm wondering the same thing. I've never been able to change the rules to inches.

[Bert Kemp]

if you use corel draw you can switch back and forth pretty easy