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Thread: Will 2020 be the year?

  1. #1
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    Will 2020 be the year?

    That the US heads towards the metric system?

    W/Ford switching over to an almost all truck lineup, that takes a huge chunk of the market off the table.

    As it is now, most manufacturing is done overseas where metric is the standard.

    What little manufacturing we have left here, really needs to be metric to compete in the export market.

    For the record - I don't care one way or the other - since my favorite bar and grill - where I get my every other Tuesday night hot wing and 32 ounce beer - could easily switch to a liter instead of a quart
    My granddad always said, :As one door closes, another opens".
    Wonderful man, terrible cabinet maker...

  2. #2
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    IMO it might happen in 2040 but not any sooner, got to get the Baby Boomers well into retirement. We discussed this at length several months ago and I doubt that anything Ford does will have any impact on this issue. Its the machine shops that are the big player, Ford is insignificant.

  3. #3
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    I don't know Keith, might need to get us gen x guys into retirement too. I can see a hybrid approach already for the stuff I work with, only using metric bolt sizes that also work with a common SAE wrench for example. Pick and choose metric "standard" sizes that way, and the customer barely notices I guess. I'm still anti metric, except when laying out tile.

  4. #4
    In my view, it's the building trades that are the big Magilla. They ain't going to change.
    Mike Null

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  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Null View Post
    In my view, it's the building trades that are the big Magilla. They ain't going to change.
    I definitely agree with that. Imagine explaining to your framing crew that instead of 16"oc, the wall is to be 40.6 cm oc. Oh, make sure that the 6 mm is used, otherwise that 4x8 sheet of osb won't fit. No sane person would screw with that system.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Rozmiarek View Post
    I definitely agree with that. Imagine explaining to your framing crew that instead of 16"oc, the wall is to be 40.6 cm oc. Oh, make sure that the 6 mm is used, otherwise that 4x8 sheet of osb won't fit. No sane person would screw with that system.
    But plywood is all metric now. and 2x lumber has been small since the 1950's. I think it is interesting that building codes have not been modified to reflect the metric changes. The plywood for shear walls is actually a mm or so less then required but no one cares. Of course this is similar to using the old span tables that were designed for old growth lumber. But the east and west coast have dis-allowed clipped head nails and I am sure the middle of the country will do the same.
    Bill D.

  7. #7
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    A good chunk of US manufacturing is already metric, including the automotive industry. It's more of what Keith eludes to...getting the mere mortals to convert. I've actually done that for my projects, for the most part, but it remains difficult to "mentally visualize" things with 60+ years using a different system. It's like learning another language...at first, we have to translate word for word in our heads, but eventually through repetition, we (hopefully) get to the point that we think in the other language, too.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve Rozmiarek View Post
    I definitely agree with that. Imagine explaining to your framing crew that instead of 16"oc, the wall is to be 40.6 cm oc. Oh, make sure that the 6 mm is used, otherwise that 4x8 sheet of osb won't fit. No sane person would screw with that system.
    Just size the plywood at 40 cm instead of 48" and the fractional OC measurement problem disappears.
    George

    Making sawdust regularly, occasionally a project is completed.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rich Engelhardt View Post
    That the US heads towards the metric system?

    W/Ford switching over to an almost all truck lineup, that takes a huge chunk of the market off the table.
    My Ford made in 2000 uses weird metric bolts. the heads are like one size smaller then they should be. I guess to save weight. Also Ford did not design it right they use a mix of odd and even size bolt heads. Anyone who has works on metric vehicles knows the fastener shoud be all odd or even size. that way you can look and know what size wrench to use.
    I believe Volvo used English fasteners up to the late 70's. Of course Sweden did not switch over to right hand driving until the 1960's but the cars always had the driver on the left.
    Last edited by Jim Becker; 06-15-2018 at 10:17 AM. Reason: fixed quote tagging

  10. #10
    I have used more metric in woodworking, partly due to buying festool, but for quick and dirty I use standard measurements. The one thing that bothers me is if you are building a cabinet with 16" sides, that is 406.4 mm, you can't locate .4 on any metric tape measure I have used. I know it's a really small amount, but you are basically guessing.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bryan Lisowski View Post
    I have used more metric in woodworking, partly due to buying festool, but for quick and dirty I use standard measurements. The one thing that bothers me is if you are building a cabinet with 16" sides, that is 406.4 mm, you can't locate .4 on any metric tape measure I have used. I know it's a really small amount, but you are basically guessing.
    0.4 mm is pretty close to 1/64 of an inch. How precise do you work? What is the precision of "quick and dirty"?
    Last edited by Dennis Peacock; 06-29-2018 at 10:59 AM.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by George Bokros View Post
    Just size the plywood at 40 cm instead of 48" and the fractional OC measurement problem disappears.
    Those would be pretty narrow sheets of plywood. Not much structural integrity and lots more seams to deal with.

  13. #13
    Frankly, My dear.............

    I have done deed descriptions over the years. frankly, acres, perches and rods are about the dumbest system of measurement devised. Maybe it made sense back when corners were the "third black birch from the stream bank" Trees die, stream beds shift. Besides which, I can hear it now. Wait till farmers find out that the North 40 is just 16.187 Hectares. Suddenly it sounds like their farms have shrunk.

  14. #14
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    The irony of this is that in the '60s in my HS science classes we were taught and used metric because the US was supposed to go totally metric sometime in the '70s IIRC. The medical field has been metric for quite sometime. It was metric when I got involved in '76.
    Ken

    So much to learn, so little time.....

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by John Stankus View Post
    0.4 mm is pretty close to 1/64 of an inch. How precise do you work? What is the precision of "quick and dirty"?
    John, I agree, it really doesn't matter, but it's just more of an annoyance than anything. Quick and dirty is when the GF asks will this cabinet fit into this spot. My answer is grab a tape measure, quickly measure and give the yes or no.
    Last edited by Dennis Peacock; 06-29-2018 at 11:00 AM.

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