I thought it was significant in 1974 when they started selling gasoline in liters. Obviously I was wrong. Now I don't think it will ever happen; Americans seem to delight in being unique, even if that requires them to be inferior.
I've been metric out of necessity for the past 21 years. I'm building my shop miter workstation using the Jay Bates plans as a starting point, and converted his SketchUp dimensions to metric. The overall differences in finished size are slight, and the rack slides he recommended from a U.S. vendor are already metric.
I recently bought a used 2003 U.S. model Ford Ranger from someone who was returning to the States and didn't want to ship it. I was pleased to learn while replacing the clutch that all of the hardware is metric and I don't have to buy a set of SAE tools to maintain it. My other Fords are European models, so one set of tools works for my fleet. Unfortunately, I have to order all of the Ranger parts from the States, since the German dealers don't stock them.
If one has a metric wrench set there are only a few SAE sizes they need to purchase.I was pleased to learn while replacing the clutch that all of the hardware is metric and I don't have to buy a set of SAE tools to maintain it.
Metric to SAE .png
In some cases like 1/2" and 9/16" it is best to have the SAE and metric wrenches for the equivalents. One 1/2" bolt on the tailgate of my truck is pretty much in need of a six point half inch box wrench when working with it.
One of my American cars appears to be mostly metric and the older truck seems to have a mixture.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
BTW, in 1866 President Andrew Johnson signed into law an act of Congress allowing the metric system to be used in all contracts, dealings and court records.
My recollection is Congress also adopted a resolution in the 1790s to move forward with use of the metric system.
Though there is not a problem for me with the metric system, old dogs like me are going to stick with what is on our tape measure. Why should all my good ones be tossed to only go out and buy a bunch of new ones with different marks? Actually there is one that has been in my pocket almost every day for the last 30+ years that is a bit worn and missing the markings for the first few inches.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Anyone else but me sick and tired of metric conversion discussions? Seriously, probably the biggest waste of time you can think of as far as I'm concerned. LOL
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Absolutely true...for individuals. Manufacturing, science, health care, et al...the conversion is pretty much already done. As I noted earlier, the "assimilation" remaining is really just for us mere mortals. Some folks will decide to change, some folks will die before they make the change...
--
The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Was it not confusion over imperial or metric that had the Hubble telescope sent up with the wrong grind on the lens making it unusable until a house call in space to fix it ? Opps.
Sometimes we see what we expect to see, and not what we are looking at! Scott
Chris
Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening
it will happen by erosion of the imperial system from the top down. Five years ago it was very hard or impossible to buy tools from US suppliers and manufacturers such as Woodpeckers in metric. Today just about every tool is supplied in both versions which is expensive and doubles up everything.
Chris
Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening
Imagine, in time all of our old yardsticks and tape measures will be collector's items.Five years ago it was very hard or impossible to buy tools from US suppliers and manufacturers such as Woodpeckers in metric. Today just about every tool is supplied in both versions which is expensive and doubles up everything.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Hot diggity dog!!! I'm sitting on a fortune w/all the free Harbor Freight tape measures I have!!Imagine, in time all of our old yardsticks and tape measures will be collector's items.
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." - John Lennon
Well, I can do metric. As a designer draftsman I had to deal with all measurement systems.
In my shop, there is only feet and inches. I think it is called U.S. Imperial.