I must be OLD! I HATE the Metric System!!

[ken hatch]

Thought I would avoid that part of the discussion lol. FWIW, my LN 5/16 & 7/16 are both O1.

Tony,

Tried to not get into a something v A2 but it is a fact A2 doesn't work well with all sharpening systems. You are lucky, I like to support small makers and it is a shame LN no longer makes O1 chisels or plane irons. I have one LN 01 iron and it is a very good cutter.

ken

[mike stenson]

The USA completely changing to metric would likely cause as much confusion and problems as if we tried to change from driving on the right hand side of the road to driving on the left hand side of the road.

jtk

I don't think so. Really, every other industrialized country has done it, largely successfully too

[ken hatch]

I don't think so. Really, every other industrialized country has done it, largely successfully too

Mike,

I agree, we were on our way back when I-19 was built and then the crazies took over and stopped it. If we had keep on trucking it would be over and we would be aligned with the rest of the world instead of the sore thumb sticking up.

ken

[mike stenson]

Mike,

I agree, we were on our way back when I-19 was built and then the crazies took over and stopped it. If we had keep on trucking it would be over and we would be aligned with the rest of the world instead of the sore thumb sticking up.

ken

Ken,

Yep, and let's face it.. the Brits went from old money (which confuses me to no end: 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings, or 240 pence, in a pound.) to decimalized money too...

[Jim Koepke]

I don't think so. Really, every other industrialized country has done it, largely successfully too

Metrics is slowly creeping in.

Isn't Plywood already metric?

Most product containers have metric units listed.

Do they make metric tape measures with indicators for spacing studs and joists?

When all the road signs are changed there won't be much else left to change.

jtk

[Michael J Evans]

I don't work in the metric system or can't visualize how big 286mm is, but I find the system in general easy to understand and we'll thought out. Anything around a inch is simple enough 12mm = 1/2 etc.

[mike stenson]

Metrics is slowly creeping in.

Isn't Plywood already metric?

Most product containers have metric units listed.

Do they make metric tape measures with indicators for spacing studs and joists?

When all the road signs are changed there won't be much else left to change.

jtk

Yes and yes.

We've sort of been metric for a long time. Even the US imperial measurements are shifted for metric, they're not the same as the UK imperial measurements. Well, with the exception of temperature.

[Brian Holcombe]

I’ll stick with imperial, please and thank you.

[Jim Koepke]

I’ll stick with imperial, please and thank you.

And that is how it will change. One generation will use metric and it will become the common language of measurement. When those of us sticking to the imperial system are gone, metric will be what is left.

jtk

[Mike Kreinhop]

The USA completely changing to metric would likely cause as much confusion and problems as if we tried to change from driving on the right hand side of the road to driving on the left hand side of the road.

I was stationed in Okinawa when they changed from driving on the right side of the road to the left. The event was "730 Day", for 30 July 1978. The preparation was months in the making, which included having all new signs, traffic lights, road markings, public awareness campaigns, and other driving aids in place. The new traffic controls were covered until the unveiling.

All traffic stopped the evening of 29 July when all of the fire stations turned on the sirens. The road crews uncovered the new signs and lights, and covered the old signs and lights. The silence was eerie. Japan brought in a lot of police to stand on busy corners to direct traffic for those who instinctively headed for the right lane while making a turn. The next morning, the sirens went off again, and the silence was broken as traffic resumed on the left side of the road. Despite predictions of horrendous accidents and loss of life, I don't recall anything more than one fender bender, and that was on the military installation.

[Tony Wilkins]

I definitely understand the oft expressed sentiment in this thread that size doesn’t matter, ie that you just pick up a chisel of about the right size and get working. One thing that pops into my head when I read that was the concept of tool slaving (I think that’s what it’s called). That’s the idea that the tools worked together, e.g. a chisel that works with the blade of a plow plane because they are the same size. I read this in Jim Tolpin’s New Traditional Woodworker. Do y’all consider this concept useful in your woodworking?

[ken hatch]

I definitely understand the oft expressed sentiment in this thread that size doesn’t matter, ie that you just pick up a chisel of about the right size and get working. One thing that pops into my head when I read that was the concept of tool slaving (I think that’s what it’s called). That’s the idea that the tools worked together, e.g. a chisel that works with the blade of a plow plane because they are the same size. I read this in Jim Tolpin’s New Traditional Woodworker. Do y’all consider this concept useful in your woodworking?

Tony,

Short answer: Nope. Longer: There are times it helps such as cleaning up mortises but even there getting close is good enough.

Going back to the old guys. Their chisels were hand made and seldom perfect sized like some of today's machine made tools, close was good enough.

ken

[Andrew Seemann]

I definitely understand the oft expressed sentiment in this thread that size doesn’t matter, ie that you just pick up a chisel of about the right size and get working. One thing that pops into my head when I read that was the concept of tool slaving (I think that’s what it’s called). That’s the idea that the tools worked together, e.g. a chisel that works with the blade of a plow plane because they are the same size. I read this in Jim Tolpin’s New Traditional Woodworker. Do y’all consider this concept useful in your woodworking?

More so with power tools than hand tools. Power tools it is important for things to match, hand tools not so much. In fact one time I consistently reach for metric chisels is cleaning out mortices cut to imperial sizes. I find it much easier to to use a slightly undersized chisel to clean them, less binding.

[James Pallas]

Imperial for me. I can work in either. Simple math problems are not difficult. I find that most errors are made reading the measurement devise. No mater whether it’s cubits, hands, millimeters, knots, chains, bu, whiskers or eyelashes if you read it wrong it’s wrong.

[Tyler Bancroft]

Where do I get a cubit rule?

https://www.burn-heart.com/rulers-of-the-ancient-world