Switching to Metric in the shop, Is it even practical?

[Jared Sankovich]

I use decimal inches once it's within the typically dial caliper range.

I can generally convert back and forth between metric and imperial in my head, but I think in imperial distances.

[Derek Cohen]

If you begin using European machines, such as Felder and Hammer, you may wish to graduate to Metric as this is their standard measure and it is easier to carry this through all components. Boards are thicknessed to 10 or 12 or 20mm, whatever, and this will influence how you measure length and width. Eventually, you will be working exclusively in Metric.

Imperial and Metric can co-exist, but this can get expensive.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Ralph Okonieski]

English units were all that I had used, but have been slowly converting to metric. I bought a Starrett tape with Inches and cm (mm) on the same tape so can use either one for measurements. The scale on the saw is both inches and cm. The planer is both but I only use inches on the DRO. It is a work in progress; I may never fully convert. We shall see.

[Phil Gaudio]

I hate metric. I have a Festool router and every time I use it I curse the metric system: it, unfortunately, is equipped with a metric scale. OK: I will temporarily move to the metric world when using Blum Hinges, but beyond that, I live in a world of 16ths, 32nds, and 64ths.

[Chris Parks]

I hate metric. I have a Festool router and every time I use it I curse the metric system: it, unfortunately, is equipped with a metric scale. OK: I will temporarily move to the metric world when using Blum Hinges, but beyond that, I live in a world of 16ths, 32nds, and 64ths.

I hate imperial just as you hate metric, the world has gone metric and slowly but surely metric is being assimilated into the US which is the major imperial country not to go metric. I did fractions at school and thank god that Australia went metric and I no longer need them. The UK is a bit confused on metric but that does not surprise me at all as the change will happen there as a generational one when those that were educated in imperial pass on, this has been the case in Oz. As for thinking in metric it is not something that is easily changed when your education was imperial based, been there and got the T shirt.

[Jim Becker]

This topic always brings up some "opinions"...some of them strong.

That said, I switched to metric in the shop a few years ago and I absolutely enjoy the sanity that it brought to my work, even though I'm still occasionally mentally translating some larger dimensions (approximates) to visualize things. Even my CNC work is designed in metric unless there's a specific reason to use decimal inches...less likely now that I'm not really doing work for others.

All my metal rules were already dual scale, I have metric rules for my combo squares and similar, my major power tools all have dual scales, my Festool gear is metric as it was purchased before they started dancing with the devil in North America , etc. So there really wasn't much to change or acquire for me. You can get metric scales for your Starrett gear no problem which means you can easily and quickly switch if the need arises and you don't lose your existing investment.

It's already been said in the thread, but keep a project to one measuring system. Converting back and forth in the same project can lead to headaches.

Oh, someone else also mentioned woodworking in metric and home improvement in inches. I resemble that remark. Building materials are what they are in our geography.

[Wes Grass]

I don't really care, inch or metric. I default to inch, as that's what the screws on my machines are. And the CNC doesn't matter.

What really gets me cranked is Excel, and the online calculators I try to use, defaulting angle calculations to Radians.

???????

Yeah, great idea, use dimensions that are irrational. I think maybe a great idea for calculating stuff that's spinning, but simple trig for a bolt circle or CNC code?

(Al Bundy) 'Somebody shoot me .. '

[Harold Patterson]

Decimal inches for me but I wonder if it wouldn’t make sense to change to metric as finding rules and tapes in decimal inches is not very easy.

[ChrisA Edwards]

I made it my 2020 New Years resolution and made the switch. To your point, I still cannot visualize a length in metric, i.e. that's about 3' 6" or 30" high, metric longer than 12" and I need to reference imperial.

But when making things, once I visualize one of the dimensions in inches, convert that to metric, everything else is done in metric.

I switched over most of my machine scales from imperial to metric, bought a few new rulers and tape measures and that's been it.

I actually prefer it now as all measurements are just a whole number and not Inches and fraction.

I do everything in millimeters.

[Rollie Meyers]

In 2006 went to Germany for the 1st time, in wandering through a home improvement store noticed that the galvanized pipe & fittings were fractional, copper & plastic pipe was metric as I expected, but to see non metric pipe in Europe was a surprise.

[Greg Quenneville]

I am old enough to have been raised in Imperial, but mostly changed to metric when that happened in Canada* That said, I still use decimal inches on the metal working machines, still use feet and inches for people measurements, nautical miles and feet at work.

And I just assume that the 100 speed limit signs mean mph. That’s right, isn’t it?

In general, it’s easier to stack dimensions in metric, or decimal inches. All of the magic happens when fractions get simplified, regardless of the base unit of measurement.

Its basic math, and math is just a way of describing the world. There is no correct system.

*In Canada, bacon, among other things, comes in metric: 454gram packages (=one pound)

[Grant Wilkinson]

No offence meant, Greg, but in the day to day world of things in Canada, we are hybrid - to put it politely.

We do buy bacon in grams. However, we buy 4 x 8 sheets of 3/4" MDF. (In actual fact, the sheets are 49" x 97" x 19mm) We buy 8 foot 2 x 4's. Wood screws are 6, 8 and 10 gauge, 1", 1 1/4" and 1 1/2" long. Ceiling tiles are 2' x 4'. So, it's near impossible to convert my shop to metric, even it I wanted to.

[Jared Sankovich]

If you begin using European machines, such as Felder and Hammer, you may wish to graduate to Metric as this is their standard measure and it is easier to carry this through all components. Boards are thicknessed to 10 or 12 or 20mm, whatever, and this will influence how you measure length and width. Eventually, you will be working exclusively in Metric.

Imperial and Metric can co-exist, but this can get expensive.

Regards from Perth

Derek

I think that is completely dependent on the machine having a digital [or digit] readout, and in the case of digital, not having a metric/imperial switch.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

The areolith buggatti was scaled off the gas cap if I remember correctly. This panel is 25 gas caps long

That's a neat factoid! Adds some credence to my perspective too. I work with a crew of guys, and it's kind of like the old telephone game at times. Framer yells "16 3/16" to the saw helper, who tells the saw operator "16-3" who cuts it 15 3/8 because the first inch of his tape is so wore out that he's using the 1" mark to start and forgets to add 1" and -3 means something different to him.

Doesn't matter a bit how long you say something is, just as long as all involved are speaking the same language. Not many tradesmen who speak metric in my area.

[Curt Harms]

For one thing, metric fasteners can be found but there's usually a premium for them, thanks Hillman. British discussion web sites often (usually) use miles and feet/inches. I imagine Grant has it right, the western world will be a hybrid for the foreseeable future. I can get along with most metric measures except power. Using watts as a measure of internal combustion engine output still seems foreign.