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If you stop to think of it, the push for the metric system is nothing more than a hatred by many of all things British. That's a really silly reason to adopt a system of measure. The fact is that a base 8 system (and 12 is just 1.5 times 8 and 16, obviously, twice 8) is superior in matters of trade. It works out well, people have written papers on this, for trade and really meshes well with the physical world. Base 10, OTOH, does not. Imagine if we had a 20 hour day with 10 hours for AM and 10 hours for PM. Imagine what a face clock would look like. A base ten system is for those of such limited intellect that they can't deal with anything but powers of 10. The metric system LIMITS thinking, and the world isn't so simple as the base 10 system. People are too afraid and too lazy to actually THINK.
I didn´t learn French, but i know the way to build numbers is worse than the imperial system. The word for 80 means 4x20. They only count up to 20 and an addition in words.
Please keep using Imperial units, with metric converted plans. It's what almost all woodworkers in the USA use, and based on some of the comments, some people in other countries also use Imperial units when woodworking. It's not a perfect comparison, but it would not be cool to try to get everyone in the world to speak the same language. It will probably happen eventually, but why rush it?
I used to love the metric system because of the easy use of dividing by 10. Seemed natural, it was the same number of fingers I had before I became a woodworker.
the inch unit system and other unit system are stupid. It is not because of stupid system, but because that they are not compatible with the international system SI. All other unit systems must compatible with the international system SI. I often use computer programs for technical machines and other engineering tasks. And I often have to store and enter various values for various variables in computer programs, then let computer programs use entered values to calculate various tasks. You know that computer programs use standard known scientific formulas to calculate. If you enter values for variables in different unit system, then any time you add values, you must check the unit used in scientific formulas, then you must convert the added values to required unit systems. It is nightmare in engigeering tasks and scientific tasks. The only solution is that : use universal unit system SI : all programs and people exchage and communicate only with values in SI system. Thus no need to convert and check formulas when you apply variables in scientific formulas. Other unit system maybe comfortable only in conversation communication languages, but not in engineering tasks.
I spent 45 years as a machine designer. The SI (System of Units), the official name for the "metric system", is by far simpler than the Imperial System (Customary Units of Measure in the USA). Using the SI System is like learning and becoming fluent in a second language. Once you understand it you can switch back and forth without too much trouble. It's really very easy to learn and way less confusing.
@@riangarianga I am not a contractor, but I hardly see how that's relevant. Whether you are a contractor or making use of contractors, the majority of the planet uses metric. I guess it must suck if you're a contractor ONLY doing work in imperial. You basically are restricted to working in the US, Liberia or Myanmar. And there's always the risk of conversion error, like the case of the Hubble mirror.
Hahaha! They probably won’t do it the easy way, you know in tens, just to stick it to the rest of the world. So the US and Myanmar (90% of the US will have no idea where that is) can show us all up.
I'm from the Czech Republic and while I got mostly used to the US lengths and weights thanks to watching all the cool American bushcraft stuff, I always felt a bit sad that you guys didn't moved to the metric system. The ease of multiplying or dividing by 10 let's my simple brain to do other things. :D
I have Several Czech made garden hoses (my wife is Czech) from a company that predated the collapse of communism (two are over 25 years old). The internal diameter is 1/2". It's printed right on the hose!
@@timosdinkydetailing So? I keep having to buy irrigation and plumbing material by inches. Same for computer and too many other things. Most hardware is sold in inches and I'm damn sure it's not by the influence of Liberia or Myanmar. It smells more like USA exceptionalism. It must be so great to know there are like 7.5 billion dwarves abroas who disagree with you... and your yards, gallons, ounces, tablespoons and so on. Such a power!
Respectfully, that ease only exists as long as you either don't have anything right of the decimal, or a select tiny number that's easily manageable. US Customary units get around this as everything is fractions which are easy to work with and there's no numbers right of the decimal to worry about. Once you get into giant numbers right of the decimal and have to do complex math with them, it becomes problematic, especially where rounding gets involved. Round and varying positions (say 4 decimal places on one value, then 8, then 9) for different numbers and your answer is way off what was expected; sure you could pick a point at which to round but at what point does that consistently work when the numbers are coming from multiple different equations? This is why software such as GNU Octave and Matlab exist to perform such calculations rounding at ridiculous numbers of decimal places. When I was at university getting my degree in mechanical engineering was when I discovered the point I made in the paragraph above this one, I was the only person in the tutorial class who kept getting answers that matched the book, most others were off by quite a significant amount. When being asked why I was getting the answer the book had when everyone else wasn't, I demonstrated it to the class. The professor noticed that I was instinctively converting everything to imperial and then solving as fractions whilst everyone else wasn't. When I reached my final answer, I converted back to metric and got the correct answer. Having grown up in the bush in Australia, fractions were taught as a priority and many farmers used "Imperial" (basically the British version of US Customary units). Most land is sold and listed in acres as people understand that better than hectares (which are only used on govt records alongside the acre value).
@@mernokimuvek Yeah, but remember that it's only directly compatible with new plumbing parts unless they've made it as 1/2" but incorrectly listed it as 13mm. In reality 1/2" is 12.7mm so that's a significant difference when compared to real 13mm. This is why plumbing parts are still made in Imperial and why both are still used in the Commonwealth countries - new houses are metric but older ones (pre-2010) aren't.
As a hobbyist boat builder, most of my work is done in metric. Honestly, I have always hated adding, multiplying, subtracting, and dividing fractions. It is a serious pain and takes far longer than just learning to use the metric system.
ever build an ECO6 micro-cruising catamaran sailboat? 13mm ply/epoxy/glass. Super-cool! I built one. Check it out if you've not. It'll put hair on your chest. haaaaa built a one-sheet tender for it, too. fun :-) next up is a micro canalboat
the inch unit system and other unit system are stupid. It is not because of stupid system, but because that they are not compatible with the international system SI. All other unit systems must compatible with the international system SI. I often use computer programs for technical machines and other engineering tasks. And I often have to store and enter various values for various variables in computer programs, then let computer programs use entered values to calculate various tasks. You know that computer programs use standard known scientific formulas to calculate. If you enter values for variables in different unit system, then any time you add values, you must check the unit used in scientific formulas, then you must convert the added values to required unit systems. It is nightmare in engigeering tasks and scientific tasks. The only solution is that : use universal unit system SI : all programs and people exchage and communicate only with values in SI system. Thus no need to convert and check formulas when you apply variables in scientific formulas. Other unit system maybe comfortable only in conversation communication languages, but not in engineering tasks.
I suppose 16.5cm is a lot more impressive sounding than 6.5 inches of manhood. I have to revert back to college lab mentality, scientific notations etc. Biggest daily thing would be getting used to speeds, temperatures, and body weights in Kg.
guess ol sailingspark9748 is too-busy building some boat, so he can't respond here :-) Heyyy...I'm building myself an modded-Escargot canalboat now. What are you? And where is the least-expensive Epoxy to be found? I use alot :-)
@@antoniiocaluso1071 Sorry, I was away sailing on the Chesapeake leading up the Small Craft Festival in St. Michaels. And no, I have never built an eco6, My boats tends to be long an pointy. A couple of kayaks, a wherry, and I just finished up a Milgate duck punt. My next boat will be Canoe Yawl, just have not decided how big or small I want to go. I tend to get my epoxy from Jamestown Distributors. Being in NJ, the delivery from R.I. is super quick.
I’m from the UK & I remember our conversion to metric. It was a great move. I took my scuba instructors exam, I used metric for the physics portion, most others used imperial. I finished about an hour before everyone else (generally scoring higher).
Geez, don't even want to think of doing this in imperial units. Speaking of, I wonder how many accidents happened because of imperial-units calculation errors.
Though as an add on question, we use 10m=+1bar pressure. Do USCS divers use PSI for that as well? Is there some easy way to gauge? Or one just remembers 10m=+14.5 PSI (or is it rounded to 14)?
I'm from the UK also and whilst scuba diving might be easier in metric we are not all metric yet, its a mixture, the temperature is Celcius though and that's definitely better!?!
I must confess that I was not enthusiastic when we changed from imperial to metric units in the U.K. However forty years on I find I make less measuring mistakes using the metric system and relieved that I don’t need three types of spanners to work on my car! I look back and wonder what the fuss was about.
The interesting thing with that is Canada also used Imperial units up until about 1976. But the gallons were larger, 4.5459 liters IIRC, and a few other things like fluid ounces were smaller being that there were 160 ounces in an imperial gallon, but a US gallon is only 3.7854117 liters and has 128 ounces. The reason for this is, USA stayed on the Queen Anne era units of measure as used in the UK, and then after 1776, did not switch to the newer UK Imperial system of units, so in all actuality, the US system of measurements dates back even farther than the Imperial units of measure used in the UK and other Commonwealth countries just prior to switching to a metric system. The Queen Anne era gallon as defined to be exactly 231 cubic inches dates back to 1706 and was called a wine gallon. The UK abandoned that unit of measure in 1826, but that was just 14 years after the war of 1812, and things weren't exactly friendly across the pond.
@@brnmcc01 Thanks for the interesting history. I would like to say “that makes sense” but mostly history doesn’t make sense. Like here in the U.K. when we went full blown metric we chose to keep road signs in miles! 🤣🤣
@@pauldgardner1even now i have trouble with kilometres. Metres etc I'm fine with. I just can't seem to envision Kms. But then I am quite old now, possibly too late to bother with 😊
I'm old enough that converting to metric is easy on paper, but trying to re-train my mind to visualize things in anything but inches, feet, and yards is going to be a challenge.
It took me about 4 days to really click into metric when I was taking an automation class where the software was only metric. I've kind of lost that "sense" now, but it really wasn't bad.
Another metric guy here, but fortunate to be comfortable in both systems. I visualise in feet and inches all the time. But I measure and cut in mm.. If that makes sense. I reckon stick with what you know, and as you say, it's easy to do the maths when its time to draw the plan.
As a Canadian, it's even worse up here. We oscillate between metric and imperial so frequently, you'd think we were experiencing convulsions. I love the humorous approach to this subject.
You can thank your recalcitrant neighbor to the south for that. American pop culture is so pervasive that the USA also hangs up the rest of the world with it's olde fashioned feet, pounds and such. It's so out of place on a modern globe.
I was going to comment the same. Since we are so close to the US, we use both in an odd, haphazard way. Even worse for those of us who grew up in border towns!
I’ve used inches and fractions almost forever in my workshop. But during my last project building a desk, I got real tired of adding fractions like 3/8 + 1/4 + 3/16 to get a total I need to make a cut. I whipped out my metric tape measure and almost never looked back. I reduced my scrapped cuts as well! 1:49
6/16 + 4/16 + 3/16 = 13/16 ...... if you convert like that in your head, it's trivial to add fractions on the fly... For woodworking, where the smallest fraction will be 1/16, this works great.
@@JDeWittDIYIt always helps to multiply things by some number before adding them and then divide result by 16. It's so much easier than to just add them :p
Favorite metric system quote is by Josh Bazell. In metric, one milliliter of water occupies one cubic centimeter, weighs one gram, and requires one calorie of energy to heat up by one degree centigrade-which is 1 percent of the difference between its freezing point and its boiling point. ... Whereas in the American system, the answer to ‘How much energy does it take to boil a room-temperature gallon of water?’ is ‘Go f**k yourself,’ because you can’t directly relate any of those quantities.”
@@bocman1985 I quote from a quick google search "Centigrade is a scale for measuring temperature, in which water freezes at 0 degrees and boils at 100 degrees."
I think the world is just pissed because when they watch many videos from the USA and it includes any form of measurement, they do not understand, and it upsets them.
A funny thing is that although almost everything over here is measured in SI units (that's why you easily can calculate that one cubic meter = 1000 liter etc.), we also have traces of imperial. One common example is computer screens, we buy them in 15, 21, 27 inches - that's just the international standard for them 🙃 No-one knows exactly what it means but we know what screen size we're expecting.
Actually this pretty much only happens with inches for some reason, computer screens, wheel diameters, piping thread sizes. All in inches for some reason. Can't think of any non inch standards (apart from the airplane runways mentioned before, but those are also distances)
As an American, I was amazed by the ease of calculating volume by size and also the weight. 1ml(of water) is 1 cubic centimeters, which is one gram or in larger terms 1 liter of water is 1000 cubic cm and 1 kilo. Not necessarily as easy if you are looking for the wight of something other than water, but volume still works. Without looking it up, how many gallons are in a cubic foot?
No one does that... there is 0 need for when messuring the weight of water based on its weight... ive never done that my entire life... metric is only good for messuring chemicals and thats where it only belongs... but for everything else... its a awful system... imperial is and always will be better
@@Scudmaster11 Of course that comes in handy, for example if you want to know whether your floor can hold your new water bed with x hundred litres of water inside it. Or if you're building a DIY raft using air-filled tubes and you want to know how much volume you need to keep your weight afloat. Imperial is only better for those who're used to it, changing is always difficult.
@Ragnar8504 the only thing i hear difficult is you... imperial isnt hard... and we dont normally need to convert... PS messuring air buoyancy with metric is stupid... water beds arent really used (only in vary rare situations are they bought).... ive given metric a try before and hated it... couldnt visualize anything... it was all over reliant on objects and machines as because the numbers are unweildly)... also... if you think converting between stuff in imperial is hard... its not.... you are only nameing the vary few novelty things metric is only better at... but imperial crushes the cpmpetiton by MILES..... achers of land is better (and economic) if you want one that you will never top... achers are known by how much work a famer can get done in one day (back then)... so its a efficient way for land... even though i dont personally use it... its used in land messurement of how much there is
Looping back to this video again. I have to say, one thing I love is that there's no gimmicks with your videos. No in your face tricks or annoying distractions, just great video. And even when there is a "promotion" it's always at the end, and always related to woodworking. A+ mate. Scott from Japan
I was born and raised in the US and now live in Canada. I comfortably switch between imperial and metric; sometimes within the same project. For certain though any time I need to find the center of something, I use metric. Division of whole numbers beats fractions any day.
Quite. I enjoy watching people trying to centre something 43 and 3/8 inches on one side, 44 and 5/16 on the other, how much to move to be in the centre? Long silence. Another long silence. Hit with hammer. Repeat. On the other hand, my workshop is imperial with a mixture of BSF and BA threading tools, fraction and number drills, imperial measuring tools, machine tools graduated in 1/1000 inch. It will not be going metric anytime soon. Multiply that by a whole economy. Unless the US government funds it, there won't be much movement, and it will be hugely expensive as every last broken tool will be dug out to be replaced by taxpayer's money.
Studied in BCIT and went through the same thing having to learn both measurements, and by learning both I mean spend 90% of my time memorizing the unit rates of all the imperial units.
@@etherealbolweevil6268 I hate imperial with a passion. I *always* convert imperial to metric before I do anything. And If I have a bunch of damn drills or like 10-20 wrenches or sockets that are imperial, I have to line them up in order to know which one is bigger than the other FFS I *hate* imperial!
@@etherealbolweevil6268 You gave both examples i will use those, finding center is easy. On odd numbers 43 3/8 for example subtract 1 to make it even leaving 42. divide by 2 = 21. for the fractions you add the numerator and the denominator together = 11 your new numerator. to get your denominator you just double your old one so 16. all together thats 21 11/16". Evens are super easy 44 5/16" ex. divide your whole number by 2. so 22 then just double your denominator so 32. that gives you 22 5/32"
I bought a fully metric tape measure for work doing HVAC. The other guys give me a hard time about it but it's easier to divide 120cm into two or three parts than it is 47.2441 inches. I regularly need to center mini split heads on a wall or between windows and it saves so much time and mental effort. They told me all the tricks for finding half with standard but i dont even need them with metric. It's also a smaller scale so more ability to be accurate. I started using metric for 3d printing modeling. Fusion 360 was set default to metric so I tried it. I'll never go back now. I still use standard on new construction jobs because there's standards for stud spacing etc. but I use metric whenever I can.
If you are still new to metric: decide wether to use cm or mm and stick with it, don't mix units, don't switch units otherwise you'll get confused by your own notes pretty fast. If you don't like to type in decimal points in fusion: go for mm. But note: many rulers / tape measures come in cm, unless they are from/for Australia, where they made mm the default unit by law. Mixing units is terrible, say i go out to buy a piece of wood for a friend and he writes down 20 x 100 x 200. Thickness is obviously 20mm (because 20cm would be too much), but is it 100 mm x 200 cm or 100 cm x 200 cm or 100 cm x 200 mm? All three are reasonable sizes.
@@blauesKopftuch The rule says, if no units are written, the numbers mean mm, if somebody means cm but doesnt write that and sends someone else with that sheet of paper to a store he is just an idiot. If anything is unclear, why dont you just make phonecall?
I grew up metric but have used inches for decades since moving to the US; years in the construction industry certainly helped that along. I now find myself using millimeters when precision is required and feet and inches for rougher work. What really has me scratching my head is decimal inches, especially rulers with sixteenths on one side and tenths on the other. A trap for the unwary if I ever saw one.
I work in a company that makes windows and sunrooms. The labels/order slips list dimensions in decimal feet and inches but we have “the giant inch” on each machine. This is a 4x5 card with 1 “inch” along the long side divided into 16ths of an inch. It is then marked with dots showing common decimal inch increments such as 3/10 inch. That way workers can tell at a glance approximately where to cut if they only have a standard tape measure with 16ths of an inch but not 10ths.
As an engineer, I've been waiting for the metric switchover for decades. Let's do it already! It will save us so many avoidable conversion mistakes, and save money on new machines also.
You call it that way but yet, you divide by 10. To got 60system nomber you need 51 diferent symbol after nomber 9. Same in hexadecimal, no 10 is A, so you are stil in decad system because you count 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, 10(and that is decad system because you repeat 0 from the beginingand 1 is moved just one place to represent it) and first nomber in second "stage" (to simplefie litle) is nomber from begining 0, and next is 1... and ading representation of "stage" its 11. So we all operate in decad, computers do in binary 0,1... nomber 10 is 1010 nine is 1001...
Already metric and loving it! Love how it's so transferable through the other units, e.g. 10cm cube is a litre of water. Which is a kg. Oh, and science uses it, SI
Say SN I was raise on the metric system and when I moved to the US I had to adjust to inches, feet, yards, pints, quarts...etc. I use the metric system on my designs and also also created a metric inch which is 25.0 mm instead of 25.4 mm and I love it. it makes all my calculations easy to go back and forth.
As a Canadian who grew up using Imperial measurements and then had to learn to convert to Metric, it wasn't hard to do. I use both systems interchangeably.
There is always the issue of things that were made with the imperial system are easier to deal with in that system. My house was built in 1958 which means that all rooms, doorways and other features are sized using whole imperial numbers - when dealing with that it is easier to stay in imperial than to convert to metric. I have eight foot ceilings, 28 inch wide doors, 3 foot wide staircases, etc.
I love that I, as a Swedish bought up in the metric system, took almost the entire video to notice that he has a Sjöberg workbench. Sjöberg is an incredible swedish name, and the bench is most probably also very metric. That beein said, we sometimes actually use inches for our lumber. So I guess the imperial to inch conversion goes both ways =D
inches in Swedish lumber is usually slur for the things that are actually measures in mm. the Swedish 2 by 3 is actually 45x70 mm. what I mean to say is that inches exists in the language but not in the measurements.
Good to learn that you are "a Swedish" and not "a Swede". That will be valuable information so I don't embarrass myself if I meet someone from Sweden. I guess that means someone from your neighboring country would be a "Danish" and not a "Dane".
As a Canadian I can tell you that the stubbornness of the imperial system is boundless. Even after everything governmental has switched we still buy 2.5 inch mattress toppers and brag about being 6 ft tall and so on
i know this is an old video but I'm going to comment anyway. I am 74 years old and have always been a proponent of our inch/foot measuring system. Several months ago I bought my first 3d printer. As many do I started out downloading various storage designs and printing them but I wanted to make things specifically suited to my requirements. I downloaded a free CAD program and went at it. I started using the inch as my default measuring system and soon got frustrated when trying to making small adjustments to my designs. I then switched to metric as my default and never looked back. It has made my life so much easier. I have started dong this in my woodworking shop for the same reason and have purchased more measuring tools with both systems on them.
The irony is the US already has switched to metric, we did a long time ago. The formal definition of an inch is EXACTLY 2.54 cm. In other words, the inch is already defined in terms of the metric system. And the same applies for all the "English" units we use. We're just running the metric system with a texture pack over top of it.
@@StumpyNubs True! I just find it interesting that even the units that are ostensibly still Imperial units are metric if you actually look up the precise definition of them.
I spent my early schooling using both the metric and the imperial system. I have been teaching physics since 1977 and find the metric (SI) system way easier. However when doing woodwork, every now & then I find myself thinking in inches - Imperial seems somehow to lend itself well to woodworking.
I grew up when Australia converted from Imperial to Metric, my Mum took advantage of it (for a short while) by explaining to the police officer who pulled her over for doing 100kph (60mph) in a 60 kph zone that she was only obeying the speed sign that said 60:)
I heard a story about a guy driving an american car imported used to Russia when he got pulled over for speeding on a highway and when asked how fast he was going said: "Dunno, a hundred?" Cop looks on the dash and says: "Your speedometer is in miles, you dummy!"
I am an Australian. I was doing my Fitting & Machining apprenticeship at the time we were going metric. I was so grateful,much simpler & less opportunity for error. GO METRIC!
@@zyamadeadborn1785I had a similar experience in England years ago.i hired a little Vauxhall in London for a trip to Oxford. We drove along the motorway with me complaining about the little piece of s@#t we hired - screaming its head of just doing 100. As we flew past Jaguars and BMWs I looked more closely at the speedometer ... MPH.
Being a Brit. I drive in miles and run in km. I drink litres or water and pints of milk. I lift 12kg weights because I want to loose about a stone in weight. When I make a loaf of bread the recipe in my head is 340g(ml) of water and 3.5 cups of flour. When I buy tape measure it has meters on one side and feet on the other. I use both sides.
The only reason why you think in terms of km when running is because bureaucrats have made it the mandatory system with running. I bet you running apps a devices push it on you. There is a reason why you think of miles when it comes to driving and that is because it is more natural.
I believe that in the 1960s there was a big push in the USA to switch the metric system which was quashed by the Society of Automotive Engineers. I think that is fascinating since, as you pointed out, American cars are now mostly metric.
The last fastener I saw on an American vehicle was my 1988 chevy pickup... the only SAE bolts left that I know of are the 3/8-16 bolts in a side terminal battery.
I very much doubt the resistance was at the behest of the SAE, since American automakers are one of the few industries in USA to fairly thoroughly switch to metric.
@@tookitogo I really wish they had! I had a boat shop in the 1990's. New Mercury (and OMC) outboards with legs and gearboxes built in 'murica were imperial and the powerheads (built in Japan) were metric. BLOODY ANNOYING!
I made the switch to metric for all 'fine woodworking' projects from the start. All of my tapes, squares and straight edges are metric or dual measurement. I added a Wixey digital rule / gauge on my table saws and planer and keep a nice Mitutoyo caliper at the ready. I still reference approximates in imperial and use it for larger projects like cabinets or home repair just because most appliance schematics and accessories use imperial, but my life is loads easier using metric.
Funnily enough, I was born, raised and educated in the metric system (I am from France), and yet, when I work in my workshop, I primarily used the imperial system. I found the fractions fun to use... That said, who cares what system you use as long as you have fun building stuff.
SI Metric is Universal (French Metric is as you say different) all the units are related 1mm x10 = 1 cm x 100 = 1 meter. 1 cubic cm of water = 1 millilitre that weighs 1 gram x 1000 = 1 liter then 1000 liters equals 1 metric ton or 2200 lb. America is making its self irrelevant by maintaining a system that no one else uses anymore. I was at school when Australia went from British Imperial to Metric. Remember US and UK are not compatible being different scales. ie 1 UK gallon us 4.5 liters one US Gallon is 3.9 liters even the inch is a different scale.
It's funny because here in Germany we always use the metric system but on our rulers we also had the inches (we call it Zoll which translates customs) . It was very confusing for us some of us back then. But we also got in touch with it back then.
@@flybywire5866Selling screens only it imperial however is not legal. Same with using PS or horsepowers for the power of sth. Imperial should be finally replaced everywhere.
The german word "Zoll" was written "Zol" back in the Days and was always a unit of measurement. "Zoll" also means "customs" but that comes from the latin word "telonium" which describes the Place you had to pay customs to continue your journey.
@@Wildschwien I have no idea how PS works for horsepower- I know 50hp is a nice amount on a bike, but is 50PS more or less, and by how much? Same with torque- 50ft-lbs is enough for a smaller bike, but is 50Nm more or less, and by how much? There's just not a sense of scale when it comes to the practical things.
I’m retired now, but I still remember the horror of starting my first job and finding out everything was done in ‘imperial’ units. Virtually my entire education (in Canada) was done in metric, and by the time I finished university all day to day measurements were in metric units. However, all my company’s customers were US, and all requirements were in imperial units, well that is to say US measurements as they were a bit different than the British measurements we used to use - just to make it even more messed up. Now that I am retired and dabbling in a bit of woodworking, I tend to stay with the US units as that’s what all the tools are. However, I am seriously considering just going all metric for future projects, I think once I get started, I will never look back. And in some ways the USA is fully metric. A inch is defined as exactly 2.54 cm and a pound is exactly 0.45359237 kg. All non metric measurements are actually defined precisely to their metric counter part, and it is the metric measurement that is related to some fundamental physical constant.
A screw called out in a design with a British thread type threw off the work cells at one of my past jobs brutally, given that even the British mostly stopped using them ages ago.
Using Imperial measure is the best way to do construction framing, that's why you do it. You can do a thought experiment on how you would design a metric plywood size and measure out evenly spaced joists to match it. Imperial plywood is eight feet tall. Same as the floor to ceiling hight. The four foot wide sheet can also be framed perfectly with either 12", 16", or 24" spacing. I think, if there wasn't an imperial measurement system, there would be no frame houses at all. Like in Europe.
I have never bought wood that was in metric dimensions. Using the metric system on wood that is cut in imperial dimensions doesn't make any sense to me.
I'm a Brit and we officially went metric in 1972 but I was brought up on imperial measurements so I am now fully bilingual. The metric system is so much easier to use especially, since we can use calculators that all count in tens. In 1972 I worked for a contractor who was building a large slab sided office block, the lads on site couldn't set the windows out because one side of the building appeared longer than the other according to the dimensions, which were imperial with fractions down to 1/8". it was my job to check the dimensions and it took me all day adding multiple different fractions and even then having done it many times I could only come up with a consensus of what it should be. Had it been in metric it would have taken me 5 minutes with a calculator or 10minutes long-hand to have arrived at the answer. One other advantage of the metric system is the cross relationship between units such that 1 cubic metre of water = 1 Tonne (approximately 1ton), 1 litre of water = 1 kilogram, 1000ltrs = 1 cubic metre etc. It really doesn't matter what units you use so long as the result is the same, will it fit, how heavy etc? But once you start using the metric system its obvious simplicity will shine through. Those that have the hardest time are those that have to constantly translate between the two systems. Its like a language if you think in the language you are speaking then it is easier.
Up here in Canada we officially use metric, but you will still find a lot of imperial units around as well. Monitors and and Tv screens are measured in inches, and you will very rarely find someone who will give their height in CM, almost always feet and inches. The weirdest thing to me though is wheel/tire sizes. Wheels are measured in inches, so tire sizes will be partially metric, and partially imperial, with a ratio of one of them thrown in there for good measure. 215/60R16 means the tire is 215mm wide, with a sidewall that is 60% of 215mm, and it fits on a wheel that is 16 inches in diameter and about 6.5 inches wide, but then the offset of the wheel is MM again. It makes perfect sense if you don't think about it at all. 😂
Yeah a bit of a mess, I had to fill out an application for a licence and it asked for my height and I filled it in, they sent it back as I didn't specify feet inches or meter/cm I wonder if they thought I was over 5 meters tall ?
Dividing by 2 (repeatedly) rather than by 10 may be a matter of taste but the endlessly changing intervals between adjacent denominations of magnitude is a royal pain to memorize; 12 in/ ft, 3 ft/yard, 1760 yd/mile. Worse; US quarts and gallons are smaller than Imperial versions.
As a structural engineer I hate it. Whenever performing a calculation it is imperative to have a gut check on whether it is a reasonable answer. If I’m expecting an answer in a certain range of pounds, I know what that means. The standard unit system is my first language. It would take years to attain that same gut feel in Newtons. I would always be converting back to standard units. An engineers gut feel for an answer is critical.
I think @SteelheadTed got it right for a lot of us. I took have a hard time visualizing metric units and am comfortable with imperial units. I end up converting to double check myself.
Yeah, but I already use metric for engineer related functions... It's everything else that I'm worried about. Do you really wanna use Celsius? You lose resolution when making important decisions like if it's going to be warm enough to wear shorts or not. KPH? Think about the speeding tickets. Officer: "Do you have any idea how fast you were going?" Me: "No, I do not."
I used to hate the metric system. Mainly because their odd sizes didn't fit correctly in the imperial tools I had at the time. But as I aged and started working on industrial machines for overseas, where everything on them is metric, I found it's a far easier method and can quickly be learned by anyone even a child. There are times now even at home where I'll prefer to use the metric system for my work around the house.
I bought a 3d printer and used FreeCAD to design things. You can enter dimensions in either decimal inches (e.g. 1.25”) or millimeters. I started off using decimal inches but quickly realized that was horrible. I bought a metric ruler and never looked back. A metric tape measure for woodworking soon followed and I use it all the time. So unless you think adding 1 3/8 to 3 1/4 is fun is highly suggest spending a few dollars on a metric tape measure and giving it a try.
I’ve pretty much gone metric by choice for projects etc. i find the units more accurate and easier to use. Sure it took several tries for it to start to be comfortable, but now it’s second nature
Here in the UK we use both interchangeably, although I think imperial is becoming less common in the younger generation. I'll use imperial for my height, weight, distances and speed, but metric for almost everything else. I like the ease of halving, say, 4 & 3/8 inches by doubling the denominator, but for any precise measurement I'm just much more comfortable in mm
As a child of the 80s in Scotland, we only learned distances in metric, which is weird because we still use miles on our road signs. I just wish we'd hurry up and get rid of imperial measurements - we should have done it decades ago.
I'm happy using both at the same time. Carpets in the UK are often measured in feet in width, but metric in length! I tend to swap from one to the other depending on what I'm doing and which gives me the results in the quickest way to work out.
As I don't live in USA, Liberia or Myanmar I use metrics. But when I am working with a folding ruler I can choose inch or mm. Which is good for measuring, when the hole might not be whole mm but linstead ines up with the inch side of the ruler. Almost all folding rulers in Sweden only uses mm but you can still find the ones with both inches and mm, my favourite ones. Thank you for helping with the fast reading in inches.
At 1:20 in the video the signs are incorrect. Converting form Km/H to MPH is really very simple. Multiply the Km times 6, then move the decimal one place to the left. 30 times 6 equals 180. Divide by 10 (move the decimal to the left) and you have 18 MPH. 100 Km/H is 60 MPH.
Dear Mr Nubs -- Thank you for your always valuable, always informative woodworking videos. We have all learned much from you. We also love your style of delivery and humor. Three years before I retired, intending to move to the Philippines, I decided to switch from US measurements to metric -- especially for temperature (weather) and distance (driving). My digital thermometer happily accomated me with a flip of the switch on the back side. (My Volvo, however, stayed locked in miles.) In the woodshop, a surprise! My Stanley tape measure already spoke metric. Never noticed that before, except when it got in the way. Here's my beef -- When my almost 70 yo eyes look down on the tape measure, I can easily see the markings for sixteenths, eighths, quarter inches, etc. The length of the dash at the edge of the tape makes it easy to determine. The metric side (and my other metric-only measures) shows each mark with a dash of the same length, except for the half centimeter dash which is longer. Problem is, the mm marks are closer together than sixteenths. And with my astigmatism and trifocal lenses it's really hard to tell the difference between 86 mm and 87 mm or 42 and 43 and so on. Dashes of different lengths make the Inches measurements easier to read. Still, I persevere -- taking my glasses off and getting right down on the ruler when precise metric measurements are needed, which is to say constantly. Please use your 'influence' to persuade metric measurement instrument providers to adopt gradations in their dashes. Picture one span of a suspension bridge for guidance, from short dashes at the beginning to the long dash in the middle, then shortening down again until the next centimeter. Thank you very much, Mr. Nubs. You are doing every metric user over the age of 40 a great service.
This is a really great point - the dashes in a metric tape are all the same length and it is harder to see which exact one you need. I often need to count the ticks with my pencil. Excellent point. 👍🇨🇦
I think the Starrett rules (and probably others) are graduated with different length marks that might help...although that's not a tape, admittedly. Personally I always hated rules graduated in half millimetres - those have always been prone to visual tracking errors. I always tried to find scales that were only in full millimetres...but to be honest, now I'm looking for them that are only graduated every 2mm! Ahh the joys of increasing years of experience!
After working with Festool tools for a while I, as an American, ahem, prefer metric. And I think my friends who struggle with fractions would benefit too. Doing fine furniture so our accuracy is especially important. Thanks for posting. You brought up many good points!
I grew up in Singapore where we uses Metric. Watching and reading imperial is just about another measuring systems. Hence no big deal. Now a days smart phone are so convenient and conversion is just a click away. What I felt really challenging is baking, where Cups and spoons were used rather than weight and volume which is much easier to follow. This is personal. 😊
Old recipes actually use cups and spoons in Denmark. The problem is that they don't all have the same size. Son of you have a big cup and a small spoon, you might mess it up if you're not an experienced baker. Using grams, centiliters and deciliters (one tenth of a liter) you get the same result every time.
@@RoryIsNotACabbage When dealing with powders such as flour the volume for a given mass changes depending on how tightly it's packed. For this reason professional bakers always measure by weight, never by volume. Also IIRC, US bakers use metric, not imperial.
Another advantage of using metric (weight) instead of cups and spoons is that there are less dishes to wash. Put one bowl on the scale and add the ingredients.
I have both imperial and metric on my tape measure. When taking a rough measurement, I pick whichever number is closest - unless I have my glasses on...
Great video! I have always lived in the U.S., but I have been building all of my projects in Metric since the 90's because it is so much easier to use, especially if you need to use a calculator to divide anything into multiple measurements. When people tell me the Metric System is tough to learn, I ask them how many inches are in a mile. Most of them can't even tell me how many feet are in a mile. Then I ask them how many teaspoons are in a gallon. All good fun. Woodworking in Metrics is so much easier. Give it a try. It's a pretty quick transition, but so worth it. Thanks for the great content!
Fair point, but to play devil's advocate...have you ever actually needed to know how may inches are in a mile? Or teaspoons in a gallon? To be fair, that's not exactly practical info to know. Metric is extremely easy, for sure. But overall I find it easier to work in whichever system is native to the project and/or materials before me. So US construction, with virtually all standard dimensions in Imperial (8' ceilings, 32" doors, 16 oc studs, dimensional lumber in inches, etc, etc.) I'm sticking with Imperial.
@@ethanwheeler3323I think his original point is valid though - adding, subtracting, and dividing things in half or 3 or more is much simpler in metric. However I use a fractional calculator app (Fraction Calculator Plus) on my phone that allows me to do everything I ever needed to do, nearly as easily as using metric. On a side note, I don’t use feet hardly ever, I just use inches since everything I work on fits inside a garage. What I wish we had was a system where the inch was divided into 10 parts. I want a measuring tape like that. Instead I have an engineering tape where the foot is divided into 10 parts - I don’t like it.
Ive had people comment on my use of the metric system in my HVAC job. They say it's hard to learn. I ask, can you count by 10? "yeah" Then you know the metric system! Pretty much all the new equipment is in metric anyway.
To which I would reply: what's 1/6 of a meter? Be precise. You have a (dull? 😜) point about converting from the very small to the very large, for times when that matters. But I find I prefer Imperial because a) I've never had the slightest reason to know or care how many inches or feet are in a mile; b) being Human, dividing things by 2, 3, or 4 is far more useful and concrete than dividing by 2 or 5 -- hence my preference for anything base-12 over base-10.
I’m Canadian, grew up as a kid in the SI world, adopted into the metric system when Canada flipped and am equally confident in using either system. However, I frame houses 16” on center, using 2x4s, 2x6s, 2x8s etc, do most cutting with either a 8 1/4” or 10” blade on my power tools. When I drive to the local hardware store I keep to an average posted speed of 60 km/hr over a driving distance of 12 kilometres, all the while wondering if the weight of the load of 5/8” plywood will make the trailer tongue weight exceed its maximum rating of 200lbs. Of course during the drive home my wife phones and asks if I could pick up a pound of ground beef, 2 litres of 3% milk, 150-200g of freshly sliced smoked ham. I said “of course I will, but first have to stop and get some gas - hey, did you notice gas prices dropped to 173.9 a litre today!?!?!” Her response: “ great, now we have a few extra toonies to take with us on our trip to the States tomorrow!” And, finally “Yes dear I’ll remember to drive at their posted speed limit of 60mph!” Now I ask you, do I qualify for dual-citizenship, or do I simply have to accept the fact I live in a global world.
Retired Canadian carpenter here. I lived through the same conversion. I was a foreman with about 20 men working on a large concrete forming job and it was the first project we did with metric drawings. The mistakes were a horrendous cost, all bacuse the guys were trying to convert to imperial. After a couple of days, I had to put a stop to this so I went and bought 20 metric only tape measures and the next morning exchanged with the guys for their old ones. It took a day or so, but they soon got used to it. I only lost 2 men because of it and they were about to be let go anyway.
Is your 2x4 actually 2x4? Our equivalent is 45*95mm so it got a bit smaller, old people still call them 2x4 (that would be 50.8x101.6mm). Or is it that raw timber starts at 2x4 and after it is planed it turns into 45x95 if so you are already in metric...
@@kjelllindberg6987 In the US it's much worse, I think the term 2x4 is defined based on some low-grade timber, while modern construction timbers are a higher grade. Other explanations say the 2x4 was measured before drying and milling. Therefore a 2x4 is 1 1/2x3 1/2" or 38x89 mm. Which isn't a lot more than the 5x8 we use in Austria (48x78 mm). We rarely use those for framing walls though, that's 95% metal studs because they're cheaper, lighter and easier to assemble, no nails or screws involved. Load-bearing walls are either masonry or much bigger timbers.
@@Ragnar8504 My grandfather was a sawyer. He cut 2x4s out of logs that were 2" by 4". But then downstairs in the mill they got planed down to something smaller.
I'm from the Netherlands, and If it wasn't for wheels, TV's, PC monitors and drivebays I'd probably never ever knew inches were a thing. It's kind of weird that we got so accustomed to the imperial system for certain devices. It was probably more convenient to stick with them as conversion would lead to even weirder numbers and more confusion.
Yes, nowadays there is no reason to do any conversions. Type how many inches is in a meter and Google or Siri or Bixby or Alexis answers - you don't even have to think at all.
I have no issue switching to metric as a wood worker. But my problem is my mind's eye sees feet and inches so when I actually see something I can approximate its size. I am unable to hold up a thumb and index finger that are separated and say "that is 25 centimeters". I will definitely need some training. That is why I use a left handed crescent wrench and socket set.
I'm a 67 year old American that grew up on the imperial system. I know that a mile is 5280 ft. But I also know that 1km is .6 of a mile. I've been mentally doing conversions(or trying to just to see how close I can get) for over a year now. It wouldn't bother me one dram if we converted over to 'that other' system at all. Keep up the very informative work James.
How many inches in a mile? How many cubic inches in a quart? Can you easily convert microns to furlongs? Does your old truck wheeze up the street 'cause you're afraid of computers too?
To me, using metric, I think of the mile issue from the other side: a mile - or as we say in Norwegian, the _English_ mile - is 1.6 km. Of course, in Norway and Sweden (but not Denmark, for some reason) a mile is 10 km. Why we were the only ones to metrify the mile, I have no idea.
I love this video! I have already switched over to using metric exclusively in my workshop. It was a little pain in the beginning, but not that difficult of a switch for me. The key for me was buying a metric / imperial tape measure to use for quick references and conversions. Before long your brain is making the rough measurements in metric! MikeO
Hi Stumpy, coming from Australia I did my schooling and joinery apprenticeship in imperial. Australia went metric, for measurement around 1974 just as I became a tradesman. So I am conversant with both systems. I'm with you, metric is by far a simpler and more accurate way of working. Eventually all us old imperial dudes will be dead along with the system based on 12 with crazy fractions. Long live the metre!
12 inches in a foot, yes, but 3 feet in a mile and 5280 feet in a miles. Let’s ignore hands, yards, furlongs, barleycorns, or twips. Yes, for woodworking, you’re mainly in inches and fractions of, but I’m so glad I run my shop entirely metric rather than an archaic British system based on an ancient Roman system
It may be more simple for you but stop saying metric is more accurate - it is not! It is just as accurate as any measurement system you choose to use. Jesse
Canadian here. Almost everything is in metric, but body height and weight still tends to be imperial. My daughter is learning kg and cm, but for me, it’s still Lbs and Ft. Everything else, is metric… except vehicles. You need both metric and imperial sockets and wrenches as half the bolts are metric and the other half are imperial…
Here in Puerto Rico: we sell gasoline (petrol) in liters, yet we sell milk and motor oil in quart, half gallon or gallon jugs (yet we ask for a liter of milk); speed is measured in miles per hour, yet distance is measured in kilometers and mileage is calculated in miles per gallon; cloth for sewing is sold by the yard; lumber is sold by inches and feet. In cooking: we use the 'spoon and cup' system. This is a partial list.
@@LRM12o8 Converting the speeds is pretty easy though if you don't need exact results. 50 km/h ≈ 30 mph 100 km/h ≈ 60 mph 160 km/h ≈ 100 mph 200 km/h ≈ 125 mph I use these values to make a guess to convert mph to km/h as someone who only uses km/h exclusively and watches American youtube and sometimes needs to know how fast x mph are. So I'd guess 55mph are a bit under 100 km/h, let's say 90 km/h and after checking online the exact conversion is 88.51392 km/h, so pretty close.
As a Harley drag racer in Europe, I´m surrounded by either system- drive 320 kilometers to Hockenheim at 34 degrees Celsius, go for a 1.4 second 60feet time, explain how much cc a 96 ci motor has got, get a 3/16" allen wrench to tighten some 1/4" bolts, and enjoy half a liter of beer from Belgium afterwards. Went fine so far. Thanks for making serious stuff fun to watch!!
In South Africa we changed from imperial to metric in the mid 1960. I use both. Although metric is easier for calculating engineering subjects. My biggest downfall is I love to bake bread. Blows my brain when the recipes use cups , ounces , lbs etc. so much easier when it’s all in grams , litres and millilitres. 👍👍. We enjoy your videos.
And if you look at it a bit closer, you need to realize that there are US cups (fluid=236.5882365 ml, dry=275.305235679 ml), Imperial cups (284.130625 ml), metric cups (250 ml), Canadian cups (227.3045 ml), etc... And there is also the issue that US cups are further divided into dry cups or fluid cups, which most people don't realize the difference and end up using the wrong measuring device for the type of cup that the recipe is requiring... Then again, you have no guarantee that the original creator of the recipe used the right measuring device either... And then there is the FDA "nutritional cup"... Might as well say, "a smidgen of this and a dash of that" for the recipe... :(
Metric recipes tend to be measured by weight, and imperial by volume. For ANY kind of bread or pastry, the ratios are critical to get right, and measuring by weight is SO much easier and more accurate. I definitely prefer metric for bread, and other baked goods.
I was born 16 years after the change over. Pretty much everything I do is in Metric except baking. I agree Teaspoons, and cups are so much easier for me, though I use metric on things like the butter as it is easier to carve off blocks knowing how much is needed without having to weigh the darn stuff. I grew up using cups and spoons, also most recipes are from old cook books, WAY older than me. Also when dyslexic and one gets things wrong on a calculator, having to whip out a scale just to measure what would have been 4 teaspoons of something in the old way of measuring is just rediculous. If using a scoop, when you figure it out, you still have to convert back to how many scoops needed that are measured in teaspoons anyway!
Im a product designer and can use both inches and mm for length to design easily. Go between, use fraction on the inch stuff I know all the decimals to the 16th off my head. But aside from psi I’m pretty much using all other units or combinations of units in metric
I use metric all the time in projects for building using my 3d printer which has build volume specified in mm, which I assemble with M2, M3, or M4 nuts and bolts. Like you say, whenever you work on a car I go for the metric sockets first, because almost every thing on a car is metric.
Mr Nubs, your videos are always well thought out, well presented and informative. But with this you've reached a whole new level of entertainment. And I laughed aloud when I read on that graphic that the US uses the metric system to define the length of a yard. As an Aussie of a certain age, I still find it easier to think in feet and inches for a lot of things, mainly where I'm not actually measuring things, just guestimating.
50 years as a pharmacist and having to learn metric, troy, and avoirdupois systems, I fully embrace the metric system. Early ion, I had to flip back and forth frequently, but half-way through my career, pharmacy was totally metric. I brought beakers and graduates home and use them in lieu of measuring cups when cooking. BTW, I owned the pharmacy, so I didn't steal them. When it comes to small volume and weight measures, my mind works in metric. When It comes to large volume or weight and to distances, I have to do the mental gymnastics of converting back and forth. However, over the years, I have seen a significant shift towards metric.
Having worked in both metric and imperial throughout my career as a landscape architect. I much prefer the base 10 approach over fractions. Whole numbers are quicker and easier to calculate. Millimeters are approximately 1/25th of an inch which is great tolerance for woodworking. My New measuring tools are always purchased in combination or exclusively metric. Metric makes sense.
I am transitioning to go all metric but right now at the age of 73 I still use some imperial. Most of my tools have metric and imperial on them. Great job on another fantastic video!
The inch was re-sized and defined as 2.54cm very early in the 20th century. Although, I think it was "officially" set as such in 1959. For the most part, all the precision work in the industrial age has been on an inch that is really metric in disguise
lol , you wanted to say: precision work was mostly done by metric, especially in the last 100 years almost exlusively :D imagine bulding a CPU with imperial :D
That was due to the difference between the US customary units INCH and the imperial INCH, then both systems agreed on a INCH being exactly 25.4mm long...
I've always preferred the metric system over imperial. I use it for everything from my calipers, software, laser cutters, UV printers to my CNC. What's annoying is when I go to buy things like CNC router bits and they don't have the metric version. You can always use math to convert but having two different standards seems silly to me.
I am already a staunch metric user, much to the chagrin of my family and coworkers. My car and GPS are set to metric, I do all of my work in metric (converting only at the beginning and end as absolutely necessary), and, as a bonus, I use the 24 hour clock. Despite all of the complaints I get, I can guarantee that my work is faster and more accurate because I use metric.
In Australia we changed years ago. At the time I was a draftsman and my life became much simpler. Here all the road signs were changed in one night and you had no choice but to learn.
In the early 1960's there was a serious effort to convert the U.S. to the metric system. I remember being in grade school during that time and was educated in the metric system for about 2 years. Then they abruptly stopped. Well, my later education as an engineer; physics and chemistry classes were all metric. It's like growing up learning 2 different languages at home. As an old man, I think and function equally well with either system............
I remember that too. I believe the powers at be during that time found it was too difficult to switch over using a bunch of grade school kids to do it, 😅
do to the vicinity, we use kind of a hybrid system here(Mexico). You get the chance to order materials(plywood, PVC pipe, etc) in Imperial but you make all your measurements in metric. To this day i still see some mechanics using SAE tools on recent cars... I stopped taking my car to those shops and had to learn some mechanical skills on the way, but seeing someone beat a 1/2" socket in a 13mm nut was a really hard pill to swallow -_-
@@haqvor No, it really has nothing to do with the rationalization of the imperial system. Politicians in the '60s thought they "knew more" than the mere riffraff and decided to push it down their throats. The people rejected it, soundly, so it went away. Mostly. Liquids are still sold in metric units but that's about all. People in the STEM fields use metric because it's, well, required. A lot of needed units don't exist in the FPS system and conversions are much more important. For 99% of the people, FPS works just fine. If our betters are going to try to force it again, expect the same results. A lot of people will be really pissed. I don't much care, except that I have a *lot* of imperial tools.
We got that in UK too. First our currency went decimal, then suddenly nothing could be sold in pounds and ounces any more. Unfortunately we didn’t stop, so in school in 1969 (I think?) we had it all going on, and in the stores we were being ripped off by companies in the conversion. A mars bar used to cost 4d - four old pennies, or fourpence, suddenly they cost 2p, or 5d, it didn’t stop there either, within a short space of time a mars bar cost 4p, a nice 254% increase for no outlay at all…
You made my hernia hurt all the way through this video! And I enjoyed it so much that even knowing the pain it would cause, I watched it two more time! Thanks for a very entertaining production.
Hold that hernia down when you read my reply Stephen just in case you laugh some more.. I actually got a hernia on my hernia from the jokes in this video
Weirdly enough, the rigid but foldable device for measuring, usually made from wood, is called a "Zollstock" in German, literally "inch stick". A "Zoll" was a cut off piece of wood with a thickness of about 2 thumbs, whereas 12 Zoll made 1 Fuß, or foot. But then a Zoll varied between 2.5 cm in Hesse and 3.7662 cm in Prussia, with Baden and Switzerland (where 10 Zoll made a Fuß) somewhere in between. We also had miles, varying from 7500 to 9000 m, or between 12000 and 24000 Fuß in other places. All in all, the metric system is a good thing...
Dutch has the same, "duimstok" (thumb stick). Except it's becoming an archaïc word (since it's becoming an unused tool) and we'd use a "rolmaat" (rolling measure) way more often.
And this shows why standardization was truly needed. Even before the SI came along, what we now know as imperial units were only ever used in the British Empire; other places had different measurements that, to make things more confusing, often shared the same names but not the same measurements.
@@lurch789no it's not. It's the same. your (?) imperial system is just one of the many and evolving imperial systems that are/were out there. That is the whole point. There was no standard, until Napoleon and his metric came along and made it all standardised and simpler. Today the US Imperial system is officially defined by the metric system.
I'm a 60 year old American. I bought a metric tape measure to do some finish carpentry. It was awesome. Only one unit of measure, millimeters. Can you actually cut a board to 78 and 17/32nds of an inch? I work on cars once in a while so of course I own two sets of wrenches.
When I bought my most recent tape measure I bought one that has both metric and imperial in hopes that I would get used to it. I find myself using the metric side when the metric increment comes closer to what I'm measuring. It is very useful as well as when you want to divide a board by half or three etc. *Edit* maybe dividing by 3 is a bad example
it's like training your brain to learn a new language... as an American I had the opportunity to spend a year in Mexico and at the age of 50, there is no way my brain was going to lean Spanish by just hearing it... and Spanish classes were extremely expensive because they basically catered to persons in business... now at 73, converting imperial to metric would hurt my brain... it thinks in inches, feet, and yards for projects... now, I could probably go km for driving but that's only ONE change... I still have no idea what 2 Liters is equivalent too...
Even though I was at school when the metric system was introduced here in New Zealand, and I am now in my 60, I still asked for 3 x 2s when I arrived at the timber yard recently.I was quickly corrected to 75mm x 50mm but 3 by 2 is a whole lot easier to say...and I do use metrics for most things but inch,foot,yard is at times easier!
As a twenty something I had the same experience in a timber yard here 50 years ago - asked for 3 by 2 to be told it was 75 by 50 as were you, but then told it was only sold in eight foot lengths! :-)
Sorry everyone. I started this as a quick comment but it turned into a full epistle. An initial comment is that in the metric system length is METRE (from the French who invented the system in the first place), not METER (like a water meter). I am with sundancer0147. Was at the very end of secondary school and starting in after school or holiday jobs when we went metric here in NZ. For framing lumber I still "think" 4 x 2 or 3 x 2 from my childhood, as my dad was a builder and that is the language I learned. The kids at the hardware outlet don't understand inches so I now tell them 90/45 or 75/45 mm. Everything else is directly metric. Ironically, 90/45 framing doesn't come in standard lengths of 1 methre. It is 2.4, 4.8, or 6 metres, which is multiples of 1.2m, which is very nearly 4 feet. I think this is back to minimum stands such as building codes. For the imperial guys, 6 x 1 inch fence palings are 150/25 (or 150/18 for the budget outlets). A sheet of panel product is 2.4 x 1.2 metres, which is just under 8 x 4 fee. 2.4 metres is the standard internal stud height in a house. Actually the discount houses import from China (which supplies US) and often what they sell as 2.4 x 1.2 and (say) 12mm thick (close to 1/2 inch) is often ACTUALLY a bit over the label dimensions. As a home woodworker I can cope, but the commercial guys make sure they know exactly what they are getting. In refence to ericlotze7724 below. Yes, this is a bit of a pain, but the upside is a 8x4 sheet has enough 'oversize' in it that you can cut it down and not end up undersize due to the kerf of your saw. A 8X4 sheet is 2440 X 1220 mm so you can rip it and cross cut as much as you like and still have full dimensions against the requirements of your metric project (and a tiny bit of wastage, which beats being a bit under). The way I converted was to drop inches completely and buy "metric only" tapes, rules, etc. You just keep in mind for a short while that a foot is just a fraction over 300mm (30cm) and a yard is a fraction over 900m (90 cm) or a bit UNDER a full metre. As an aside the system goes in all sorts of directions. A cube 100mm wide X 100 deep X 100 high is 1,000 cubic mm which is 1,000 cc or 1 litre, and 1 litre (of water) weights1 kilogramme. Screw, nut, bolt, drill size, and suchlike also get really easy. Separate tutorial on how easy that is if anybody is interested.
@@colinjames9502 > in the metric system length is METRE, not METER That depends on the language, it's not the same everywhere. French: mètre British English: metre American English, German, Dutch, Swedish: meter Spanish, Italian: metro And many more variations...
6 Months ago I bought my first metric measuring tape... I find myself reaching for it more frequently. I'm also old enough to remember being in junior high and being forced to learn the metric system for science... Dividing by ten is not very hard! Cheers!
@@TheCharleseye Both are easy, but it's just simpler to say one number vs a few numbers. That's it. You can say: "three AND one-sixteenth" or just "seventy-eight". When you're on the jobsite it's easier to scream one number, instead screaming multiple numbers. It's also easier to add/subtract whole numbers. Doesn't mean fractions are difficult
@@wittttttt Obviously fractions aren't difficult. American laborers use fractions without any issues over yelling the numbers across job sites. It's the rest of the world that can't handle something so simple, that they need a system to be even easier than the one Americans learned in grade school. That's fine, though. That was previous generations. This generation can't even make change. It's a good time to switch, so that this generation of Americans actually has half a chance of being able to handle the math related to a given field. American exceptionalism is circling the drain.
Wait until you try doing a renovation with metric drywall which is 1200 x 2400 mm. About 47“ x 94“. All the stud space will be different. What’s the cost of converting all lumber and drywall sheet and plywood sheet factories to metric? In Canada we still use 4 x 8 sheets and 2 x 4 lumber.
In the UK it's sold in 1220 x 2440. That's 4 x 8 yes direct conversion as that is how most of our houses were built so the board sizes still fit with little waste.
For me, this was really a one-time event. I made the decision when I started to get into CAD modeling back in the mid-00s, to standardize on millimeters for everything, car-size and beyond. Everything else just happened naturally from there -- calipers set to metric, found some decent tape measures and other tools with metric or dual scales, and ultimately I was pretty surprised by how painless it was. Metric fasteners are easy to design with, you can work mostly in whole numbers, a lot less fuss to make the change than I was expecting. Haven't looked back.
I was going to write almost the same story. I'm happy to say I'm ambidextrous but mostly prefer metric. I still buy 2x4 lumber and 4x8 sheets of plywood not 50x200 or 1219.2mm X 2438.4mm plywood sheets.
Hardest part for me is finding metric tools at the local big box stores. Plus, pipe fittings are all NPT, and a large amount of equipment uses Imperial fasteners.
Face it - the REAL reason US car makers went to metric was because all the people making parts(1/2 way around the world) use metric and not Imperial(US makers) and not to make it easier....
Wonderful video! I went from draftsman to engineer and have always absolutely adored the metric system. I've been fortunate enough to work for a company based in Germany so I've been able to keep everything metric on my designs and drawings. The only thing I dont like about metric is the fasteners. The actual diameter/thread variety you get in imperial is superior in my experience, but the benefit is relatively minor. If switching to metric meant losing my precious 4-40s, I'd still sign off immediately. Even though I've lived through a lifetime of imperial I still have to google how many cups are in an ounce and ounces in a gallon because all of the conversions are absolute nonsense.
As an engineer myself (from germany) i have never bothered with whitworth or whatever non-metric thread norming there is out there. However I was working with metric threads a lot and even in very tight spaces and unusual sizes. you can get thread diameter in .5 mm increments and pitches in .25 increments. there might be cases though, where a non-metric thread might just fill the gap between two metric sizes perfectly :D
I am a mechanical engineer with 42 years experience. I have designed many machines, hydraulic and pneumatic systems. In short, imperial system is just crap! Fasteners included...
You scripts are always pretty good but this one was great. A joke in almost every line and the dry delivery was just spot on, while still having the informative content and balanced takes that make this channel so great. I use both for woodworking and fabrication projects pretty interchangeably using whichever is the most convenient at the time. I do feel metric is overall a better system, particularly if you are doing anything which involves conversion between types of measurement. But imperial is great for rough work and eyeballing sizes. The only time I have strong feelings on systems of measurement is the American obsession with using "cups" as measurement in cooking. Use weight for solid materials like a sane person, Pounds and Ounces are fine it doesn't have to be grams, I can use imperial or convert to grams. But please stop measuring solids of varying density with a only loosely defined volume, it is the work of madness.
Your comment is great and I especially like the part about cooking, makes complete sense because it can make a big difference in the outcome. And yet, as an almost 71 years old lady who has only ever used cups to measure and hardly cooks from scratch anymore I’m not sure I even want to try to change at this point. 😳 I’ll leave that to those that do cook and bake instead. 😉
@@BobbieJeanM I have a scale. Bowl: zero; “pour” (shake?) to add; zero again; repeat until done. OK, I still use spoons for spice, but weight with a “tear” function is way easier!!
In Canada we use Pounds and Metrics in Supermarkets and nobody is complaining. We also use inches, feet and Metric in hardware stores. It is as if the inch, feet and pound make the Metric a *METRIC+, and it is pretty cool. The official system in Canada is the Metric. Just go to Canada and check it out for yourself.
ALL of our imperial dimensions are officially defined using metric units. For example, the inch is exactly 25.4mm (2.54cm) so a foot is exactly 30.48cm and 3 feet (1 yard) is 91.44cm or 0.9144 meter.
The metric inch of 25,4mm also happens to be a compromise value between the Imperial and US inches. The US never used the Imperial measuring system, since this dates from the early 19th century.
@@markevans2294In 1935 the ASA (now ANSI) defined the inch as 25.4. And so, yes, the US isn't 'switching' to metric, the US *already switched* to the metric system. It's just taking "normal" people 100, or 200 years to realize it.
Actually, there are two versions of feet used in the US: The International foot is exactly 0.3048 meters. Whereas, the US Survey foot is 1200/3937 meters. Or, one meter is 3.2808333333(infinitum)feet. Your everyday use and how things are described to you are in International Feet. For land and offshore measurements they use in the US Survey Foot. However, even this will be changing as the government is planning to deprecate the use of the US Survey Foot, but for us which use both on a daily basis, that will not be anytime soon. Lucky for me I mostly use metric, but my US colleagues still have to use both Feet versions as well as metric. Lots of fun, huh?
In the UK we still mix and match. Based partly on history and partly on what is easiest to use. As others have mentioned you might buy a 3m length of 4"x2" (it is actually ~47x100mm) but nobody bothers to remember that. Pretty much all rulers have metric and imperial and I'll regularly pick whichever is easiest to use. It makes no difference to the product unless you have to fit some part that is mm specific.
Same in Ireland. If I need precision I'll use mm. If I'm roughly measuring somthing I'll probably just use inches as it's probably a lower number to remember.
Ironically a 2x4 is not 2" x 4". It's 1 1/2" x 3 1/2 inches, or more easily written in decimal, 1.5" x 3.5". Yes, America insists on being backward. During covid isolation I started baking breads and cakes more often, trying out new recipes. Boy did that get me pissed off. Stupid cups, teaspoons, tablespoons, fluid ounces, ordinary(?) ounces, pounds, etc., etc. Add to that 'flat' cups, heaped cups, heaped teaspoons, you get the idea. Bloody rubbish! I converted all my 'new' recipes to the metric system and using a scale and measuring jug moved into the 20th century. Now my baking has improved enormously and is consistently good. Funnily enough, American industry already operates in the metric system. Look at almost any packaging and you'll see the metric measurements listed. I'm told that US manufacturers, the few that remain after the Wall2Walmart shift to just importing goods from overseas, operate in the metric system and resent having to provide the ancient 'imperial' system equivalents. It's the American public that needs to convert to the metric system. US business is already using the metric system but perhaps not quite enough.
@@philipgrice1026if you ever use a recipe that lists eggs, you can't baulk at cups. Eggs are about - 5% to + 10% accurate. Most kitchen measuring jugs are only good for +- 10% too.
I recently got into 3d printing. Everything is metric by default in that field. I love it. I don't feel like I'm swimming against the current like I do in other mechanical endeavors in the US. I'm really tired of people resisting a much easier method because... Because what exactly I don't know. Change is scary I guess.
Here in Australia the older generation like my father, were brought up on the imperial system. So I know how hard it is to change from something that was taught from a young age. But it does make me laugh when my dad has to add up 5ft 9 53/64th in + 3ft 7/16th in + 9ft 3/32 in , and all I have to do is 1774mm + 926mm +2822mm 🙂
I grew up with imperial, and had to change to metric. Best move EVER! How much does 1 litre of water weigh? 1 kilogram. It's just so much easier than trying to convert volume of water to mass, then dividing it by the number you first thought of... And aircraft, filled up in pounds of fuel. You've got to be shitting me! (and yes, I'm fully aware of why they use pounds!)
@@oleksandrbespalov9713 Americans are SO lazy that not only do they refuse to learn the metric system, they can't even see why it's so much better. Which does surprise me in a way. Don't you lazy people see that by using metric you can be even lazier? Go metric, no more fractions! (BTW, fractions don't worry me in the slightest. And I do know that the lowest common denominator for americans not going to metric is that they are stupid.)
Went totally metric when about 2 years ago when I finally changed to Celsius because I did a total immersion language so I could feel comfortable in my second language. The hardest part of that was actually the fact that I needed to convert the speed and distances for when I described a road trip because I was so ueed to giving location as being the amount of time it took to get there not taking into account that I was telling that to someone was using the Autobahn which made something like its an hour away from Chicago a meaningless statement.😅
I'm just running in to the "X hours away" situation while planning a trip to Japan next year, where "an hour away" (while considering daytrips from my hotel) can be anything from 25km to 300km. ;-)
@@davidsilvercreek8541 bro you can add decimals to celsius and it will be the same accuracy... accuracy is dependend of the Device you are using not the numbers that come out... you can even make you're own scale if you want... but you cant change the device and its accuracy to measure stuff
@@davidsilvercreek8541 you can throw sayings around as much as you like, in the end you cant argue with logic. But you wont understand because you dont even understand the conept of logic
metric screws make so much more sense to me. Also I find measuring everything in mm (for projects) way easier.. get better than 1/16th" accuracy with a single number - no fractions or decimals needed.
You can get setup blocks and rules that provide 1/32nd of accuracy which is more accurate than a mm. But when you need to divide that 1 meter base cabinet into 3 equal width top drawers for a buffet let me know how the division goes :).
@@stevenbutler4080 If you need better accuracy, simply use 0.1 or 0.01 or 0.001mm. It is common for working on a metal lathe, for example. :) And try splitting 10" into 3 equal parts - it's the same problem.
I learned both systems when I was in school. Depending on what I'm doing I'll choose one system over the other. If building a large item such as a house, shed or even a planter, I use inches and feet. When building something very small I use millimeters. With temperature I prefer Celsius. With distance, mostly Kilometers but in miles is simple too. In measuring land, I prefer Acres. When you understand both, it really makes little difference.
I’ve been using metric on personal projects for a while now. My only problem with using metric at work is that my metric tape measures seem to keep going missing off job sites, funny thing that.
That's all tools, sadly. Was doing a QA/QC job on a construction site for a while on Eglin AFB and we usually were there for all of about 4 hours. I left my surveyors tape that measures in tenths unattended for all of maybe 10 minutes and it was gone with the wind. Same happened to my hammer as well. Still miss that hammer.
@barneylaurance1865 That's pretty much standard. What's harder to find but far better in my opinion is one with tenths instead of inches. Tenths are simply and undeniably superior in every way.
I purchased project plans from a Japanese youtuber and there were links to parts sold by a Japanese distributor in the US. I bought all of the M-size screws, nuts, washers, etc. as well as new Makita drill bits and a dual unit tape measure, and loved how easy it was to do the math when putting everything together. I've thought of doing future projects entirely in metric.
It's nuts and bolts that motivates me the most. An M8x40 bolt is 8mm in diameter and its thread is 40mm long. It's easy to stock a good range of common values.
Just playing devil's advocate here but, it's not so different. A ½" x 2" bolt it one half inch in diameter by two inches long. You do have to pay attention to thread pitch also, but then again it's the same for metric for any bolt M8 or larger.
@@Elder-Sage You want to drill a hole to tap a #10 thread, so you use 5/32" drill bit, then realize you need another 4 thousandths clearance, so do you use a #20 drill bit, or a #21? This would all be so easy in metric.
@@dominicread797 Thread tapping introduces a whole other layer of calculations. If I want to tap a hole for a M8 bolt do you think you drill a 8mm hole? The answer is no. Depending on thread pitch, you'll have to drill 6.75mm, 7mm, 7.25mm, or 7.5mm. To answer your question the bit I would select would depend on the thread pitch (24 or 32 TPI) and also the hardness of the material (50% to 75% overlap). The bit could be anywhere between 18 to 25. *(also I think we can collective curse standards organizations who decided not to name things in size but an arbitrary gauge scales which is a layer of agitation wholly separate from the English vs Metric issue)*
@@Elder-Sage that is the beauty of the Metric bolt system. M8 thread is always has a 1.25mm pitch. Otherwise it will be denoted as what it actually has. Though at such small sizes I have never seen fine pitch. I have however seen things like M45x1.5, meaning an outside diameter of 45mm with a pitch of 1.5mm
Any metric thread which doesn’t have the pitch appended is metric coarse ( which is the standard ) to get the tapping drill size subtract the pitch from the major dia ( it’s near enough ) far easier than all the different US threads , UNC , UNF or UN-8 & as for the different strength grades !!
Here in the UK we operate a mishmash of metric and imperial.Our money is metric (has been since 1971)we sell petrol and diesel in litres but we measure road distances and speed in miles and miles per hour,and we sell beer and cider from the pump in pubs in pints but bottled beer is often sold in half litres.Like i said a mishmash since we don't seem to have grasped metric fully.
In the UK we're a nation of exaggerators. When it's cold, we state the temperature in Celsius, minus 5 sounds really cold. When it's warm, we state the temperature in Fahrenheit, because 80 degrees sounds really hot 🙂
In UK, we don't sell beer in pints, we measure them in litres and then sell them into quaint pint volume glasses. We don't measure distances in miles either, the road "mile" markers on motorways are all in kilometers, and we just put up speed limit signs in miles per hour so drunk drivers can't claim they thought they only drank a pint when they drank a litre of beer, and they thought they weren't speeding because the speed limit was in km/hr.
Hey Mate, good vid, thanks. Now, As a 70+yo now dinosaur, I was brought up in the Uk as a kid with engineering background who learnt his mechanics on the UK imperial system of screw and bolt sizes. In my teen it was all changing to the Unified (US) nuts and bolts system so I had to buy all new wrenches to fit . In my twenties, UK became mostly metric, another set of wrenches were purchased. Today, I am probably one of very few people in the world who could still recognise the difference of the threads by sight and also the nut sizes and what spanner to use by just sight!. Good luck world!
I've noticed that since I started using a scale to measure cooking and baking ingredients I find myself measuring in grams voluntarily. I love progress, but I hate change. Surprisingly, this change sneaked in and worked for me.
Word on that. Ever since I got a kitchen scale I abandoned desilitres and other stupid measures as well. Everything in grams allows my half-decent home cooking to be decent.
@@2001kb As a metric user, pretty much the only reason I sometimes measure ingredients using a cup is because we have a measurement cup with scales for each common powders (sugar, flour, ...) and guess what those scales are labeled as ? grams. It's just a non-mechanical and non-electronic balance disguised as a cup.
@ledocteur7701 oh you dont know then... also... it was made with a mistake (its not a perfect system) ((even if it was... it would still be imperfect and awfully flawed))
As a Aussie with an American mother I grew up confused as hell with measurements, on top of that I often failed my spelling tests because I leave the U out of color...I mean colour. Now I fix metric Airbus aircraft in the morning and Imperial Boeing's in the afternoon. 🙄🇦🇺
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Nixon tried to convert the us to Metric. That was the real reason they faked a scandal to get him out of office.
If you stop to think of it, the push for the metric system is nothing more than a hatred by many of all things British. That's a really silly reason to adopt a system of measure. The fact is that a base 8 system (and 12 is just 1.5 times 8 and 16, obviously, twice 8) is superior in matters of trade. It works out well, people have written papers on this, for trade and really meshes well with the physical world. Base 10, OTOH, does not. Imagine if we had a 20 hour day with 10 hours for AM and 10 hours for PM. Imagine what a face clock would look like. A base ten system is for those of such limited intellect that they can't deal with anything but powers of 10. The metric system LIMITS thinking, and the world isn't so simple as the base 10 system. People are too afraid and too lazy to actually THINK.
Metric is so much simpler. I wish we as a country would just convert. Train the kids in school and jump to metric.
I didn´t learn French, but i know the way to build numbers is worse than the imperial system. The word for 80 means 4x20. They only count up to 20 and an addition in words.
Please keep using Imperial units, with metric converted plans. It's what almost all woodworkers in the USA use, and based on some of the comments, some people in other countries also use Imperial units when woodworking.
It's not a perfect comparison, but it would not be cool to try to get everyone in the world to speak the same language. It will probably happen eventually, but why rush it?
I used to love the metric system because of the easy use of dividing by 10. Seemed natural, it was the same number of fingers I had before I became a woodworker.
You grew extra fingers?
Ouch
@@uplink-on-ytclearly you never used a saw
@@uplink-on-yt 100% human, 0% salamander.
Depending on what happened, you can start using the Octal system
This guy has top-tier humor. It was one blow after the other, delivered in the most matter-of-fact voice, that had me chortling. Subscribed.
IKR! It sounded so informative 😂
Funnily enough that's very reminiscent of British humour
the inch unit system and other unit system are stupid. It is not because of stupid system, but because that they are not compatible with the international system SI. All other unit systems must compatible with the international system SI.
I often use computer programs for technical machines and other engineering tasks. And I often have to store and enter various values for various variables in computer programs, then let computer programs use entered values to calculate various tasks. You know that computer programs use standard known scientific formulas to calculate. If you enter values for variables in different unit system, then any time you add values, you must check the unit used in scientific formulas, then you must convert the added values to required unit systems. It is nightmare in engigeering tasks and scientific tasks.
The only solution is that : use universal unit system SI : all programs and people exchage and communicate only with values in SI system. Thus no need to convert and check formulas when you apply variables in scientific formulas.
Other unit system maybe comfortable only in conversation communication languages, but not in engineering tasks.
He's on his way to be another Leslie Neilson
I particular loved the bit about the 10 dollars in a saving account ... The perfect argument for going metric 😂
I spent 45 years as a machine designer. The SI (System of Units), the official name for the "metric system", is by far simpler than the Imperial System (Customary Units of Measure in the USA). Using the SI System is like learning and becoming fluent in a second language. Once you understand it you can switch back and forth without too much trouble. It's really very easy to learn and way less confusing.
I'm a contractor, sorry your metric system is inferior.
@@tienglongmy Please elaborate.
Fock having to use fractions for everything. Now if we could clean up the English language cuz it's an absolute mess. 😂
@@riangarianga I am not a contractor, but I hardly see how that's relevant. Whether you are a contractor or making use of contractors, the majority of the planet uses metric. I guess it must suck if you're a contractor ONLY doing work in imperial. You basically are restricted to working in the US, Liberia or Myanmar. And there's always the risk of conversion error, like the case of the Hubble mirror.
@@riangarianga He can't, you just took really poor bait from a stupid troll who probably thinks bud light is a beer, poor fellow...
The U.S. is going metric, but they're doing it slowly: inch by inch.
😂
@@andylee7862 I was told that in 1958. Hasn't happened yet.
@@ednorton47It’s a joke.
Hahaha! They probably won’t do it the easy way, you know in tens, just to stick it to the rest of the world. So the US and Myanmar (90% of the US will have no idea where that is) can show us all up.
It's an old joke but always amusing.
I'm from the Czech Republic and while I got mostly used to the US lengths and weights thanks to watching all the cool American bushcraft stuff, I always felt a bit sad that you guys didn't moved to the metric system. The ease of multiplying or dividing by 10 let's my simple brain to do other things. :D
I have Several Czech made garden hoses (my wife is Czech) from a company that predated the collapse of communism (two are over 25 years old). The internal diameter is 1/2". It's printed right on the hose!
@@timosdinkydetailing So? I keep having to buy irrigation and plumbing material by inches. Same for computer and too many other things. Most hardware is sold in inches and I'm damn sure it's not by the influence of Liberia or Myanmar. It smells more like USA exceptionalism. It must be so great to know there are like 7.5 billion dwarves abroas who disagree with you... and your yards, gallons, ounces, tablespoons and so on. Such a power!
@@timosdinkydetailing I have seen new hoses that have 13 mm written on them.
Respectfully, that ease only exists as long as you either don't have anything right of the decimal, or a select tiny number that's easily manageable. US Customary units get around this as everything is fractions which are easy to work with and there's no numbers right of the decimal to worry about.
Once you get into giant numbers right of the decimal and have to do complex math with them, it becomes problematic, especially where rounding gets involved. Round and varying positions (say 4 decimal places on one value, then 8, then 9) for different numbers and your answer is way off what was expected; sure you could pick a point at which to round but at what point does that consistently work when the numbers are coming from multiple different equations? This is why software such as GNU Octave and Matlab exist to perform such calculations rounding at ridiculous numbers of decimal places.
When I was at university getting my degree in mechanical engineering was when I discovered the point I made in the paragraph above this one, I was the only person in the tutorial class who kept getting answers that matched the book, most others were off by quite a significant amount. When being asked why I was getting the answer the book had when everyone else wasn't, I demonstrated it to the class. The professor noticed that I was instinctively converting everything to imperial and then solving as fractions whilst everyone else wasn't. When I reached my final answer, I converted back to metric and got the correct answer.
Having grown up in the bush in Australia, fractions were taught as a priority and many farmers used "Imperial" (basically the British version of US Customary units). Most land is sold and listed in acres as people understand that better than hectares (which are only used on govt records alongside the acre value).
@@mernokimuvek Yeah, but remember that it's only directly compatible with new plumbing parts unless they've made it as 1/2" but incorrectly listed it as 13mm. In reality 1/2" is 12.7mm so that's a significant difference when compared to real 13mm. This is why plumbing parts are still made in Imperial and why both are still used in the Commonwealth countries - new houses are metric but older ones (pre-2010) aren't.
As a hobbyist boat builder, most of my work is done in metric. Honestly, I have always hated adding, multiplying, subtracting, and dividing fractions. It is a serious pain and takes far longer than just learning to use the metric system.
ever build an ECO6 micro-cruising catamaran sailboat? 13mm ply/epoxy/glass. Super-cool! I built one. Check it out if you've not. It'll put hair on your chest. haaaaa built a one-sheet tender for it, too. fun :-) next up is a micro canalboat
the inch unit system and other unit system are stupid. It is not because of stupid system, but because that they are not compatible with the international system SI. All other unit systems must compatible with the international system SI.
I often use computer programs for technical machines and other engineering tasks. And I often have to store and enter various values for various variables in computer programs, then let computer programs use entered values to calculate various tasks. You know that computer programs use standard known scientific formulas to calculate. If you enter values for variables in different unit system, then any time you add values, you must check the unit used in scientific formulas, then you must convert the added values to required unit systems. It is nightmare in engigeering tasks and scientific tasks.
The only solution is that : use universal unit system SI : all programs and people exchage and communicate only with values in SI system. Thus no need to convert and check formulas when you apply variables in scientific formulas.
Other unit system maybe comfortable only in conversation communication languages, but not in engineering tasks.
I suppose 16.5cm is a lot more impressive sounding than 6.5 inches of manhood. I have to revert back to college lab mentality, scientific notations etc. Biggest daily thing would be getting used to speeds, temperatures, and body weights in Kg.
guess ol sailingspark9748 is too-busy building some boat, so he can't respond here :-) Heyyy...I'm building myself an modded-Escargot canalboat now. What are you? And where is the least-expensive Epoxy to be found? I use alot :-)
@@antoniiocaluso1071 Sorry, I was away sailing on the Chesapeake leading up the Small Craft Festival in St. Michaels.
And no, I have never built an eco6, My boats tends to be long an pointy. A couple of kayaks, a wherry, and I just finished up a Milgate duck punt.
My next boat will be Canoe Yawl, just have not decided how big or small I want to go.
I tend to get my epoxy from Jamestown Distributors. Being in NJ, the delivery from R.I. is super quick.
I’m from the UK & I remember our conversion to metric. It was a great move.
I took my scuba instructors exam, I used metric for the physics portion, most others used imperial. I finished about an hour before everyone else (generally scoring higher).
Geez, don't even want to think of doing this in imperial units. Speaking of, I wonder how many accidents happened because of imperial-units calculation errors.
Though as an add on question, we use 10m=+1bar pressure. Do USCS divers use PSI for that as well? Is there some easy way to gauge? Or one just remembers 10m=+14.5 PSI (or is it rounded to 14)?
I'm from the UK also and whilst scuba diving might be easier in metric we are not all metric yet, its a mixture, the temperature is Celcius though and that's definitely better!?!
Even beer is metric an imperial pint is 568ml in Ireland a brewers yearly output is measured in hectolitres
@@carcharhinus_555 Yes, they use PSI.
I must confess that I was not enthusiastic when we changed from imperial to metric units in the U.K. However forty years on I find I make less measuring mistakes using the metric system and relieved that I don’t need three types of spanners to work on my car! I look back and wonder what the fuss was about.
2 things:
1. Change is hard
2. Brits and Americans seem to have a deeply rooted need to feel special.
The interesting thing with that is Canada also used Imperial units up until about 1976. But the gallons were larger, 4.5459 liters IIRC, and a few other things like fluid ounces were smaller being that there were 160 ounces in an imperial gallon, but a US gallon is only 3.7854117 liters and has 128 ounces. The reason for this is, USA stayed on the Queen Anne era units of measure as used in the UK, and then after 1776, did not switch to the newer UK Imperial system of units, so in all actuality, the US system of measurements dates back even farther than the Imperial units of measure used in the UK and other Commonwealth countries just prior to switching to a metric system. The Queen Anne era gallon as defined to be exactly 231 cubic inches dates back to 1706 and was called a wine gallon. The UK abandoned that unit of measure in 1826, but that was just 14 years after the war of 1812, and things weren't exactly friendly across the pond.
@@brnmcc01 Thanks for the interesting history. I would like to say “that makes sense” but mostly history doesn’t make sense. Like here in the U.K. when we went full blown metric we chose to keep road signs in miles! 🤣🤣
@@pauldgardner1even now i have trouble with kilometres. Metres etc I'm fine with. I just can't seem to envision Kms. But then I am quite old now, possibly too late to bother with 😊
I'm old enough that converting to metric is easy on paper, but trying to re-train my mind to visualize things in anything but inches, feet, and yards is going to be a challenge.
You have to pretend, so the next gen. can do this naturally.
Oh yes, i have this problem with inches, feet and yard... i am from germany... :D
@@Shadow27374 Same here. I live in a metric world. I am from Poland. Fortunately I am a scientist, so we use metric system at work as well.
It took me about 4 days to really click into metric when I was taking an automation class where the software was only metric. I've kind of lost that "sense" now, but it really wasn't bad.
Another metric guy here, but fortunate to be comfortable in both systems. I visualise in feet and inches all the time. But I measure and cut in mm.. If that makes sense. I reckon stick with what you know, and as you say, it's easy to do the maths when its time to draw the plan.
As a Canadian, it's even worse up here. We oscillate between metric and imperial so frequently, you'd think we were experiencing convulsions. I love the humorous approach to this subject.
You can thank your recalcitrant neighbor to the south for that. American pop culture is so pervasive that the USA also hangs up the rest of the world with it's olde fashioned feet, pounds and such. It's so out of place on a modern globe.
I was going to comment the same. Since we are so close to the US, we use both in an odd, haphazard way. Even worse for those of us who grew up in border towns!
Here in the UK we would ask for 3m of 2 x4, so we mix and match all the time. Gas is sold in lites but we talk about miles per gallon.
We have bilingual measuring tapes!
Also Canadian here, construction industry atleast is still the old way good ol' feet and inches
I’ve used inches and fractions almost forever in my workshop. But during my last project building a desk, I got real tired of adding fractions like 3/8 + 1/4 + 3/16 to get a total I need to make a cut. I whipped out my metric tape measure and almost never looked back. I reduced my scrapped cuts as well! 1:49
ditto, I use metric whenever possible. especially if its a project I am doing alone, for myself. I grab the metric tape every time.
6/16 + 4/16 + 3/16 = 13/16 ...... if you convert like that in your head, it's trivial to add fractions on the fly... For woodworking, where the smallest fraction will be 1/16, this works great.
@@JDeWittDIY but think of all the pencil lead you save by not having to write the denominator all the time.
@@JDeWittDIYIt always helps to multiply things by some number before adding them and then divide result by 16. It's so much easier than to just add them :p
Yeah, make things simple that's what I say. Not everyone can figure out the complicated fractions.
Favorite metric system quote is by Josh Bazell.
In metric, one milliliter of water occupies one cubic centimeter, weighs one gram, and requires one calorie of energy to heat up by one degree centigrade-which is 1 percent of the difference between its freezing point and its boiling point. ...
Whereas in the American system, the answer to ‘How much energy does it take to boil a room-temperature gallon of water?’ is ‘Go f**k yourself,’ because you can’t directly relate any of those quantities.”
There is no such thing as a centigrade. Unit is called Celsius.
@@bocman1985 I quote from a quick google search "Centigrade is a scale for measuring temperature, in which water freezes at 0 degrees and boils at 100 degrees."
I think the world is just pissed because when they watch many videos from the USA and it includes any form of measurement, they do not understand, and it upsets them.
@@bocman1985 centigrade is another term for celsius. and was often used by the british and french.
@@bocman1985In Brazil we use both centigrade and celsius as synonyms
Your script writing in this video is amazing. It is ironic, smart. really good. I envy your talent.
love the jab about not knowing to use fractions...
His older videos are full of this snarky writing.
He's brilliant!
Script writing?
You tell lies!!
He did this on the fly!!!
Could not have said it better!
A funny thing is that although almost everything over here is measured in SI units (that's why you easily can calculate that one cubic meter = 1000 liter etc.), we also have traces of imperial. One common example is computer screens, we buy them in 15, 21, 27 inches - that's just the international standard for them 🙃 No-one knows exactly what it means but we know what screen size we're expecting.
The 19" rack, for datacenter and sound engineers is an other one
I believe the international standard for plane runways is also measured in feet
@@JBB685 probably because flying happens in feet/miles, which came from ships, which didn't change after metric was created.
Actually this pretty much only happens with inches for some reason, computer screens, wheel diameters, piping thread sizes. All in inches for some reason. Can't think of any non inch standards (apart from the airplane runways mentioned before, but those are also distances)
@@EddoWagtIt's funny, because computer screens are in inches, but TV screen sizes are in cm.
As an American, I was amazed by the ease of calculating volume by size and also the weight. 1ml(of water) is 1 cubic centimeters, which is one gram or in larger terms 1 liter of water is 1000 cubic cm and 1 kilo. Not necessarily as easy if you are looking for the wight of something other than water, but volume still works. Without looking it up, how many gallons are in a cubic foot?
No one does that... there is 0 need for when messuring the weight of water based on its weight... ive never done that my entire life... metric is only good for messuring chemicals and thats where it only belongs... but for everything else... its a awful system... imperial is and always will be better
1 cubic decimeter of water is not exactly 1kg. At room temperature it is about 997g. It is close, but it is because of water density
@@Scudmaster11 Of course that comes in handy, for example if you want to know whether your floor can hold your new water bed with x hundred litres of water inside it. Or if you're building a DIY raft using air-filled tubes and you want to know how much volume you need to keep your weight afloat.
Imperial is only better for those who're used to it, changing is always difficult.
@Ragnar8504 the only thing i hear difficult is you... imperial isnt hard... and we dont normally need to convert... PS messuring air buoyancy with metric is stupid... water beds arent really used (only in vary rare situations are they bought).... ive given metric a try before and hated it... couldnt visualize anything... it was all over reliant on objects and machines as because the numbers are unweildly)... also... if you think converting between stuff in imperial is hard... its not.... you are only nameing the vary few novelty things metric is only better at... but imperial crushes the cpmpetiton by MILES..... achers of land is better (and economic) if you want one that you will never top... achers are known by how much work a famer can get done in one day (back then)... so its a efficient way for land... even though i dont personally use it... its used in land messurement of how much there is
@@Scudmaster11Indeed, 1 metric achre, aka 100m^2, aka 10x10m, is better!
Looping back to this video again. I have to say, one thing I love is that there's no gimmicks with your videos. No in your face tricks or annoying distractions, just great video. And even when there is a "promotion" it's always at the end, and always related to woodworking. A+ mate. Scott from Japan
I was born and raised in the US and now live in Canada. I comfortably switch between imperial and metric; sometimes within the same project. For certain though any time I need to find the center of something, I use metric. Division of whole numbers beats fractions any day.
Quite. I enjoy watching people trying to centre something 43 and 3/8 inches on one side, 44 and 5/16 on the other, how much to move to be in the centre? Long silence. Another long silence. Hit with hammer. Repeat. On the other hand, my workshop is imperial with a mixture of BSF and BA threading tools, fraction and number drills, imperial measuring tools, machine tools graduated in 1/1000 inch. It will not be going metric anytime soon. Multiply that by a whole economy. Unless the US government funds it, there won't be much movement, and it will be hugely expensive as every last broken tool will be dug out to be replaced by taxpayer's money.
Studied in BCIT and went through the same thing having to learn both measurements, and by learning both I mean spend 90% of my time memorizing the unit rates of all the imperial units.
@@etherealbolweevil6268 I hate imperial with a passion. I *always* convert imperial to metric before I do anything. And If I have a bunch of damn drills or like 10-20 wrenches or sockets that are imperial, I have to line them up in order to know which one is bigger than the other FFS I *hate* imperial!
@@etherealbolweevil6268 You gave both examples i will use those, finding center is easy. On odd numbers 43 3/8 for example subtract 1 to make it even leaving 42. divide by 2 = 21. for the fractions you add the numerator and the denominator together = 11 your new numerator. to get your denominator you just double your old one so 16. all together thats 21 11/16". Evens are super easy 44 5/16" ex. divide your whole number by 2. so 22 then just double your denominator so 32. that gives you 22 5/32"
Oh really? Take off .003 in machining, or take off .000118? Sit down.
I bought a fully metric tape measure for work doing HVAC. The other guys give me a hard time about it but it's easier to divide 120cm into two or three parts than it is 47.2441 inches. I regularly need to center mini split heads on a wall or between windows and it saves so much time and mental effort. They told me all the tricks for finding half with standard but i dont even need them with metric. It's also a smaller scale so more ability to be accurate. I started using metric for 3d printing modeling. Fusion 360 was set default to metric so I tried it. I'll never go back now. I still use standard on new construction jobs because there's standards for stud spacing etc. but I use metric whenever I can.
If you are still new to metric: decide wether to use cm or mm and stick with it, don't mix units, don't switch units otherwise you'll get confused by your own notes pretty fast. If you don't like to type in decimal points in fusion: go for mm. But note: many rulers / tape measures come in cm, unless they are from/for Australia, where they made mm the default unit by law.
Mixing units is terrible, say i go out to buy a piece of wood for a friend and he writes down 20 x 100 x 200. Thickness is obviously 20mm (because 20cm would be too much), but is it 100 mm x 200 cm or 100 cm x 200 cm or 100 cm x 200 mm? All three are reasonable sizes.
@@blauesKopftuch The rule says, if no units are written, the numbers mean mm, if somebody means cm but doesnt write that and sends someone else with that sheet of paper to a store he is just an idiot. If anything is unclear, why dont you just make phonecall?
Calling unit system only you and few other countries uses standsrd is so American.
what tape measure has decimal inch?
You mean "47 and a quarter, shy." Right?
I grew up metric but have used inches for decades since moving to the US; years in the construction industry certainly helped that along. I now find myself using millimeters when precision is required and feet and inches for rougher work. What really has me scratching my head is decimal inches, especially rulers with sixteenths on one side and tenths on the other. A trap for the unwary if I ever saw one.
And for some reason surveyors like to use decimal feet. Very odd.
I'm a surveyor, decimal feet have ruined inches for me forever
@@drewbacca1981My feet are decimal. They have 10 toes.
Obviously they got cold feet converting to metric.@@timjbarnes
I work in a company that makes windows and sunrooms. The labels/order slips list dimensions in decimal feet and inches but we have “the giant inch” on each machine. This is a 4x5 card with 1 “inch” along the long side divided into 16ths of an inch. It is then marked with dots showing common decimal inch increments such as 3/10 inch. That way workers can tell at a glance approximately where to cut if they only have a standard tape measure with 16ths of an inch but not 10ths.
As an engineer, I've been waiting for the metric switchover for decades. Let's do it already! It will save us so many avoidable conversion mistakes, and save money on new machines also.
Just ask NASA...
They say the cost just to replace road signs would be astronomical.
This was the most well written content you ever produced. Straight up, 6 minutes of giggling. I guess base 60 won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
The French wanted to make everything based on 100 (time, angles), but it did not take.
@@sylviam653510 day week was not approved by workers. Except priests, who had tre more free day between preaching. 😂
You call it that way but yet, you divide by 10. To got 60system nomber you need 51 diferent symbol after nomber 9. Same in hexadecimal, no 10 is A, so you are stil in decad system because you count 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9, 10(and that is decad system because you repeat 0 from the beginingand 1 is moved just one place to represent it) and first nomber in second "stage" (to simplefie litle) is nomber from begining 0, and next is 1... and ading representation of "stage" its 11. So we all operate in decad, computers do in binary 0,1... nomber 10 is 1010 nine is 1001...
because he litteraly copied the "Why I will NEVER use the Metric System" video
Already metric and loving it!
Love how it's so transferable through the other units, e.g. 10cm cube is a litre of water. Which is a kg.
Oh, and science uses it, SI
"10 dollars in the average Americans saving account", outstanding move!
Say SN I was raise on the metric system and when I moved to the US I had to adjust to inches, feet, yards, pints, quarts...etc. I use the metric system on my designs and also also created a metric inch which is 25.0 mm instead of 25.4 mm and I love it. it makes all my calculations easy to go back and forth.
As a Canadian who grew up using Imperial measurements and then had to learn to convert to Metric, it wasn't hard to do. I use both systems interchangeably.
Yes, but you have to remember that the (median)average American isn't that smart, and half of the rest are dumber than that.
Same here I was at school when Australia changed
There is always the issue of things that were made with the imperial system are easier to deal with in that system. My house was built in 1958 which means that all rooms, doorways and other features are sized using whole imperial numbers - when dealing with that it is easier to stay in imperial than to convert to metric. I have eight foot ceilings, 28 inch wide doors, 3 foot wide staircases, etc.
And yet the grocers still package and advertise meat in pounds instead of 454 g. And 20 degrees still seems colder than 61
Although plywood measurements can be a bit of a pain. Isn't 3/4" ply slightly undersized?
I love that I, as a Swedish bought up in the metric system, took almost the entire video to notice that he has a Sjöberg workbench. Sjöberg is an incredible swedish name, and the bench is most probably also very metric. That beein said, we sometimes actually use inches for our lumber. So I guess the imperial to inch conversion goes both ways =D
inches in Swedish lumber is usually slur for the things that are actually measures in mm.
the Swedish 2 by 3 is actually 45x70 mm.
what I mean to say is that inches exists in the language but not in the measurements.
Don't forget that not many years ago we bought 4 inch nails.. Now they are 100mm nails
@@sm3ttz Well, as an Austrian, I always bought nails in millimeter lengths - except for Nine Inch Nails, of course... 🙂
Good to learn that you are "a Swedish" and not "a Swede". That will be valuable information so I don't embarrass myself if I meet someone from Sweden. I guess that means someone from your neighboring country would be a "Danish" and not a "Dane".
Don't trust him on that @@douglashaag1127 :). I am very much Swedish myself, but I'm also a Swede. ;)
As a Canadian I can tell you that the stubbornness of the imperial system is boundless. Even after everything governmental has switched we still buy 2.5 inch mattress toppers and brag about being 6 ft tall and so on
i know this is an old video but I'm going to comment anyway. I am 74 years old and have always been a proponent of our inch/foot measuring system. Several months ago I bought my first 3d printer. As many do I started out downloading various storage designs and printing them but I wanted to make things specifically suited to my requirements. I downloaded a free CAD program and went at it. I started using the inch as my default measuring system and soon got frustrated when trying to making small adjustments to my designs. I then switched to metric as my default and never looked back. It has made my life so much easier. I have started dong this in my woodworking shop for the same reason and have purchased more measuring tools with both systems on them.
The irony is the US already has switched to metric, we did a long time ago. The formal definition of an inch is EXACTLY 2.54 cm. In other words, the inch is already defined in terms of the metric system. And the same applies for all the "English" units we use. We're just running the metric system with a texture pack over top of it.
"The irony is the US already has switched to metric, we did a long time ago...." - Yes, that's what this video is all about :)
@@StumpyNubs True! I just find it interesting that even the units that are ostensibly still Imperial units are metric if you actually look up the precise definition of them.
I spent my early schooling using both the metric and the imperial system. I have been teaching physics since 1977 and find the metric (SI) system way easier. However when doing woodwork, every now & then I find myself thinking in inches - Imperial seems somehow to lend itself well to woodworking.
so you could say we're using the metric system with extra steps.
@@bobalmanthat’s a different tangent. Nominal vs actual dimensions is still an issue in metric as well.
As a flight mechanic it would be a 100 times easier if the American engines were designed for metric
R u working in Boing for any chance? 💀
Apparently you can hammer on metric sockets onto aircraft spec bolts, Boeing,
It would be 212x easier
Ehh no... miles are better... imperial is better
@@sergio-179 Nooo haha
I grew up when Australia converted from Imperial to Metric, my Mum took advantage of it (for a short while) by explaining to the police officer who pulled her over for doing 100kph (60mph) in a 60 kph zone that she was only obeying the speed sign that said 60:)
I heard a story about a guy driving an american car imported used to Russia when he got pulled over for speeding on a highway and when asked how fast he was going said: "Dunno, a hundred?" Cop looks on the dash and says: "Your speedometer is in miles, you dummy!"
Yep, I remember that transition. I also remember having to master arithmetic using pounds, shillings and pence as well as dollars/cents.
I am an Australian. I was doing my Fitting & Machining apprenticeship at the time we were going metric. I was so grateful,much simpler & less opportunity for error. GO METRIC!
@@zyamadeadborn1785I had a similar experience in England years ago.i hired a little Vauxhall in London for a trip to Oxford. We drove along the motorway with me complaining about the little piece of s@#t we hired - screaming its head of just doing 100. As we flew past Jaguars and BMWs I looked more closely at the speedometer ... MPH.
@@douglasfeilen4344 spoken like a true craftsman.
Being a Brit. I drive in miles and run in km. I drink litres or water and pints of milk. I lift 12kg weights because I want to loose about a stone in weight. When I make a loaf of bread the recipe in my head is 340g(ml) of water and 3.5 cups of flour.
When I buy tape measure it has meters on one side and feet on the other. I use both sides.
The only reason why you think in terms of km when running is because bureaucrats have made it the mandatory system with running. I bet you running apps a devices push it on you. There is a reason why you think of miles when it comes to driving and that is because it is more natural.
@@Art-is-craft Nothing about the imperial system is natural.
Sooner we go fully metric in the UK the better.
@@Art-is-craftNatural? huh? why would that be?
@@stevep4131
Imperial is natural and metric is not.
I believe that in the 1960s there was a big push in the USA to switch the metric system which was quashed by the Society of Automotive Engineers. I think that is fascinating since, as you pointed out, American cars are now mostly metric.
Wish we had,I would't need two tool boxes.
The last fastener I saw on an American vehicle was my 1988 chevy pickup... the only SAE bolts left that I know of are the 3/8-16 bolts in a side terminal battery.
I very much doubt the resistance was at the behest of the SAE, since American automakers are one of the few industries in USA to fairly thoroughly switch to metric.
@@tookitogo I really wish they had! I had a boat shop in the 1990's. New Mercury (and OMC) outboards with legs and gearboxes built in 'murica were imperial and the powerheads (built in Japan) were metric. BLOODY ANNOYING!
It's annoying how some american cars have mixed imperial/metric fasteners/bolts, like my 1988 S-10.
I made the switch to metric for all 'fine woodworking' projects from the start. All of my tapes, squares and straight edges are metric or dual measurement. I added a Wixey digital rule / gauge on my table saws and planer and keep a nice Mitutoyo caliper at the ready. I still reference approximates in imperial and use it for larger projects like cabinets or home repair just because most appliance schematics and accessories use imperial, but my life is loads easier using metric.
NO,NO,NO!, That’s all, but NO.
Funnily enough, I was born, raised and educated in the metric system (I am from France), and yet, when I work in my workshop, I primarily used the imperial system. I found the fractions fun to use... That said, who cares what system you use as long as you have fun building stuff.
Oh those fraction thing drives me crazy.
As the Russian saying goes, "monsieur is a connoisseur of perversion" (used as a praise of sorts)
It does matter when it comes to compatibility between projects and sometimes even within the current project its self.
It's only fun when you're dealing with the easy conversions of the metric system. I'm Done struggling with Imperial.
SI Metric is Universal (French Metric is as you say different) all the units are related 1mm x10 = 1 cm x 100 = 1 meter. 1 cubic cm of water = 1 millilitre that weighs 1 gram x 1000 = 1 liter then 1000 liters equals 1 metric ton or 2200 lb. America is making its self irrelevant by maintaining a system that no one else uses anymore. I was at school when Australia went from British Imperial to Metric. Remember US and UK are not compatible being different scales. ie 1 UK gallon us 4.5 liters one US Gallon is 3.9 liters even the inch is a different scale.
I prefer metric by a mile.
This is a drastically underrated comment. I’m sorry on behalf of the internet.
@@smithdoesstuff we would say... I won't move a mm towards empirical.
😂
As a european, this is funny and i actually never heard it before.
😂 😂😂
It's funny because here in Germany we always use the metric system but on our rulers we also had the inches (we call it Zoll which translates customs) . It was very confusing for us some of us back then. But we also got in touch with it back then.
While we generally use metric in germany, things like plumbing or car rims or tv screens use inches.
@@flybywire5866Selling screens only it imperial however is not legal. Same with using PS or horsepowers for the power of sth. Imperial should be finally replaced everywhere.
The german word "Zoll" was written "Zol" back in the Days and was always a unit of measurement. "Zoll" also means "customs" but that comes from the latin word "telonium" which describes the Place you had to pay customs to continue your journey.
@@Wildschwien I have no idea how PS works for horsepower- I know 50hp is a nice amount on a bike, but is 50PS more or less, and by how much? Same with torque- 50ft-lbs is enough for a smaller bike, but is 50Nm more or less, and by how much? There's just not a sense of scale when it comes to the practical things.
@@shadowmancy9183 PS is Pferdestärke (horsepower) in Germany. However this is not the same as the unit hp I think. We don't use lps as well.
I’m retired now, but I still remember the horror of starting my first job and finding out everything was done in ‘imperial’ units. Virtually my entire education (in Canada) was done in metric, and by the time I finished university all day to day measurements were in metric units. However, all my company’s customers were US, and all requirements were in imperial units, well that is to say US measurements as they were a bit different than the British measurements we used to use - just to make it even more messed up. Now that I am retired and dabbling in a bit of woodworking, I tend to stay with the US units as that’s what all the tools are. However, I am seriously considering just going all metric for future projects, I think once I get started, I will never look back.
And in some ways the USA is fully metric. A inch is defined as exactly 2.54 cm and a pound is exactly 0.45359237 kg. All non metric measurements are actually defined precisely to their metric counter part, and it is the metric measurement that is related to some fundamental physical constant.
Well said, sir :)
A screw called out in a design with a British thread type threw off the work cells at one of my past jobs brutally, given that even the British mostly stopped using them ages ago.
Using Imperial measure is the best way to do construction framing, that's why you do it. You can do a thought experiment on how you would design a metric plywood size and measure out evenly spaced joists to match it. Imperial plywood is eight feet tall. Same as the floor to ceiling hight. The four foot wide sheet can also be framed perfectly with either 12", 16", or 24" spacing. I think, if there wasn't an imperial measurement system, there would be no frame houses at all. Like in Europe.
I have never bought wood that was in metric dimensions. Using the metric system on wood that is cut in imperial dimensions doesn't make any sense to me.
To this day I still can not understand British Withworth but I would like to learn before I pass away.
I'm a Brit and we officially went metric in 1972 but I was brought up on imperial measurements so I am now fully bilingual. The metric system is so much easier to use especially, since we can use calculators that all count in tens. In 1972 I worked for a contractor who was building a large slab sided office block, the lads on site couldn't set the windows out because one side of the building appeared longer than the other according to the dimensions, which were imperial with fractions down to 1/8". it was my job to check the dimensions and it took me all day adding multiple different fractions and even then having done it many times I could only come up with a consensus of what it should be. Had it been in metric it would have taken me 5 minutes with a calculator or 10minutes long-hand to have arrived at the answer. One other advantage of the metric system is the cross relationship between units such that 1 cubic metre of water = 1 Tonne (approximately 1ton), 1 litre of water = 1 kilogram, 1000ltrs = 1 cubic metre etc.
It really doesn't matter what units you use so long as the result is the same, will it fit, how heavy etc? But once you start using the metric system its obvious simplicity will shine through. Those that have the hardest time are those that have to constantly translate between the two systems. Its like a language if you think in the language you are speaking then it is easier.
It is not an easier system to use. It is a trick used by those pushing the system on people that do not know any better.
Up here in Canada we officially use metric, but you will still find a lot of imperial units around as well. Monitors and and Tv screens are measured in inches, and you will very rarely find someone who will give their height in CM, almost always feet and inches. The weirdest thing to me though is wheel/tire sizes. Wheels are measured in inches, so tire sizes will be partially metric, and partially imperial, with a ratio of one of them thrown in there for good measure.
215/60R16 means the tire is 215mm wide, with a sidewall that is 60% of 215mm, and it fits on a wheel that is 16 inches in diameter and about 6.5 inches wide, but then the offset of the wheel is MM again. It makes perfect sense if you don't think about it at all. 😂
Same in SA
Haha the tire thing is also in Europe. I don't own a car but the same issue occurs for bicycles, such a pain
Same as UK but we use also use imperial for the roads and car speed
Yeah a bit of a mess, I had to fill out an application for a licence and it asked for my height and I filled it in, they sent it back as I didn't specify feet inches or meter/cm I wonder if they thought I was over 5 meters tall ?
Dividing by 2 (repeatedly) rather than by 10 may be a matter of taste but the endlessly changing intervals between adjacent denominations of magnitude is a royal pain to memorize; 12 in/ ft, 3 ft/yard, 1760 yd/mile. Worse; US quarts and gallons are smaller than Imperial versions.
As an engineer, I love this 😂
Absolutely!! Engineering calcs are SO much easier in metric!!!!!
As a structural engineer I hate it. Whenever performing a calculation it is imperative to have a gut check on whether it is a reasonable answer. If I’m expecting an answer in a certain range of pounds, I know what that means. The standard unit system is my first language. It would take years to attain that same gut feel in Newtons. I would always be converting back to standard units.
An engineers gut feel for an answer is critical.
Explains why there are so many bridge issues engineer......
I think @SteelheadTed got it right for a lot of us. I took have a hard time visualizing metric units and am comfortable with imperial units. I end up converting to double check myself.
Yeah, but I already use metric for engineer related functions... It's everything else that I'm worried about.
Do you really wanna use Celsius? You lose resolution when making important decisions like if it's going to be warm enough to wear shorts or not.
KPH? Think about the speeding tickets.
Officer: "Do you have any idea how fast you were going?"
Me: "No, I do not."
I used to hate the metric system. Mainly because their odd sizes didn't fit correctly in the imperial tools I had at the time. But as I aged and started working on industrial machines for overseas, where everything on them is metric, I found it's a far easier method and can quickly be learned by anyone even a child. There are times now even at home where I'll prefer to use the metric system for my work around the house.
I bought a 3d printer and used FreeCAD to design things. You can enter dimensions in either decimal inches (e.g. 1.25”) or millimeters. I started off using decimal inches but quickly realized that was horrible. I bought a metric ruler and never looked back. A metric tape measure for woodworking soon followed and I use it all the time. So unless you think adding 1 3/8 to 3 1/4 is fun is highly suggest spending a few dollars on a metric tape measure and giving it a try.
I’ve pretty much gone metric by choice for projects etc. i find the units more accurate and easier to use. Sure it took several tries for it to start to be comfortable, but now it’s second nature
Here in the UK we use both interchangeably, although I think imperial is becoming less common in the younger generation. I'll use imperial for my height, weight, distances and speed, but metric for almost everything else. I like the ease of halving, say, 4 & 3/8 inches by doubling the denominator, but for any precise measurement I'm just much more comfortable in mm
exactly the same, if we could just shake those last few
As a child of the 80s in Scotland, we only learned distances in metric, which is weird because we still use miles on our road signs. I just wish we'd hurry up and get rid of imperial measurements - we should have done it decades ago.
I'm happy using both at the same time. Carpets in the UK are often measured in feet in width, but metric in length! I tend to swap from one to the other depending on what I'm doing and which gives me the results in the quickest way to work out.
I understand you still price race horses in Guineas.
@@newportshapwick The carpets measures are hilarious! 😂
Though I can understand how such a thing evolves in time.
As I don't live in USA, Liberia or Myanmar I use metrics. But when I am working with a folding ruler I can choose inch or mm. Which is good for measuring, when the hole might not be whole mm but linstead ines up with the inch side of the ruler. Almost all folding rulers in Sweden only uses mm but you can still find the ones with both inches and mm, my favourite ones. Thank you for helping with the fast reading in inches.
At 1:20 in the video the signs are incorrect. Converting form Km/H to MPH is really very simple. Multiply the Km times 6, then move the decimal one place to the left. 30 times 6 equals 180. Divide by 10 (move the decimal to the left) and you have 18 MPH. 100 Km/H is 60 MPH.
Dear Mr Nubs -- Thank you for your always valuable, always informative woodworking videos. We have all learned much from you. We also love your style of delivery and humor.
Three years before I retired, intending to move to the Philippines, I decided to switch from US measurements to metric -- especially for temperature (weather) and distance (driving). My digital thermometer happily accomated me with a flip of the switch on the back side. (My Volvo, however, stayed locked in miles.)
In the woodshop, a surprise! My Stanley tape measure already spoke metric. Never noticed that before, except when it got in the way.
Here's my beef --
When my almost 70 yo eyes look down on the tape measure, I can easily see the markings for sixteenths, eighths, quarter inches, etc. The length of the dash at the edge of the tape makes it easy to determine.
The metric side (and my other metric-only measures) shows each mark with a dash of the same length, except for the half centimeter dash which is longer. Problem is, the mm marks are closer together than sixteenths. And with my astigmatism and trifocal lenses it's really hard to tell the difference between 86 mm and 87 mm or 42 and 43 and so on. Dashes of different lengths make the Inches measurements easier to read.
Still, I persevere -- taking my glasses off and getting right down on the ruler when precise metric measurements are needed, which is to say constantly.
Please use your 'influence' to persuade metric measurement instrument providers to adopt gradations in their dashes. Picture one span of a suspension bridge for guidance, from short dashes at the beginning to the long dash in the middle, then shortening down again until the next centimeter.
Thank you very much, Mr. Nubs. You are doing every metric user over the age of 40 a great service.
I like your thoughts on this. They align exactly with my experience here in Canada.
You could try to convert what you're trying to build in increments of 5mm sir.
This is a really great point - the dashes in a metric tape are all the same length and it is harder to see which exact one you need. I often need to count the ticks with my pencil.
Excellent point. 👍🇨🇦
I think the Starrett rules (and probably others) are graduated with different length marks that might help...although that's not a tape, admittedly. Personally I always hated rules graduated in half millimetres - those have always been prone to visual tracking errors. I always tried to find scales that were only in full millimetres...but to be honest, now I'm looking for them that are only graduated every 2mm! Ahh the joys of increasing years of experience!
As a barely over 40 woodworker, I resemble your remark. Begrudgingly. How fast our eyes go...
After working with Festool tools for a while I, as an American, ahem, prefer metric. And I think my friends who struggle with fractions would benefit too. Doing fine furniture so our accuracy is especially important. Thanks for posting. You brought up many good points!
I grew up in Singapore where we uses Metric. Watching and reading imperial is just about another measuring systems. Hence no big deal. Now a days smart phone are so convenient and conversion is just a click away.
What I felt really challenging is baking, where Cups and spoons were used rather than weight and volume which is much easier to follow. This is personal. 😊
A cup is also different depending on who you ask
Volumetric measurements need to go
@@RoryIsNotACabbage I'd never get any cooking if I had to weigh everything
Old recipes actually use cups and spoons in Denmark. The problem is that they don't all have the same size. Son of you have a big cup and a small spoon, you might mess it up if you're not an experienced baker. Using grams, centiliters and deciliters (one tenth of a liter) you get the same result every time.
@@RoryIsNotACabbage When dealing with powders such as flour the volume for a given mass changes depending on how tightly it's packed. For this reason professional bakers always measure by weight, never by volume. Also IIRC, US bakers use metric, not imperial.
Another advantage of using metric (weight) instead of cups and spoons is that there are less dishes to wash. Put one bowl on the scale and add the ingredients.
I have both imperial and metric on my tape measure. When taking a rough measurement, I pick whichever number is closest - unless I have my glasses on...
Great video! I have always lived in the U.S., but I have been building all of my projects in Metric since the 90's because it is so much easier to use, especially if you need to use a calculator to divide anything into multiple measurements. When people tell me the Metric System is tough to learn, I ask them how many inches are in a mile. Most of them can't even tell me how many feet are in a mile. Then I ask them how many teaspoons are in a gallon. All good fun. Woodworking in Metrics is so much easier. Give it a try. It's a pretty quick transition, but so worth it. Thanks for the great content!
Fair point, but to play devil's advocate...have you ever actually needed to know how may inches are in a mile? Or teaspoons in a gallon? To be fair, that's not exactly practical info to know. Metric is extremely easy, for sure. But overall I find it easier to work in whichever system is native to the project and/or materials before me. So US construction, with virtually all standard dimensions in Imperial (8' ceilings, 32" doors, 16 oc studs, dimensional lumber in inches, etc, etc.) I'm sticking with Imperial.
@@ethanwheeler3323I think his original point is valid though - adding, subtracting, and dividing things in half or 3 or more is much simpler in metric. However I use a fractional calculator app (Fraction Calculator Plus) on my phone that allows me to do everything I ever needed to do, nearly as easily as using metric. On a side note, I don’t use feet hardly ever, I just use inches since everything I work on fits inside a garage. What I wish we had was a system where the inch was divided into 10 parts. I want a measuring tape like that. Instead I have an engineering tape where the foot is divided into 10 parts - I don’t like it.
Ive had people comment on my use of the metric system in my HVAC job. They say it's hard to learn. I ask, can you count by 10?
"yeah"
Then you know the metric system!
Pretty much all the new equipment is in metric anyway.
Calculate the number of bolts needed for an one mile bridge if you need to pun the at 1/2 foot distance. :)@@ethanwheeler3323
To which I would reply: what's 1/6 of a meter? Be precise.
You have a (dull? 😜) point about converting from the very small to the very large, for times when that matters. But I find I prefer Imperial because a) I've never had the slightest reason to know or care how many inches or feet are in a mile; b) being Human, dividing things by 2, 3, or 4 is far more useful and concrete than dividing by 2 or 5 -- hence my preference for anything base-12 over base-10.
I’m Canadian, grew up as a kid in the SI world, adopted into the metric system when Canada flipped and am equally confident in using either system. However, I frame houses 16” on center, using 2x4s, 2x6s, 2x8s etc, do most cutting with either a 8 1/4” or 10” blade on my power tools. When I drive to the local hardware store I keep to an average posted speed of 60 km/hr over a driving distance of 12 kilometres, all the while wondering if the weight of the load of 5/8” plywood will make the trailer tongue weight exceed its maximum rating of 200lbs. Of course during the drive home my wife phones and asks if I could pick up a pound of ground beef, 2 litres of 3% milk, 150-200g of freshly sliced smoked ham. I said “of course I will, but first have to stop and get some gas - hey, did you notice gas prices dropped to 173.9 a litre today!?!?!” Her response: “ great, now we have a few extra toonies to take with us on our trip to the States tomorrow!” And, finally “Yes dear I’ll remember to drive at their posted speed limit of 60mph!” Now I ask you, do I qualify for dual-citizenship, or do I simply have to accept the fact I live in a global world.
Retired Canadian carpenter here. I lived through the same conversion. I was a foreman with about 20 men working on a large concrete forming job and it was the first project we did with metric drawings. The mistakes were a horrendous cost, all bacuse the guys were trying to convert to imperial. After a couple of days, I had to put a stop to this so I went and bought 20 metric only tape measures and the next morning exchanged with the guys for their old ones. It took a day or so, but they soon got used to it. I only lost 2 men because of it and they were about to be let go anyway.
Is your 2x4 actually 2x4? Our equivalent is 45*95mm so it got a bit smaller, old people still call them 2x4 (that would be 50.8x101.6mm). Or is it that raw timber starts at 2x4 and after it is planed it turns into 45x95 if so you are already in metric...
@@kjelllindberg6987 In the US it's much worse, I think the term 2x4 is defined based on some low-grade timber, while modern construction timbers are a higher grade. Other explanations say the 2x4 was measured before drying and milling. Therefore a 2x4 is 1 1/2x3 1/2" or 38x89 mm. Which isn't a lot more than the 5x8 we use in Austria (48x78 mm). We rarely use those for framing walls though, that's 95% metal studs because they're cheaper, lighter and easier to assemble, no nails or screws involved. Load-bearing walls are either masonry or much bigger timbers.
@@Ragnar8504 My grandfather was a sawyer. He cut 2x4s out of logs that were 2" by 4". But then downstairs in the mill they got planed down to something smaller.
Oh Canada! 😂
I'm from the Netherlands, and If it wasn't for wheels, TV's, PC monitors and drivebays I'd probably never ever knew inches were a thing. It's kind of weird that we got so accustomed to the imperial system for certain devices. It was probably more convenient to stick with them as conversion would lead to even weirder numbers and more confusion.
Yes, nowadays there is no reason to do any conversions. Type how many inches is in a meter and Google or Siri or Bixby or Alexis answers - you don't even have to think at all.
@@wishingb5859 Yeah, I wonder how NASA did not figure that out in 1999. :)
I have no issue switching to metric as a wood worker. But my problem is my mind's eye sees feet and inches so when I actually see something I can approximate its size. I am unable to hold up a thumb and index finger that are separated and say "that is 25 centimeters". I will definitely need some training. That is why I use a left handed crescent wrench and socket set.
I'm a 67 year old American that grew up on the imperial system. I know that a mile is 5280 ft. But I also know that 1km is .6 of a mile. I've been mentally doing conversions(or trying to just to see how close I can get) for over a year now. It wouldn't bother me one dram if we converted over to 'that other' system at all.
Keep up the very informative work James.
Forget the Empire. Long Gone System.
*United States Customary System
the USA does not (and never has) used the Imperial system
How many inches in a mile? How many cubic inches in a quart? Can you easily convert microns to furlongs? Does your old truck wheeze up the street 'cause you're afraid of computers too?
I live in Quebec, Canada. Here we offenly use imperial in workshop, why? I think it is funny.
To me, using metric, I think of the mile issue from the other side: a mile - or as we say in Norwegian, the _English_ mile - is 1.6 km. Of course, in Norway and Sweden (but not Denmark, for some reason) a mile is 10 km. Why we were the only ones to metrify the mile, I have no idea.
I love this video!
I have already switched over to using metric exclusively in my workshop. It was a little pain in the beginning, but not that difficult of a switch for me. The key for me was buying a metric / imperial tape measure to use for quick references and conversions. Before long your brain is making the rough measurements in metric!
MikeO
Hi Stumpy, coming from Australia I did my schooling and joinery apprenticeship in imperial. Australia went metric, for measurement around 1974 just as I became a tradesman. So I am conversant with both systems. I'm with you, metric is by far a simpler and more accurate way of working. Eventually all us old imperial dudes will be dead along with the system based on 12 with crazy fractions. Long live the metre!
12 inches in a foot, yes, but 3 feet in a mile and 5280 feet in a miles. Let’s ignore hands, yards, furlongs, barleycorns, or twips. Yes, for woodworking, you’re mainly in inches and fractions of, but I’m so glad I run my shop entirely metric rather than an archaic British system based on an ancient Roman system
It may be more simple for you but stop saying metric is more accurate - it is not! It is just as accurate as any measurement system you choose to use. Jesse
As long as you can select to use short tons vs long tons:
Imperial is alive.
@@garysouder9111 I agree, both are as accurate as each other. Its just that Imperial may be more prone to error from a "user" perspective.
@@andrewpullen2655
You beat me to it. There's more room for error when trying to convert or add and subtract different fractions.
Canadian here. Almost everything is in metric, but body height and weight still tends to be imperial. My daughter is learning kg and cm, but for me, it’s still Lbs and Ft. Everything else, is metric… except vehicles. You need both metric and imperial sockets and wrenches as half the bolts are metric and the other half are imperial…
little correction, the SI units are "kg" and "m". centimeters are "cm".
Here in Puerto Rico: we sell gasoline (petrol) in liters, yet we sell milk and motor oil in quart, half gallon or gallon jugs (yet we ask for a liter of milk); speed is measured in miles per hour, yet distance is measured in kilometers and mileage is calculated in miles per gallon; cloth for sewing is sold by the yard; lumber is sold by inches and feet. In cooking: we use the 'spoon and cup' system. This is a partial list.
So, of you go 55 mph on the highway and your destination is 70 km away, you can't easily estimate how long it'll take?
Sounds very cumbersome!
@@LRM12o8 Converting the speeds is pretty easy though if you don't need exact results.
50 km/h ≈ 30 mph
100 km/h ≈ 60 mph
160 km/h ≈ 100 mph
200 km/h ≈ 125 mph
I use these values to make a guess to convert mph to km/h as someone who only uses km/h exclusively and watches American youtube and sometimes needs to know how fast x mph are.
So I'd guess 55mph are a bit under 100 km/h, let's say 90 km/h and after checking online the exact conversion is 88.51392 km/h, so pretty close.
@@merlin9702 All that mental arithmetic will keep your brain active and ward off Alzheimer's disease. Its probably a cunning government plan. LOL
Sounds like a real bodge up!
I'm so confused...
As a Harley drag racer in Europe, I´m surrounded by either system- drive 320 kilometers to Hockenheim at 34 degrees Celsius, go for a 1.4 second 60feet time, explain how much cc a 96 ci motor has got, get a 3/16" allen wrench to tighten some 1/4" bolts, and enjoy half a liter of beer from Belgium afterwards. Went fine so far. Thanks for making serious stuff fun to watch!!
I have not thought of Hockenheim in a very long time. I was at the Formula 2 race when Jim Clark was killed, that was a long time ago.
Exactly.
The difference is you get to dabble in Imperial. You don't have to live in it.
In South Africa we changed from imperial to metric in the mid 1960. I use both. Although metric is easier for calculating engineering subjects. My biggest downfall is I love to bake bread. Blows my brain when the recipes use cups , ounces , lbs etc. so much easier when it’s all in grams , litres and millilitres. 👍👍. We enjoy your videos.
And if you look at it a bit closer, you need to realize that there are US cups (fluid=236.5882365 ml, dry=275.305235679 ml), Imperial cups (284.130625 ml), metric cups (250 ml), Canadian cups (227.3045 ml), etc... And there is also the issue that US cups are further divided into dry cups or fluid cups, which most people don't realize the difference and end up using the wrong measuring device for the type of cup that the recipe is requiring... Then again, you have no guarantee that the original creator of the recipe used the right measuring device either... And then there is the FDA "nutritional cup"... Might as well say, "a smidgen of this and a dash of that" for the recipe... :(
Metric recipes tend to be measured by weight, and imperial by volume. For ANY kind of bread or pastry, the ratios are critical to get right, and measuring by weight is SO much easier and more accurate. I definitely prefer metric for bread, and other baked goods.
I was born 16 years after the change over. Pretty much everything I do is in Metric except baking. I agree Teaspoons, and cups are so much easier for me, though I use metric on things like the butter as it is easier to carve off blocks knowing how much is needed without having to weigh the darn stuff. I grew up using cups and spoons, also most recipes are from old cook books, WAY older than me. Also when dyslexic and one gets things wrong on a calculator, having to whip out a scale just to measure what would have been 4 teaspoons of something in the old way of measuring is just rediculous. If using a scoop, when you figure it out, you still have to convert back to how many scoops needed that are measured in teaspoons anyway!
And look at south Africa now. Great reason to NEVER entertain the idea of switching to metric.
The metric system in South Africa has been tremendously useful for measuring the level of corruption in the government.
Im a product designer and can use both inches and mm for length to design easily. Go between, use fraction on the inch stuff I know all the decimals to the 16th off my head. But aside from psi I’m pretty much using all other units or combinations of units in metric
I use metric all the time in projects for building using my 3d printer which has build volume specified in mm, which I assemble with M2, M3, or M4 nuts and bolts. Like you say, whenever you work on a car I go for the metric sockets first, because almost every thing on a car is metric.
Mr Nubs, your videos are always well thought out, well presented and informative. But with this you've reached a whole new level of entertainment. And I laughed aloud when I read on that graphic that the US uses the metric system to define the length of a yard. As an Aussie of a certain age, I still find it easier to think in feet and inches for a lot of things, mainly where I'm not actually measuring things, just guestimating.
50 years as a pharmacist and having to learn metric, troy, and avoirdupois systems, I fully embrace the metric system. Early ion, I had to flip back and forth frequently, but half-way through my career, pharmacy was totally metric. I brought beakers and graduates home and use them in lieu of measuring cups when cooking. BTW, I owned the pharmacy, so I didn't steal them. When it comes to small volume and weight measures, my mind works in metric. When It comes to large volume or weight and to distances, I have to do the mental gymnastics of converting back and forth. However, over the years, I have seen a significant shift towards metric.
Having worked in both metric and imperial throughout my career as a landscape architect. I much prefer the base 10 approach over fractions. Whole numbers are quicker and easier to calculate. Millimeters are approximately 1/25th of an inch which is great tolerance for woodworking. My New measuring tools are always purchased in combination or exclusively metric. Metric makes sense.
I am transitioning to go all metric but right now at the age of 73 I still use some imperial. Most of my tools have metric and imperial on them. Great job on another fantastic video!
The inch was re-sized and defined as 2.54cm very early in the 20th century. Although, I think it was "officially" set as such in 1959. For the most part, all the precision work in the industrial age has been on an inch that is really metric in disguise
All the precision work in the Industrial age was done by Imperial fractions!?!
lol , you wanted to say: precision work was mostly done by metric, especially in the last 100 years almost exlusively :D imagine bulding a CPU with imperial :D
That was due to the difference between the US customary units INCH and the imperial INCH, then both systems agreed on a INCH being exactly 25.4mm long...
I've always preferred the metric system over imperial. I use it for everything from my calipers, software, laser cutters, UV printers to my CNC. What's annoying is when I go to buy things like CNC router bits and they don't have the metric version. You can always use math to convert but having two different standards seems silly to me.
If you're from the USA you've never used the Imperial system
As the USA has never used it
We use the United States Customary system
I am already a staunch metric user, much to the chagrin of my family and coworkers. My car and GPS are set to metric, I do all of my work in metric (converting only at the beginning and end as absolutely necessary), and, as a bonus, I use the 24 hour clock. Despite all of the complaints I get, I can guarantee that my work is faster and more accurate because I use metric.
In Australia we changed years ago. At the time I was a draftsman and my life became much simpler. Here all the road signs were changed in one night and you had no choice but to learn.
In the early 1960's there was a serious effort to convert the U.S. to the metric system. I remember being in grade school during that time and was educated in the metric system for about 2 years. Then they abruptly stopped. Well, my later education as an engineer; physics and chemistry classes were all metric. It's like growing up learning 2 different languages at home. As an old man, I think and function equally well with either system............
I remember that too. I believe the powers at be during that time found it was too difficult to switch over using a bunch of grade school kids to do it, 😅
do to the vicinity, we use kind of a hybrid system here(Mexico). You get the chance to order materials(plywood, PVC pipe, etc) in Imperial but you make all your measurements in metric. To this day i still see some mechanics using SAE tools on recent cars... I stopped taking my car to those shops and had to learn some mechanical skills on the way, but seeing someone beat a 1/2" socket in a 13mm nut was a really hard pill to swallow -_-
@@haqvor No, it really has nothing to do with the rationalization of the imperial system. Politicians in the '60s thought they "knew more" than the mere riffraff and decided to push it down their throats. The people rejected it, soundly, so it went away. Mostly. Liquids are still sold in metric units but that's about all.
People in the STEM fields use metric because it's, well, required. A lot of needed units don't exist in the FPS system and conversions are much more important. For 99% of the people, FPS works just fine. If our betters are going to try to force it again, expect the same results. A lot of people will be really pissed. I don't much care, except that I have a *lot* of imperial tools.
In the early 70's that called it 'think metric'.
We got that in UK too. First our currency went decimal, then suddenly nothing could be sold in pounds and ounces any more. Unfortunately we didn’t stop, so in school in 1969 (I think?) we had it all going on, and in the stores we were being ripped off by companies in the conversion. A mars bar used to cost 4d - four old pennies, or fourpence, suddenly they cost 2p, or 5d, it didn’t stop there either, within a short space of time a mars bar cost 4p, a nice 254% increase for no outlay at all…
You made my hernia hurt all the way through this video! And I enjoyed it so much that even knowing the pain it would cause, I watched it two more time! Thanks for a very entertaining production.
Hold that hernia down when you read my reply Stephen just in case you laugh some more.. I actually got a hernia on my hernia from the jokes in this video
Weirdly enough, the rigid but foldable device for measuring, usually made from wood, is called a "Zollstock" in German, literally "inch stick". A "Zoll" was a cut off piece of wood with a thickness of about 2 thumbs, whereas 12 Zoll made 1 Fuß, or foot. But then a Zoll varied between 2.5 cm in Hesse and 3.7662 cm in Prussia, with Baden and Switzerland (where 10 Zoll made a Fuß) somewhere in between. We also had miles, varying from 7500 to 9000 m, or between 12000 and 24000 Fuß in other places. All in all, the metric system is a good thing...
Dutch has the same, "duimstok" (thumb stick). Except it's becoming an archaïc word (since it's becoming an unused tool) and we'd use a "rolmaat" (rolling measure) way more often.
The French used to define a foot as the literal measurement from the Kings foot.
And this shows why standardization was truly needed. Even before the SI came along, what we now know as imperial units were only ever used in the British Empire; other places had different measurements that, to make things more confusing, often shared the same names but not the same measurements.
@@zbnmth duimstok and rolmaat arte different things. Duimstok is rigid and still quite handy.
@@lurch789no it's not. It's the same. your (?) imperial system is just one of the many and evolving imperial systems that are/were out there. That is the whole point. There was no standard, until Napoleon and his metric came along and made it all standardised and simpler.
Today the US Imperial system is officially defined by the metric system.
I'm a 60 year old American. I bought a metric tape measure to do some finish carpentry. It was awesome. Only one unit of measure, millimeters. Can you actually cut a board to 78 and 17/32nds of an inch? I work on cars once in a while so of course I own two sets of wrenches.
When I bought my most recent tape measure I bought one that has both metric and imperial in hopes that I would get used to it. I find myself using the metric side when the metric increment comes closer to what I'm measuring. It is very useful as well as when you want to divide a board by half or three etc. *Edit* maybe dividing by 3 is a bad example
it's like training your brain to learn a new language... as an American I had the opportunity to spend a year in Mexico and at the age of 50, there is no way my brain was going to lean Spanish by just hearing it... and Spanish classes were extremely expensive because they basically catered to persons in business... now at 73, converting imperial to metric would hurt my brain... it thinks in inches, feet, and yards for projects... now, I could probably go km for driving but that's only ONE change... I still have no idea what 2 Liters is equivalent too...
@@t.c.2776 2 litres is about half a gallon, but I'm not sure if that's half a US gallon or half a UK gallon.
I hate those double system tapes, whichever system I am using seems to be always on the wrong side for easy marking.
Divide a yard by 3 is 1 foot. Divide meter by 3 is 333.3333333333333333333….. millimeters. Easy 😜😜😜
@@LyleAshbaugh lol good point
Even though I was at school when the metric system was introduced here in New Zealand, and I am now in my 60, I still asked for 3 x 2s when I arrived at the timber yard recently.I was quickly corrected to 75mm x 50mm but 3 by 2 is a whole lot easier to say...and I do use metrics for most things but inch,foot,yard is at times easier!
As a twenty something I had the same experience in a timber yard here 50 years ago - asked for 3 by 2 to be told it was 75 by 50 as were you, but then told it was only sold in eight foot lengths! :-)
Sorry everyone. I started this as a quick comment but it turned into a full epistle. An initial comment is that in the metric system length is METRE (from the French who invented the system in the first place), not METER (like a water meter).
I am with sundancer0147. Was at the very end of secondary school and starting in after school or holiday jobs when we went metric here in NZ. For framing lumber I still "think" 4 x 2 or 3 x 2 from my childhood, as my dad was a builder and that is the language I learned. The kids at the hardware outlet don't understand inches so I now tell them 90/45 or 75/45 mm.
Everything else is directly metric.
Ironically, 90/45 framing doesn't come in standard lengths of 1 methre. It is 2.4, 4.8, or 6 metres, which is multiples of 1.2m, which is very nearly 4 feet. I think this is back to minimum stands such as building codes. For the imperial guys, 6 x 1 inch fence palings are 150/25 (or 150/18 for the budget outlets).
A sheet of panel product is 2.4 x 1.2 metres, which is just under 8 x 4 fee. 2.4 metres is the standard internal stud height in a house.
Actually the discount houses import from China (which supplies US) and often what they sell as 2.4 x 1.2 and (say) 12mm thick (close to 1/2 inch) is often ACTUALLY a bit over the label dimensions. As a home woodworker I can cope, but the commercial guys make sure they know exactly what they are getting.
In refence to ericlotze7724 below. Yes, this is a bit of a pain, but the upside is a 8x4 sheet has enough 'oversize' in it that you can cut it down and not end up undersize due to the kerf of your saw. A 8X4 sheet is 2440 X 1220 mm so you can rip it and cross cut as much as you like and still have full dimensions against the requirements of your metric project (and a tiny bit of wastage, which beats being a bit under).
The way I converted was to drop inches completely and buy "metric only" tapes, rules, etc. You just keep in mind for a short while that a foot is just a fraction over 300mm (30cm) and a yard is a fraction over 900m (90 cm) or a bit UNDER a full metre.
As an aside the system goes in all sorts of directions. A cube 100mm wide X 100 deep X 100 high is 1,000 cubic mm which is 1,000 cc or 1 litre, and 1 litre (of water) weights1 kilogramme. Screw, nut, bolt, drill size, and suchlike also get really easy. Separate tutorial on how easy that is if anybody is interested.
@@colinjames9502 > in the metric system length is METRE, not METER
That depends on the language, it's not the same everywhere.
French: mètre
British English: metre
American English, German, Dutch, Swedish: meter
Spanish, Italian: metro
And many more variations...
6 Months ago I bought my first metric measuring tape... I find myself reaching for it more frequently. I'm also old enough to remember being in junior high and being forced to learn the metric system for science... Dividing by ten is not very hard! Cheers!
Fractions aren't hard, either. We learned them in elementary school.
@@TheCharleseye Both are easy, but it's just simpler to say one number vs a few numbers. That's it. You can say: "three AND one-sixteenth" or just "seventy-eight". When you're on the jobsite it's easier to scream one number, instead screaming multiple numbers. It's also easier to add/subtract whole numbers. Doesn't mean fractions are difficult
@@wittttttt Obviously fractions aren't difficult. American laborers use fractions without any issues over yelling the numbers across job sites. It's the rest of the world that can't handle something so simple, that they need a system to be even easier than the one Americans learned in grade school. That's fine, though. That was previous generations. This generation can't even make change. It's a good time to switch, so that this generation of Americans actually has half a chance of being able to handle the math related to a given field. American exceptionalism is circling the drain.
@@TheCharleseye Just to be clear - I use both. Dividing fractions? invert & multiply. Quite simple. Metric - just divide.
yeah I remember them training us on metric when I was a kid, then it just kind of died.
Wait until you try doing a renovation with metric drywall which is 1200 x 2400 mm. About 47“ x 94“. All the stud space will be different. What’s the cost of converting all lumber and drywall sheet and plywood sheet factories to metric? In Canada we still use 4 x 8 sheets and 2 x 4 lumber.
In the UK it's sold in 1220 x 2440. That's 4 x 8 yes direct conversion as that is how most of our houses were built so the board sizes still fit with little waste.
For me, this was really a one-time event. I made the decision when I started to get into CAD modeling back in the mid-00s, to standardize on millimeters for everything, car-size and beyond. Everything else just happened naturally from there -- calipers set to metric, found some decent tape measures and other tools with metric or dual scales, and ultimately I was pretty surprised by how painless it was. Metric fasteners are easy to design with, you can work mostly in whole numbers, a lot less fuss to make the change than I was expecting. Haven't looked back.
I was going to write almost the same story. I'm happy to say I'm ambidextrous but mostly prefer metric. I still buy 2x4 lumber and 4x8 sheets of plywood not 50x200 or 1219.2mm X 2438.4mm plywood sheets.
Hardest part for me is finding metric tools at the local big box stores. Plus, pipe fittings are all NPT, and a large amount of equipment uses Imperial fasteners.
Face it - the REAL reason US car makers went to metric was because all the people making parts(1/2 way around the world) use metric and not Imperial(US makers) and not to make it easier....
Same here for designing parts in CAD. So much easier for calculating.
Wonderful video! I went from draftsman to engineer and have always absolutely adored the metric system. I've been fortunate enough to work for a company based in Germany so I've been able to keep everything metric on my designs and drawings. The only thing I dont like about metric is the fasteners. The actual diameter/thread variety you get in imperial is superior in my experience, but the benefit is relatively minor. If switching to metric meant losing my precious 4-40s, I'd still sign off immediately. Even though I've lived through a lifetime of imperial I still have to google how many cups are in an ounce and ounces in a gallon because all of the conversions are absolute nonsense.
As an engineer myself (from germany) i have never bothered with whitworth or whatever non-metric thread norming there is out there. However I was working with metric threads a lot and even in very tight spaces and unusual sizes. you can get thread diameter in .5 mm increments and pitches in .25 increments.
there might be cases though, where a non-metric thread might just fill the gap between two metric sizes perfectly :D
I am a mechanical engineer with 42 years experience. I have designed many machines, hydraulic
and pneumatic systems. In short, imperial system is just crap! Fasteners included...
You scripts are always pretty good but this one was great. A joke in almost every line and the dry delivery was just spot on, while still having the informative content and balanced takes that make this channel so great.
I use both for woodworking and fabrication projects pretty interchangeably using whichever is the most convenient at the time. I do feel metric is overall a better system, particularly if you are doing anything which involves conversion between types of measurement. But imperial is great for rough work and eyeballing sizes.
The only time I have strong feelings on systems of measurement is the American obsession with using "cups" as measurement in cooking. Use weight for solid materials like a sane person, Pounds and Ounces are fine it doesn't have to be grams, I can use imperial or convert to grams. But please stop measuring solids of varying density with a only loosely defined volume, it is the work of madness.
I like to eyeball in decimeters (10 cm) which is the height of a soup can!
Your comment is great and I especially like the part about cooking, makes complete sense because it can make a big difference in the outcome. And yet, as an almost 71 years old lady who has only ever used cups to measure and hardly cooks from scratch anymore I’m not sure I even want to try to change at this point. 😳 I’ll leave that to those that do cook and bake instead. 😉
@@BobbieJeanM I have a scale. Bowl: zero; “pour” (shake?) to add; zero again; repeat until done. OK, I still use spoons for spice, but weight with a “tear” function is way easier!!
In Canada we use Pounds and Metrics in Supermarkets and nobody is complaining. We also use inches, feet and Metric in hardware stores. It is as if the inch, feet and pound make the Metric a *METRIC+, and it is pretty cool. The official system in Canada is the Metric. Just go to Canada and check it out for yourself.
ALL of our imperial dimensions are officially defined using metric units. For example, the inch is exactly 25.4mm (2.54cm) so a foot is exactly 30.48cm and 3 feet (1 yard) is 91.44cm or 0.9144 meter.
The metric inch of 25,4mm also happens to be a compromise value between the Imperial and US inches.
The US never used the Imperial measuring system, since this dates from the early 19th century.
It had to be since it was originally measured by our own body, and since everyone has different size bodies, therefore it had to be standardized.
@@markevans2294In 1935 the ASA (now ANSI) defined the inch as 25.4. And so, yes, the US isn't 'switching' to metric, the US *already switched* to the metric system. It's just taking "normal" people 100, or 200 years to realize it.
@@markevans2294 Which came first, the inch or the mm?
Actually, there are two versions of feet used in the US: The International foot is exactly 0.3048 meters. Whereas, the US Survey foot is 1200/3937 meters. Or, one meter is 3.2808333333(infinitum)feet. Your everyday use and how things are described to you are in International Feet. For land and offshore measurements they use in the US Survey Foot. However, even this will be changing as the government is planning to deprecate the use of the US Survey Foot, but for us which use both on a daily basis, that will not be anytime soon. Lucky for me I mostly use metric, but my US colleagues still have to use both Feet versions as well as metric. Lots of fun, huh?
In the UK we still mix and match. Based partly on history and partly on what is easiest to use. As others have mentioned you might buy a 3m length of 4"x2" (it is actually ~47x100mm) but nobody bothers to remember that. Pretty much all rulers have metric and imperial and I'll regularly pick whichever is easiest to use. It makes no difference to the product unless you have to fit some part that is mm specific.
Same in Ireland. If I need precision I'll use mm. If I'm roughly measuring somthing I'll probably just use inches as it's probably a lower number to remember.
Ironically a 2x4 is not 2" x 4". It's 1 1/2" x 3 1/2 inches, or more easily written in decimal, 1.5" x 3.5".
Yes, America insists on being backward. During covid isolation I started baking breads and cakes more often, trying out new recipes. Boy did that get me pissed off. Stupid cups, teaspoons, tablespoons, fluid ounces, ordinary(?) ounces, pounds, etc., etc. Add to that 'flat' cups, heaped cups, heaped teaspoons, you get the idea. Bloody rubbish! I converted all my 'new' recipes to the metric system and using a scale and measuring jug moved into the 20th century. Now my baking has improved enormously and is consistently good.
Funnily enough, American industry already operates in the metric system. Look at almost any packaging and you'll see the metric measurements listed. I'm told that US manufacturers, the few that remain after the Wall2Walmart shift to just importing goods from overseas, operate in the metric system and resent having to provide the ancient 'imperial' system equivalents. It's the American public that needs to convert to the metric system. US business is already using the metric system but perhaps not quite enough.
@@philipgrice1026 47x100mm is a lot closer to 2" by 4" then what Americans have though.
The US already has a law that requires weight in metric. There are no laws that require imperial, it's whatever you want to use.
@@philipgrice1026if you ever use a recipe that lists eggs, you can't baulk at cups.
Eggs are about - 5% to + 10% accurate.
Most kitchen measuring jugs are only good for +- 10% too.
I love your sense of humor when teaching! Keep up the great work.
I recently got into 3d printing. Everything is metric by default in that field. I love it. I don't feel like I'm swimming against the current like I do in other mechanical endeavors in the US. I'm really tired of people resisting a much easier method because... Because what exactly I don't know. Change is scary I guess.
The problem with metric is it cons people. When it comes to engineering imperial is far more powerful.
@@Art-is-crafti don’t know what kinda budget engineer u are but metric is definitely superior for any engineering field
@@MrRjizz
When it comes to complex calculus as Newtonian based only a fractional system like imperial works.
@@Art-is-craft No way, the United States Armed Forces (since 1957), NASA and all other engineers, uses the metric system.
@@walterverbeeck6929
Calculus and algebra are fractional. A 12 inch scale like inches perfectly map for complex trigonometric functions.
Here in Australia the older generation like my father, were brought up on the imperial system. So I know how hard it is to change from something that was taught from a young age.
But it does make me laugh when my dad has to add up 5ft 9 53/64th in + 3ft 7/16th in + 9ft 3/32 in , and all I have to do is 1774mm + 926mm +2822mm 🙂
I grew up with imperial, and had to change to metric. Best move EVER! How much does 1 litre of water weigh? 1 kilogram. It's just so much easier than trying to convert volume of water to mass, then dividing it by the number you first thought of... And aircraft, filled up in pounds of fuel. You've got to be shitting me! (and yes, I'm fully aware of why they use pounds!)
As the author of the video said, you're just afraid of fractions 😅
@@oleksandrbespalov9713 Americans are SO lazy that not only do they refuse to learn the metric system, they can't even see why it's so much better. Which does surprise me in a way. Don't you lazy people see that by using metric you can be even lazier? Go metric, no more fractions! (BTW, fractions don't worry me in the slightest. And I do know that the lowest common denominator for americans not going to metric is that they are stupid.)
And.... are you using short (US) tons or long tons? And gallons...( remember them?)...US gall==3.8 litres.. a standard gallon 4.55 l
🙀 oh noes, pwease wescue me fwom da scawy fwactions 😭
Went totally metric when about 2 years ago when I finally changed to Celsius because I did a total immersion language so I could feel comfortable in my second language. The hardest part of that was actually the fact that I needed to convert the speed and distances for when I described a road trip because I was so ueed to giving location as being the amount of time it took to get there not taking into account that I was telling that to someone was using the Autobahn which made something like its an hour away from Chicago a meaningless statement.😅
I'm just running in to the "X hours away" situation while planning a trip to Japan next year, where "an hour away" (while considering daytrips from my hotel) can be anything from 25km to 300km. ;-)
Celsius is not metric and is half as accurate as Fahrenheit, who cares when water freezes and boils at SEA LEVEL... Next, time is divided by 12....
@@davidsilvercreek8541 bro you can add decimals to celsius and it will be the same accuracy... accuracy is dependend of the Device you are using not the numbers that come out... you can even make you're own scale if you want... but you cant change the device and its accuracy to measure stuff
@@mRw0oKIf you use a big enough sling shot you can make a pig fly...
@@davidsilvercreek8541 you can throw sayings around as much as you like, in the end you cant argue with logic. But you wont understand because you dont even understand the conept of logic
metric screws make so much more sense to me. Also I find measuring everything in mm (for projects) way easier.. get better than 1/16th" accuracy with a single number - no fractions or decimals needed.
It just makes more sense in general.
You can get setup blocks and rules that provide 1/32nd of accuracy which is more accurate than a mm. But when you need to divide that 1 meter base cabinet into 3 equal width top drawers for a buffet let me know how the division goes :).
@@stevenbutler4080 If you need better accuracy, simply use 0.1 or 0.01 or 0.001mm. It is common for working on a metal lathe, for example. :)
And try splitting 10" into 3 equal parts - it's the same problem.
A 1 meter cabinet is 39.3700787 inches, let me know how that division into 3 equal parts goes.
No one uses exactly 100 cm wide cabinets, the standard is 45/60/120. There you go.
I learned both systems when I was in school. Depending on what I'm doing I'll choose one system over the other. If building a large item such as a house, shed or even a planter, I use inches and feet. When building something very small I use millimeters. With temperature I prefer Celsius. With distance, mostly Kilometers but in miles is simple too. In measuring land, I prefer Acres. When you understand both, it really makes little difference.
I’ve been using metric on personal projects for a while now. My only problem with using metric at work is that my metric tape measures seem to keep going missing off job sites, funny thing that.
In the UK I don't think I've ever seen a tape measure that doesn't have metric on one edge and imperial on the other edge.
@@barneylaurance1865same when I lived in Australia
Really strange they seem to walk of since they don’t have feet, unlike imperial tape measures.
That's all tools, sadly. Was doing a QA/QC job on a construction site for a while on Eglin AFB and we usually were there for all of about 4 hours. I left my surveyors tape that measures in tenths unattended for all of maybe 10 minutes and it was gone with the wind. Same happened to my hammer as well. Still miss that hammer.
@barneylaurance1865 That's pretty much standard. What's harder to find but far better in my opinion is one with tenths instead of inches. Tenths are simply and undeniably superior in every way.
I purchased project plans from a Japanese youtuber and there were links to parts sold by a Japanese distributor in the US. I bought all of the M-size screws, nuts, washers, etc. as well as new Makita drill bits and a dual unit tape measure, and loved how easy it was to do the math when putting everything together. I've thought of doing future projects entirely in metric.
It's nuts and bolts that motivates me the most. An M8x40 bolt is 8mm in diameter and its thread is 40mm long. It's easy to stock a good range of common values.
Just playing devil's advocate here but, it's not so different. A ½" x 2" bolt it one half inch in diameter by two inches long.
You do have to pay attention to thread pitch also, but then again it's the same for metric for any bolt M8 or larger.
@@Elder-Sage You want to drill a hole to tap a #10 thread, so you use 5/32" drill bit, then realize you need another 4 thousandths clearance, so do you use a #20 drill bit, or a #21?
This would all be so easy in metric.
@@dominicread797 Thread tapping introduces a whole other layer of calculations. If I want to tap a hole for a M8 bolt do you think you drill a 8mm hole? The answer is no. Depending on thread pitch, you'll have to drill 6.75mm, 7mm, 7.25mm, or 7.5mm.
To answer your question the bit I would select would depend on the thread pitch (24 or 32 TPI) and also the hardness of the material (50% to 75% overlap). The bit could be anywhere between 18 to 25.
*(also I think we can collective curse standards organizations who decided not to name things in size but an arbitrary gauge scales which is a layer of agitation wholly separate from the English vs Metric issue)*
@@Elder-Sage that is the beauty of the Metric bolt system. M8 thread is always has a 1.25mm pitch. Otherwise it will be denoted as what it actually has. Though at such small sizes I have never seen fine pitch. I have however seen things like M45x1.5, meaning an outside diameter of 45mm with a pitch of 1.5mm
Any metric thread which doesn’t have the pitch appended is metric coarse ( which is the standard ) to get the tapping drill size subtract the pitch from the major dia ( it’s near enough ) far easier than all the different US threads , UNC , UNF or UN-8 & as for the different strength grades !!
Here in the UK we operate a mishmash of metric and imperial.Our money is metric (has been since 1971)we sell petrol and diesel in litres but we measure road distances and speed in miles and miles per hour,and we sell beer and cider from the pump in pubs in pints but bottled beer is often sold in half litres.Like i said a mishmash since we don't seem to have grasped metric fully.
I've long believed that fuel is sold in litres because price increases look less alarming than they would if it was sold in gallons.
In the UK we're a nation of exaggerators. When it's cold, we state the temperature in Celsius, minus 5 sounds really cold. When it's warm, we state the temperature in Fahrenheit, because 80 degrees sounds really hot 🙂
In UK, we don't sell beer in pints, we measure them in litres and then sell them into quaint pint volume glasses. We don't measure distances in miles either, the road "mile" markers on motorways are all in kilometers, and we just put up speed limit signs in miles per hour so drunk drivers can't claim they thought they only drank a pint when they drank a litre of beer, and they thought they weren't speeding because the speed limit was in km/hr.
Apart from miles when driving, there's not a single imperial unit I use here in the UK.
@@MostlyPennyCat You've never bought a pint of beer or milk then?
Hey Mate, good vid, thanks. Now, As a 70+yo now dinosaur, I was brought up in the Uk as a kid with engineering background who learnt his mechanics on the UK imperial system of screw and bolt sizes. In my teen it was all changing to the Unified (US) nuts and bolts system so I had to buy all new wrenches to fit . In my twenties, UK became mostly metric, another set of wrenches were purchased. Today, I am probably one of very few people in the world who could still recognise the difference of the threads by sight and also the nut sizes and what spanner to use by just sight!. Good luck world!
I've noticed that since I started using a scale to measure cooking and baking ingredients I find myself measuring in grams voluntarily. I love progress, but I hate change. Surprisingly, this change sneaked in and worked for me.
Word on that. Ever since I got a kitchen scale I abandoned desilitres and other stupid measures as well. Everything in grams allows my half-decent home cooking to be decent.
@@2001kb As a metric user, pretty much the only reason I sometimes measure ingredients using a cup is because we have a measurement cup with scales for each common powders (sugar, flour, ...) and guess what those scales are labeled as ? grams.
It's just a non-mechanical and non-electronic balance disguised as a cup.
Then why use metric if it keeps on changing so often... it is worst then when windows 10 launched and there was a update every 20 minutes
@@Scudmaster11 what do you mean ? metric hasn't changed sinced it's creation.
Why would you ever think that.
@ledocteur7701 oh you dont know then... also... it was made with a mistake (its not a perfect system) ((even if it was... it would still be imperfect and awfully flawed))
As a Aussie with an American mother I grew up confused as hell with measurements, on top of that I often failed my spelling tests because I leave the U out of color...I mean colour.
Now I fix metric Airbus aircraft in the morning and Imperial Boeing's in the afternoon. 🙄🇦🇺
Now it is clear why the Boeing's are falling apart