LowRyter Posted February 4, 2018 Posted February 4, 2018 That whole metric thing is just a fad . . . working as a civilian logistician for the Air Force, I can remember a directive to convert all fasteners from standard to metric. Of course they wanted to start first with newly acquired aircraft Modifications (capital "M") which was what I did. I wish this wasn't the worst or the only silly directive that impacted the job but it was just one of many that wasted time, caused much trouble until falling from it's own weight. I am glad to be retired.
MartyNZ Posted February 5, 2018 Posted February 5, 2018 My old LeBlonde lathe won't even cut those sissy metric threads. I agree, though, that metric is a better system. However..it's a different language. That whole metric thing is just a fad . . . New Zealand converted to metric in 1976, and despite predictions, we didn't slip back into the dark ages. Australia got started in 1971, which probably was the motivation for NZ. There are still 3 countries left on the planet who haven't officially adopted metric. However, there is plenty of room for non-metric measurements, for example the Helen, used as a unit of beauty. Helen of Troy is known as "the face that launched a thousand ships". Thus, 1 milliHelen is the amount of beauty needed to launch a single ship. A derived unit, the negative Helen (the power to beach ships) also exists. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_humorous_units_of_measurement Also things like a wee dollop, a good biff, a handful, and a decent shot, don't conform to SI. 2
Scud Posted February 5, 2018 Author Posted February 5, 2018 However, there is plenty of room for non-metric measurements, for example the Helen, used as a unit of beauty. Helen of Troy is known as "the face that launched a thousand ships". Thus, 1 millihelen is the amount of beauty needed to launch a single ship. Derived units such as the negative Helen (the power to beach ships) also exists. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_humorous_units_of_measurement That looks metric thinking to me. Just like the milliphoto, the 1/1000th area of a picture that is worth only one word. But if Helen's face could have launched 1,024 ships, it would not be metric. It would be base-eight. Base-eight is why we have USB drives in 32MB, 64MB, etc. - and why we get screen dimensions like 1024 x 768. Nuthin' to do while we wait for news on the inch-spec springs for our metric motorbikes... 1
Lucky Phil Posted February 5, 2018 Posted February 5, 2018 My old LeBlonde lathe won't even cut those sissy metric threads. I agree, though, that metric is a better system. However..it's a different language. That whole metric thing is just a fad . . . New Zealand converted to metric in 1976, and despite predictions, we didn't revert to the dark ages. Australia got started in 1971, which probably was the reason that NZ got motivated.There are still 3 countries left on the planet who haven't officially adopted metric. However, there is plenty of room for non-metric measurements, for example the Helen, used as a unit of beauty. Helen of Troy is known as "the face that launched a thousand ships". Thus, 1 millihelen is the amount of beauty needed to launch a single ship. Derived units such as the negative Helen (the power to beach ships) also exist. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_humorous_units_of_measurement Also things like a wee dollop, a good biff, a handful, and a decent shot, don't conform to SI. Ha, I'll add the bees @#$$#! (small amount), the smidge, the @#$$#! in a shirt sleeve fit (loose) the grunts measurement of torque,1,2,3 etc, the fracamoondo micromeasurement. Sorry in advance. Ciao
swooshdave Posted February 5, 2018 Posted February 5, 2018 That looks metric thinking to me. Just like the milliphoto, the 1/1000th area of a picture that is worth only one word. But if Helen's face could have launched 1,024 ships, it would not be metric. It would be base-eight. Base-eight is why we have USB drives in 32MB, 64MB, etc. - and why we get screen dimensions like 1024 x 768. Nuthin' to do while we wait for news on the inch-spec springs for our metric motorbikes... It all comes down if you can count to ten or two.
bbolesaz Posted February 5, 2018 Posted February 5, 2018 I'm a computer chip engineer because the math stops at 1. 1
Scud Posted February 5, 2018 Author Posted February 5, 2018 Just talked with the guys at the spring company. It seems their manufacturing tolerances are not quite as tight as Chuck's experience. However, we have sorted it out and they are making a new batch of springs at a 75% discount from the original order. This is based on my assertion that three flaws were their fault, and one flaw was our fault. So we are adding a little to the unit cost of the springs. They can ship to me within 2 weeks. I don't want money from anyone until we verify that we have in-spec springs in-hand. After that, I'll give all the ordering details. 8
swooshdave Posted February 5, 2018 Posted February 5, 2018 I'm a computer chip engineer because the math stops at 1. 0...1... I'm out!
swooshdave Posted February 5, 2018 Posted February 5, 2018 Just talked with the guys at the spring company. It seems their manufacturing tolerances are not quite as tight as Chuck's experience. However, we have sorted it out and they are making a new batch of springs at a 75% discount from the original order. This is based on my assertion that three flaws were their fault, and one flaw was our fault. So we are adding a little to the unit cost of the springs. They can ship to me within 2 weeks. I don't want money from anyone until we verify that we have in-spec springs in-hand. After that, I'll give all the ordering details. Now how much fun would it have been without this side trip?
Scud Posted February 6, 2018 Author Posted February 6, 2018 Just talked with the guys at the spring company. It seems their manufacturing tolerances are not quite as tight as Chuck's experience. However, we have sorted it out and they are making a new batch of springs at a 75% discount from the original order. This is based on my assertion that three flaws were their fault, and one flaw was our fault. So we are adding a little to the unit cost of the springs. They can ship to me within 2 weeks. I don't want money from anyone until we verify that we have in-spec springs in-hand. After that, I'll give all the ordering details. Now how much fun would it have been without this side trip? It would have been about as much fun as a Scura without bubbling engine paint, an exploding flywheel, poorly adjusted suspension, and cheap, plastic speedometer drive gears.
swooshdave Posted February 6, 2018 Posted February 6, 2018 It would have been about as much fun as a Scura without bubbling engine paint, an exploding flywheel, poorly adjusted suspension, and cheap, plastic speedometer drive gears. Exactly!
JBBenson Posted February 8, 2018 Posted February 8, 2018 SnapOn...TPMA25EM...25'..Metric.&.Standard..steel.tape. Mexico has been using tapes like these for a while. I was given one when shooting a Gatorade commercial in Mexico City in 1999. The only problem: when communicating a measurement, one has to define what standard was meant, if the intention wasn’t clear. In the heat of production, and using 2 languages, it rarely was. Made for some Abbot & Costello kind of conversations. 1
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