Has anyone switched to metric?

Martin Roper

Martin
Senior User
I'm considering it for a variety of reasons.

So far I've bought a metric/std. tape for my TS, a metric/std. tape measure, and a metric square.

I was wondering what your experiences were for any of you who switched.
 

Michael Mathews

Michael
Corporate Member
At work we almost exclusively use Metric. At home I use both equally. I prefer Metric as it's so easy to use.
 

Phil S

Phil Soper
Staff member
Corporate Member
I much prefer metric and use it at home. but not at work. As a commercial contractor we work in feet/inches which I hate. How many times have I cut something 82 when somebody said they needed 8-2?
 

nn4jw

New User
Jim
I also use both. 3D design work for my printer is exclusively in metric. Woodworking is still mostly inches, but I have all my measuring tools in both. Math is much easier in metric. But I still have don't visualize metric as well as inches. I know 30 cm is just under a foot, but somehow it just isn't as easy as say 1 foot.
 

JimD

Jim
Senior User
I use metric only when I have to. I wouldn't say that I hate it but I have no thought of what 100mm is until I convert it to inches. I have metric rules but I deal in inches as much as possible. Fractions do not bother me at all, I learned them long ago. I agree with Phil that feet and inches can mess things up sometimes. I find using inches and fractions largely solves that. My one tool that requires me to use metric some is my domino. It is useful enough to be worth the extra effort. I bought a DeWalt track saw, however, partially because it's depth scale is in inches. I see no benefit to converting. Inches and fractions work fine. I also understand that there are probably people who wouldn't know what 4 inches is until it is converted to metric. If that was me, I would be using metric.
 

mdbuntyn

Matt
Staff member
Corporate Member
I haven't switched, but I do have an imperial/metric tape measure. I avoid measuring whenever possible, and prefer using relative measurements with dividers and/or a story stick.
 

Sourwould

New User
Taylor
I use metric whenever I do cabinetry or am working with plywood. The sheet thicknesses are metric and it's just easier to do the math. I use imperial at work. I visualize in relation to feet. 300 is about a foot, 400 about 16", 600 about two foot. I'm definitely not great with large visualization.
 

bob vaughan

Bob Vaughan
Senior User
Its necessary these days to speak both languages to some degree since a lot of imported tooling will be metric. That's just the way it is.
 

Brantnative

Jeff
Corporate Member
Grew up on metric and am a scientist so it's normal for me. But I use mostly Imperial in the workshop. Interestingly the company I work for has two technical divisions in the US. One uses Imperial because the business they support uses it. Mine uses metric because the business we support uses metric. When the two technical groups interact we are are always taking extra time to make sure the units communicated are the same.
 

Roy G

Roy
Senior User
I wonder if the guys who worked on the Mars lander that crashed were woodworkers and got their units mixed up.

Roy G
 

Matt Furjanic

New User
Matt
I work my inlaybandings in thousanths of inches, and sometimes get requests for inlaybanding widths in metric. I just remember that 1mm is real close to .040“ (40 thousandths). That way I mentally multiply mm by .040 to get the decimal equivalent. I guess I am just too old to change my thinking to metric.
 

Skymaster

New User
Jack
I wonder if the guys who worked on the Mars lander that crashed were woodworkers and got their units mixed up.

Roy G
dont know about woodworkers but that is as I guess you already know, is exactly what happened. Airliner crash many years ago, same thing, pilot asked for so many gallons, they filled it with LITERS instead, ran out of fuel in cruise, only reason they survived, pilot remember old air strip, used for remote controlled hobbyists, put in down there, glided almost 100 miles bone dry
 

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