Spanner Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 When you send out guild packages do you also include metric measurements? Also are you able to speak metric on your videos as well as imperial to help Neanderthals like me? I ask this cause I want to join but since I am soooooo baaaaaad at math I find it very hard doing the transferring from imperial to metric. I am from Australia and we have upgraded to metric about 40 years ago. Cheers, spanner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewoodwhisperer Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 When you send out guild packages do you also include metric measurements? Yes. We are doing this as regular practice. But remember that any SketchUp plan can be immediately converted to your desired units very easily. But since the project was designed in imperial, the numbers won't be nice and even when converted to metric. Also are you able to speak metric on your videos as well as imperial to help Neanderthals like me? Sounds like a simple thing but it would add significantly more work to my already full plate. The way I film the videos, I am usually speaking off the top of my head. Keeping track of conversions would be very difficult for me. Perhaps some day when I'm not the only person doing all the work. I ask this cause I want to join but since I am soooooo baaaaaad at math I find it very hard doing the transferring from imperial to metric. You're not alone spanner. We have a fairly large international audience and I'm sure my imperial numbers frustrate more than a few. But we do our best to accommodate our international friends. We ship all products overseas and our giveaways are open to everyone. But when it comes to the math, there's just too much involved to take it on right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeneron Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 Hey Marc, have you ever done a project just in metric? Might be a neat idea for a video...I'm sure there would be some humorous outtakes as well I tried it once on a rolling shop cart just to see and it really makes you think. Being from Canada, the metric system is all around us, but for things like woodworking it's still hard to get away from the imperial system. It definitely was nicer not having to deal with fractions, but I just couldn't picture the measurements like I can with imperial. I know how far 4 feet is...but when it's phrased as 1219 mm I have no idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechwood Chip Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 The way I film the videos, I am usually speaking off the top of my head. Keeping track of conversions would be very difficult for me. Perhaps some day when I'm not the only person doing all the work. I'm picturing a little box in the corner with an interpreter speaking metric. "Closed captioned for the imperial impaired." 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulMarcel Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 I'm picturing a little box in the corner with an interpreter speaking metric. "Closed captioned for the imperial impaired." And if it's done like 'mericans in a foreign land, the interpreter will simply yell louder in imperial thinking those who understand Metric will just get it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechwood Chip Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 Marc: I cut the tenon about 3/4" long. Interpreter: I CUT THE TENON ABOUT THREE QUARTERS INCH LONG (holding up finger and thumb) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davestanton Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 You guys crack me up. I am one of those lucky ones who did his apprenticeship during the switch from imperial to metric, so am fluent in both and both have their advantages. 1/3rd is bloody hard to say in metric without a repeater! Where I come undone is the different measurements with fluid volumes such as gallons, English v US. The easier units to use are metric and that is how I ended going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texfire Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 Intellectually, I'm all for metric. I just don't see how to get there from here unless the rest of the country is coming with me. In my day job all the units on the fire side are US/imperial and all the medicine dosages I work with that are proportional to body weight are in kilograms, and I always have to sit and mentally convert it if I'm guesstimating weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechwood Chip Posted December 9, 2011 Report Share Posted December 9, 2011 If you think switching from imperial to metric is hard, check this out. Previously posted in this metric vs imperial thread. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spanner Posted December 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2011 Thanks Marc , All the rest of you crack me up. I have seen so many 'mericans and Aussies do that yell louder and I am sure the 'natives' will understand. Cheers all. Spanner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afro Boy Posted December 10, 2011 Report Share Posted December 10, 2011 G'day Spanner. I'm from the great south land too and the imperial stuff really does my head in. I can deal with the straight measurements but when it comes to adding or subtracting a fraction, then I'm really in headache land. So do you Americans have calculators with imperial fractions and stuff? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewoodwhisperer Posted December 10, 2011 Report Share Posted December 10, 2011 Yup! I keep one in the shop at all times just in case i can't figure it out in my head. (null) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spanner Posted December 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2011 G'day Spanner. I'm from the great south land too and the imperial stuff really does my head in. I can deal with the straight measurements but when it comes to adding or subtracting a fraction, then I'm really in headache land. So do you Americans have calculators with imperial fractions and stuff? So Afro, Are you a guild member? Have you done many builds of stuff in imperial? Have you had any grief with sourcing timber or do you need to do major milling to get the right measurements? Cheers, Spanner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davestanton Posted December 11, 2011 Report Share Posted December 11, 2011 Spanner. I am in Australia and not a guild member. Don't have any grief with metric, imperial, sourcing stuff. My only complaint is that stuff tends to cost a lot more here than in the States. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spanner Posted December 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2011 So very bloody true ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMarshall Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 So for all the folks out there working in metric, can you educate me on what you'd expect to see in the plans? That way I can try to get as close as possible. For instance, the Roubo bench is 87 inches long. For the metric version, are you wanting mm or cm, and to what precision? 87" = 2209.8mm = 220.98cm My best guess is that the metric plans should say 2210mm. It's rare to specify get a dimension with more precision than 1/16", or 1.5875mm. So rounding to the nearest mm seems fine, since this is about a third of the highest tolerance we would ever see. Please let me know if this assumption is wrong, since I've never seen any metric plans. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davestanton Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 Haha. First thing about metric in Australia. Men talk in mm and metres. Women talk in cm that is centimetres. I refer to cm's as dressmakers measurements. The great thing is that metres and millimeters work hand in hand. 1.800 metres is 1800 millimeters, a simple matter of the decimal point removed from metres and hey presto, millimetres! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMarshall Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 Haha. First thing about metric in Australia. Men talk in mm and metres. Women talk in cm that is centimetres. I refer to cm's as dressmakers measurements. The great thing is that metres and millimeters work hand in hand. 1.800 metres is 1800 millimeters, a simple matter of the decimal point removed from metres and hey presto, millimetres! Okay, so no cm in the plans! Would you typically see mm or meters (or metres if you insist) in a woodworking plan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulMarcel Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 I bet dresses are in cm because the "number" is smaller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torch02 Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 I bet dresses are in cm because the "number" is smaller I want to start a women's fashion company called "Size 6" -I love that dress, what is it? -Oh, it's a Size 6 [/bigGrin] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davestanton Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 Okay, so no cm in the plans! Would you typically see mm or meters (or metres if you insist) in a woodworking plan? Aaron, depending on the project. As I am a cottage builder the plans are always in metres. (this from Wikipedia 'The metre (meter in the US), symbol m, is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI).') As I said earlier metres or millimetres either is fine, A plan for a cabinet shows it is to be 1.568 long or 1568 long, In the land of metric, we all understand what you are saying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davestanton Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 This is where using centimetres can bring Men undone. If you said to me 156.8 I would pressume you meant metres. A dressmaker could say 156.8 and that would mean centimetres but in men speak, that would have us baffled. Switching to imperial could help others understand the glaring difference, 514.3 feet or 5.14 feet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMarshall Posted December 13, 2011 Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 Thanks for the help, Dave. Most of the plans for furniture have such small dimensions that it probably makes sense to use mm. Common sense should keep someone from building a workbench 2200 meters long, although that would be very cool to see! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texfire Posted December 13, 2011 Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 Q: Why is your workbench 2.2 kilometers long? A1: Because my old bench wouldn't let me work on 10' bookshelves? A2: Because this way 1000 of my closest friends can help me on a project, at the same time... A3: Have you ever tried to plane a whole Redwood on sawhorses? A4: Hand Tool Olympics, planing arena. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davestanton Posted December 13, 2011 Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 That would be a long bench, of course allowing for curvature of the earth would have to be considered when dressing the members on your jointer, lol. 2200 would be fine, just mention all dimensions in millimetres and there you go, easy to understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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