Help with imperial measurements

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

No wonder it took 3 days if you can't get the cabinets all the way to the floor

Floor in this one is good for a change. Within 3 mm around the room.

I use metric only tape measure in workshop, nothing worse than trying to measure something and it’s on the imperial side.

****** me off I can't buy a metric only tape unless I buy online.

Usually break at the worst moment and have to grab whatever I can

 

[mtt.tr]

As a plumber we only had one size screw, 2" 10.
I was with some engineers this week, measuring things in cm instead of mm, and struggling with steel pipe sizes

They measured in cm or you did?

 

[Robotstar5]

The one which truly pees me off is decimal inch, or whatever its name.

Another one is the time & motion studies folks, they work in decimal minutes.

 

[Pete.]

Floor in this one is good for a change. Within 3 mm around the room.


****** me off I can't buy a metric only tape unless I buy online.

Usually break at the worst moment and have to grab whatever I can

3mm is very good IMO. Believe it or not many concreting contractors standard tolerance is +/- 15mm on poured slabs.

 

[Hitch]

Generally I work in mm for work, but happy to work in inches.
Sometimes I'll use inches if I'm marking the middle of something and the inches are quicker to divide up mentally, I can use fractions without much thought.

Did this last week on something I was making at home. Half of something was 3¼" or whatever, so went to put a mark there... then I had to do a double take...took me a moment to work out where ¼ marks were.

I remembered then why I generally don't buy tools from discount european supermarkets. First time in many years I've broken my own rule, and I ended up with that junk.

 

[Kayos]

They measured in cm or you did?

Bloody engineers did, that control panel was definitely not 600cm wide

 

[Maker]

 

[8ob]

Long live DRO`s and venereal clappers that can switch between the two

Bob

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

3mm is very good IMO. Believe it or not many concreting contractors standard tolerance is +/- 15mm on poured slabs.

That was a poured slab as it goes.

Seen some shockers over the years

Extension last year was over 40mm low at the furthest point and that was screed over a block and beam.

 

[Pete.]

3mm on a poured slab is quite exceptional. I had to grind a slab down last year to achieve 2mm after the contractor tried and failed to achieve it, and it cost the contractor dear.

 

[8ob]

3mm on a slab is good, I would have thought some slumps would contract more than that when drying.

Bob

 

[nickk]

The one comment I adore,a farmer or builder that predominantly work on farmhouses and their cottages,asks me to make xyz,states 93” &3mm .

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

3mm on a slab is good, I would have thought some slumps would contract more than that when drying.

Bob

Must be late 80s early 90s. Kitchen was 3500x2500

Rest of the place looked good too but only chucked the level down in a few places out of curiosity.

Standard practice for me it to set cabinet legs with a tape measure when I fit them

A few needed a half turn to level.

 

[mtt.tr]

Bloody engineers did, that control panel was definitely not 600cm wide

Are the engineers, engineers or pretend engineers?

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Are the engineers, engineers or pretend engineers?

Even my kids give me measurements in mm these days.

Gave my eldest my drawing board the other day. He's gonna try and draw a scale floor plan of the ground floor here

 

[daedalusminos]

If you really want to confuse, just start using mils.

 

[Alan Reynolds]

I find Imperial far easier to use. I do work in both and if something I’m cutting happens to be 39 3/4 one way and 525mm the other, so what. I had to use a metric only tape the other day, failed and went and got an imperial metric one.
If they did a chains, furlongs fathoms and cubits one, I’d probably use that too' I find it keeps my old brain sharp.
97” and 3mm makes perfect sense to me. But then mental arithmetic and multiplication tables were drummed into us as kids. Now I find youngsters reach for a calculator for the smallest sum. Someone wanted a percentage the other day and I reeled it straight off. They all got their iPhones out to check I was correct. The worst one recently was at a till when I had a BOGOF item at 87p. She was trying to work out how much each one was. I said it doesn’t matter! It’s free! Ended up calling a supervisor. They do my head in.

 

[bricol]

At work if you want to make tolerences sound better make sure to use thou not 0.01

You'd need a bigger hammer if you swapped thou for 0.01 rather than 0.001 tho

I'm currently in the land of not as free as they thought they were, waving a metric tape and giving English dimensions

 

[bricol]

They all got their iPhones out to check I was correct. The worst one recently was at a till when I had a BOGOF item at 87p. She was trying to work out how much each one was. I said it doesn’t matter! It’s free! Ended up calling a supervisor. They do my head in.

Lunch time today - in a chick-fil-a - came to $11.04, so I chucked $21.05 at her, keep the penny change . . . that confused her . . . called her supervisor . . . confused her too . . . gave me the $1.05 back, gave me the change from the $20 that the till told her . . . so I still have funny notes to get rid of . . .

 

[Turbo]

If I'm not wearing my glasses I measure to 1/4 cm coz I can't see the mm!

I have a load of wooden school rulers & on every one the inch side is divided into 1/10ths!