Model Boat Mayhem
Mess Deck: General Section => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: Bob K on August 21, 2014, 07:20:16 am
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As a former draughtsman we all converted to Metric way back in 1971. Using Metric ever since I am often asked "What's that in English" when I quote a distance. To be obtuse I usually convert it to the original imperial Barleycorns from which our wonderful Imperial Inch was defined in 1324.
This Number Hub video clip nicely explains how the whole Imperial measurement system works . . .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7x-RGfd0Yk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7x-RGfd0Yk)
At school we had to learn most of these conversions, and how to do long division of Pounds Shillings and Pence.
Few of these units were ever English anyway but ancient foreign imports.
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Very good, I like that one.
I must admit to using metric for small work on models, I no longer think 7/32 of an inch, but when it comes to 'how long?' Then it's 61 inches or whatever
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Hi Rob I agree, small things metric but I need inches etc. for visualizing longer lengths.
Now that I do not have to sell my time to the best bidder. I think of all my time as my own and one of my favourite time measurements is the "micro-fortnight" I think in fortnights as this is how long one pack of pills lasts.
The micro-fortnight is slightly longer than the second and so gives you a little more time to do things. I used to use "half a tick" but at my age that rather lacks the gravitas of the micro-fortnight.
regards Roy
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I, too, use metric for anything below an inch then automatically switch to imperial for all other measurements! And I was born in 1984!!! So well done teachers, I'm born 13 years after decimalisation and I use imperial measurements everyday. Get this though...
I work on an aircraft designed by a consortium of three nations who use metric measurements but the engines are imperial, and strangely two bolts on random parts of the aircraft are imperial too! %%
Someone said to me 'how far is it to Kings Lynn?' So I replied it's about 13 miles, they said 'oh what's that in kilometres?!' To which off the top of my head couldn't answer straight away because like many I suspect we are hard wired to think in imperial for distances and can't visualise a kilometre.
Great link Bob! My dad enjoyed it too! :-))
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Love the unit Micro-Fortnight :-))
With increasing distance it is true we tend to switch to Imperial. ie: A distance I am prepared to walk is in feet because that's what I use to walk. However if its further than from the car park to lake side then it is in miles 'cause that is what cars are calibrated in. Strange, Britain never fully converted.
Today I am sailing my little Springer, which for reference is 2.6 deci-fathoms in length %%
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What's that in barleycorns Bob ?
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Sorry Rob, should have given that too. 57 Barleycorns
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..and if you ask how far it is from Boston to New York the Americans might say about 6 hours.
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Strange, Britain never fully converted.
On Holiday in the Grand Canyon some years ago I had occasion to explain the mix we use to one of the Rangers. I think he is still in therapy %%
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As a person rooted in Physics, I quite like the
barn.MegaParsec
A barn is approximately equal to the cross sectional area of a Uranium atom. A Mega Parsec is a distance just a bit beyond the Andromeda Galaxy. Multiply them together and you get a volume.
11 of these is a unit of whisky. :-))
Andy
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When my sons were at school they laughed at me for using imperial measurements - "poor old chap doesn't he know we've gone metric.....?". Then they left uni and both went into aerospace engineering and lo, they had to learn imperial cos the yanks still use it! Old guys rule!!
Dave.
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I do like millimetres for small measurements, feet are good for measuring rooms, yards are for walking, miles for driving. The mess of numerators and denominators in small measurements in the imperial system really deserves to be replaced, but fractions are good when cutting a cake.
On a visit to Florida I found the habit of showing the distance to the next turnoff in feet rather disconcerting - my brain thinks in yards. On the other hand, driving in a metric place like Cyprus was very relaxing, road signs and the speedo were in KM, KMpH, my brains were in miles and MpH.
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Hi malcolm, you may have found a use for the kilofoot!
regards Roy
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Is that kilofoot, related in anyway to Bigfoot. I think we should be told.
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Hi,
I had a similar experience as RAFLAUNCHES.
I spent my apprenticeship in an old power station where the boilers, being British, were imperial, but the 30MW turbines, being Swiss, were metric.
Every day, when jobs were being issued by the foreman, the mechanics would have to sort out their metric/imperial tools to take out on the job depending whether they were working on the turbine or boiler.
I always remember the confusion one day having taken the wrong feeler gauges to work on the turbine - another job for the "gopfer" (go for this/go for that) to return to the workshop for the correct set.
Another time, at an archaeological dig, the director instructed me to dig a 1 metre 6 inch wide trench!
Ian
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How many kilos do each of us weigh................. :((
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Can't get on with metric weight my self, I am 76 millitons and working to get to 74 millitons.
regards Roy
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The first time when I am come back from Warwick I runs on the highway and he wrote " PORTSMOUTH 90 " there, I have time ............. I leaddrive friendly and suddenly I understand that they are miles
I do not run drive any more quietly t. I rose in the ferry in extrémis
UK it is in Europe? %)
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hi what is 1065mm in inches got to get a band saw in inches
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looks like 42 inches.
Roy
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thanks very much now to try to find some to buy the proxxon ones i would have to own the bank.. not just to use it
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Can't get on with metric weight my self, I am 76 millitons and working to get to 74 millitons.
regards Roy
Roy, is that short tons or long tons?
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"How much is your 2 by 1?"
"We haven't got any, it's metric. We have 50mm by 25mm"
"OK, how much is your 50 by 25?"
"20 pence a foot"
And, shortly after decimal day, I was in need of some 1/8" bits for pop riveting some bits of car back on. I was informed that they were now metric, so I asked for 3.3mm drill bits. The guy behind the counter used his public address system of stock checking by looking over his shoulder and shouting "Charlie, have we any three point three meter drills?". And the right items turned up.
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Roy, is that short tons or long tons?
Or Tonnes :D
Ned
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Hi Tiger t, unfortunately long tons. Did you mean a short ton as 1 Mega grams?
regards Roy
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%) There used to be a man who had a stall in the market in Rotherhithe (pre metric days) who could work out in his head any money sums, i.e. 12x £1- 6s- 3d without any trouble but could not read or write, all the other stall holders used shout over to him their bills and he would work it out for them even with half pence or farthings in the sum, I just wonder how he got on with the new metric coinage as I mover away and never saw him again,Ray. ;D ;D
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Sparky shouldnt that be halfpenny? (half pence was a decimal unit that they soon phased out) or to those that remember it - APE-KNEE {-)
The farthing was further sub-divided to half farthing and quarter farthing also.
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;) Your right mate,I stand corrected been a long time since I pennies in my pockets,mind you people then were better at adding up no computerised tills then and a lot more difficult than metric money, had a ten bob note in your pocket and you felt like a millionaire,Ray. %)
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I think the continuing popularity of Imperial reflects the fact that it offers more measurement options than metric, particularly as far as fractions are concerned. as a baby boomer I'm happy to take the best of both worlds. Keeps the brain active!
Colin
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On further research I found the Barleycorn remains in official use, in measuring UK and Irish shoe sizes. From a nominal maximum size 13 (13") downwards each full size is one Barleycorn less in length.
An Acre was the maximum that could be ploughed by a single oxen in one day, a Hyde the amount able to be ploughed in a year.
A Sheppy was defined by Douglas Adams as the minimum distance at which sheep look picturesque, stated to be 1.4km.
1 milliHelen; Helen of Troy was of such beauty that history states her face launched a thousand ships. Thus a milliHelen is a unit of beauty capable of launching one ship.
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Does anyone measure air/steam pressure in stones per acre? %%
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Being British we do and use what suits us best. In industry we are usually told what to use, but the rest of the time its whatever suits, 3ft10mm works for me. But all the Imperial measurements were human based. Arm, hand, joint etc . Good for life. In the water industry I do like Metric volumes though M/cu Ltr at work. And miles per gallon. Crazy
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I am totally metric - unfortunately the Dockyard is still mired in Imperial so I am constantly having to convert for my workmates over to age of 30. Those under 30 find Imperial very wierd and have to ask me to convert what the old boys are asking into metric. Lucky I have unlimited data on my phone so I can Google the conversion - I know it's cheating but apart from 1 inch = 25.4 mm (or there about) I can never remember
Still order pints of beer as the bar staff get confused when you ask for a large beer.
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How long is a Springer in furlongs? And how fast is it in furlongs/fortnight????? :o %)
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Furlongs, hmmm is that to do with chest hair?
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A woman who is one millihelen must be equal to one bugly itch.
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As a person rooted in Physics, I quite like the
barn.MegaParsec
A barn is approximately equal to the cross sectional area of a Uranium atom. A Mega Parsec is a distance just a bit beyond the Andromeda Galaxy. Multiply them together and you get a volume.
11 of these is a unit of whisky. :-))
Andy
think you've had one too many units tonight andy,..........or is that mega parsecs {-) {-) {-) %% %% %% %% %% %% %%
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Betting odds have remained as fractions,15/2, 1/4,3/1 etc.
John
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I was born and raised on pounds, shillings and pence...feet and inches, I still travel in miles per hour, and buy my food in pounds and ounces.
I've tried hard to get into these here new fangled things, and given up...it's all wrong to me to ask for a kilo of potatoes. I still go in to the pub and ask for a pint of Guinness... %)
If (IF) I have to use these foreign terms I rely on Google Converter...
I'm British and proud of it!
Rich
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Hi,
I have to confess that on my Edwardian Steam Launch, I have a digital display that I have programed to show the steam pressure in kiloPascals (kPa) one of the reasons being that it avoided using a (wasted) decimal point than if I displayed the pressure in Bar. I supposed I wanted to use Bar instead of psi, because I spent the last twenty years in a fully metric power station.
Moving from older to power stations to the more modern ones, you had to be cautious on the high pressure systems especially when previously the boiler pressure gauges would indicate
2500 psi and then the new power station equivalent gauge would be showing 170 for the same pressure. Somehow the number 2500 made you more cautious than the measely 170.
Ian
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Have to laugh - while clearing the last draw of old junk in my bench at work I found a booklet.
"The Chief Executive Royal Dockyards Guide to Metric"
Strangely enough it is in mint condition!
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I was born and raised on pounds, shillings and pence...feet and inches, I still travel in miles per hour, and buy my food in pounds and ounces.
I've tried hard to get into these here new fangled things, and given up...it's all wrong to me to ask for a kilo of potatoes. I still go in to the pub and ask for a pint of Guinness... %)
If (IF) I have to use these foreign terms I rely on Google Converter...
I'm British and proud of it!
Rich
Same here we must be of similar age.
However living part of the year in Spain makes for oddities cropping up, for instance go in the local and asking for a pint of beer is a no-no, it's either cerveza grande (big beer) which is about 1/2 a litre, this depends on the glasses they have and not the liquid quantity!
Or for a definate 1/2 litre you have to ask for a cerveza tanke- which is actually the glass it being similar to the imperial tankard. %%
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<:(
Do not get tired to try to understand the metric system (it is true that it is very complicated)
Soon the world is going to pass in that:
http://www.chine-informations.com/guide/unites-de-mesure-chinoises-systeme-shi_1354.html
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:o ...clearly we see GAZOU that China has embraced a "ten fold....or metric system" which is intelligent if not brilliant :-))......however I only see the volumes of liquid that directly relate to Western units......
1 gě 合 = env. 1 dl
1 shēng 升 (10 gě) = env. 1 litre
1 dǒu 斗 (10 shēng) = env. 10 litres
So from this we see that China can produce a dǒu 斗 container of liquid & they will dual mark it ......... 1 dǒu 斗 - 10 litres" O0
Derek
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Roy, is that short tons or long tons?
Or Tuns (252 gallon barrels)
:-)
Grendel
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How long is a Springer in furlongs? And how fast is it in furlongs/fortnight????? :o %)
Surely being nautical the distances should be in fathoms
Grendel
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Betting odds have remained as fractions,15/2, 1/4,3/1 etc.
John
we had an argument here in the office over betting odds, between one of our UK guys and one originating from foreign parts, apparently in Poland the odds are calculated as a percentage, and don't include the original stake, while here they are as fractions with the original stake included (or some such thing - I've never understood betting).
Grendel
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Are betting odds fractions or ratios? Your starter for 10
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Hi Tiger t, unfortunately long tons. Did you mean a short ton as 1 Mega grams?
regards Roy
Short ton is 2000 lbs, an American ton. Unlike the British ton, at 2240 lbs.
US tons, like their pints, a short measure.
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:-)) Gallon too only 6 pints always thought they were a bit dodgy,sorry American guys only joking, I still have to divide kilo's by 2.2 to make sense of the weight involved also when I fill the car up multiply ltrs by 4.54 to get gallons you get a shock when you find out how much a gallon of petrol now costs,when I got my first motorcycle it 4s-9d a gallon not 6 quid,Ray {-) {-)
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Did you get free shots of Redex Ray?
Ned
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:-)) Sure did,do you remember the 2 stroke pumps where you had to set the ratio of oil to petrol and pump it by hand, all the scooter boys used to use it on a Friday night for the weekend, I had to the high oct. stuff on the Vellocette would pink like hell if I used anything else, if I remember right it had a compression ratio of about 10.5:1 had a lot of Vello's and Nortons loved em all,Ray. :-))
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Gallon too only 6 pints always thought they I still have to divide kilo's by 2.2 to make sense of the weight involved
I think you'll find that the US gallon has 8 pints but their pint has 16 Fluid ounces not 20 like UK. Also the Kilo is approx 2.2 pounds so to get pounds from Kilos you have to multiply by 2.2 not divide
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Hey Hey Ray :-))
I was a Norton fan 2 Featherbed 99 's
then cobbled a Triton together. Spent
a fortune on oil for that one.
When Honda came on the scene I went
all Itie and all my bikes were Ducatis after that.
Ned
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{-) I had a Norton interstate 850 1973 bought in 1980 had it fifteen years never let me down, never cured oil leaks and brakes could have been better(1 disc front and drum rear) must have kept Castrol in business,kept it in a garage all the time I had it, the good bit was I sold it for more than paid for it,a mate of mine had a Ducati single 350 in the 60s I think that was quite fast,Ray. %%
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Hu=i T.T I think I was thinking of a metric ton. I still weigh my boats in pounds and ounces.
Just off to play duplocate bridge 10.000 micro fortnights. Nice partner to look at and a happy evening. Just hope the computer deals us some nice hands.
regards Roy
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O0 I think us oldies tend to a bit of both metric and imperial measurement, what suits us for that particular purpose, I use miles and yards for distance but millimeters for small measurements some the other way round, as long as you get it right that's what matters,like the old cherry about 9 square yards and 9 yards square that's court a few people out over the years,Ray. O0
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In rural France une livre, or pound will buy a half-kilo of spuds, near enough the same thing. And they still measure bicycle frames in pouces or thumbs. As an aside, dix kilos des pommes de terre was code for a litre of illicit calvados
In India before decimalisation a seer was a unit of weight that varied according to which state you were in.
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Are betting odds fractions or ratios? Your starter for 10
Ratio,s are the number of times 1 thing contains another.
Fractions have a numerator and a denominator where the numerator can be larger that the denominator
Decimal odds are the most popular odds globally. Decimal odds show how much
will be gained from a bet of 1 unit.1 unit could mean 1,10 or 100
most decimal odds go out to 2 decimal places for grater accuracy of the odds,
Decimal odds usually include the return unit stake,
e.g. decimal odds of 3.00 returns £30 which is £20 and £10 return stake.
UK bookmakers use fractional odds which express the odds in a different meaning
Fractional odds tell you what profit will be returned from a 1 unit stake as apposed
to how much in total will be returned.
At 5/1 a punter will be paid 5 times the unit stake, if the stake was £10 then the
returns would be £50 + stake= £60.
john
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In France a pound is one half-kilogram that is 500 grams since the adoption of the metric system.
And not 453,59237 as in UK (that was have to be easy to measure) %) :o :o :o :o :o :o {:-{ :(( >:-o
It's true, it is especially used in rural France and by the former(old)
Everybody uses this unit mass to buy except the young people who buy in bag or from the unity(unit) to the great market