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I cant remember being taught imperial at school, maybe little bits but as soon as i started work all the journey men worked in imperial and ever since then ive always used imperial. If someone says a size in metric i sometimes do a quick conversion to imperial as it makes more sense to me
i'm 46 and i also have a set of whitworth spanners from when i was an apprentice!
Polishing your Whitworths ! after they're done it will be the King Dick !!!
Minutes Of Angle (MOA), or 360th’s of a degree
Wouldn't that be seconds of angle, minutes being a 60th?
I had to look up how many yards to the mile there were and I still can’t remember it (1240?)
1760. That's 22 yards in a chain, 10 chains in a furlong, 8 furlongs in a mile. Far clearer than that complicated Metric system.
1760! Of course, silly me forgetting something so blinkin obvious 😀
A chain is easy to remember - it's the distance between the two sets of stumps on a cricket pitch 👍
Pressure.
Loads of new psi gauges where I work.
I put psi in my tyres and around a bar and a half in my boiler!
Do you know what they call a Royale with Cheese in the UK?
I’d be surprised if thous had been replaced.
When I did my machining for my HND it was all metric. I recently had cause to measure stuff in imperial on my vernier calipers and didn't have a clue how.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned bras
They have metric measurements, just we don't use them.
I believe air rifles went metric round about the 50s to 60s. If you buy a tin of old .22 pellets they won't fit a modern barrel. Not sure if this is to do with parity with metric 5.56mm barrels as opposed to old 5.5mm IIRC.
Archery may have lbs per inches of draw but I bet somewhere will be using Joules.
Nuclear is interesting, we have a reactor built 140odd feet high with a 5m thick concrete pressure vessel, water and steam travelling through imperial pipework with the seawater flow measured in gallons per minute, pressure measured in bar, tank levels in inches and reactor pressure in bar again. Stores carry metric, AF and BSW screw sizes.
I also dismantled a fire extinguisher recently who's hose connected to the handle using a modified Whitworth thread, the end terminated in an M12 fine thread and the rupture disc was a 1/4" BSPP fitting.
Whitworth and BSW they are different you know....
Then we have BSF, UNF, UNC and i always order 3.6m of 2x2 at the timber merchants.
Multi skilled me.
Ooh a 2lb hammer...
Number 4 6 8 10 size wood screws..
2 ounces of nails in a brown paper twist bag please.
Archery may have lbs per inches of draw but I bet somewhere will be using Joules.
Not Newtons?
(It's been a while since I was at school though...)
And of course with Whitworth, yer 7/8 Whit spanner won't fit a 7/8 bolt. Something to do with making nuts smaller during the war but not changing the spanner sizes.
Bike chains are still imperial, a tip is to measure from the centre of a pin to one 12" away. If it comes in right on the 12 your chain is fine, if not you can gauge the wear by how far out it is. Anything over a 1/16 and you'd want to replace it.
Wheel/tyre bead diameter on cars
Car wheels and tyres a hotbed of Imperial v Metric nonsense.
Wheels, Imperial diameter, Imperial width with a Metric offset.
Tyres, Imperial diameter, metric width and a metric profile (a % of the width rather than a fraction)
clothing...waist/leg I still work in inches, and shirt collars
What we are all looking at now - screens.
Spine deflection in archery arrows (that's a measure of how bendy they are) - Hang a two pound weight in the middle of an arrow shaft resting on two pegs 28 inches apart. The actual deflection is most often expressed in decimals of an inch. eg 1.25 instead of 1 1/4.
What we are all looking at now – screens.
Only for us Muppets.
A lot of 22" monitors (which is pretty standard now) are actually 55cm and 24" are 60cm. Interestingly (okay, not interestingly) when they do sell them accurately they sell them as 21.5" not 21 1/2".
As for JRM, he’s a phoney anachronism, he couldn’t be less authentic if he were bought from AliExpress
Bookmarked for future use in discussions with Pater.
I was schooled in the early 80’s and it was all SI units and metric and on the first week of my apprenticeship we were introduced to imperial measurements!
Forgot one: Vegetables bought by goose-stepping pensioners in Jackie White’s market in Sunderland.
Do people still go in there?
Spine deflection in archery arrows
Arrow shafts also. Wooden arrows are typically 5/16" or 11/32" (and weighed in grains...!)
Whitworth spanners are identified by the thread diameter hence a half inch whitworth spanner refers to the thread diameter and not across the flats of the head.
Also British Association Screw Threads
That is a cracking clip some real characters and the motorized buggy looks just the same as the ones zippin down the high st today
Builders merchants, “2m of 4x2 please” why use just one system of measurement 🤯
Love that clip Cougar, especially the guy at the end that apparently thinks he fought in a war to prevent the introduction of them killimeter things.
Vox Pops like that remind me why democracy is a terrible idea 😉
Canoes: feet
Canoe paddles: cm.
Surfboards are imperial too,
I’ll normally ask the timber merchant for a 2 inch board, at 250 millimetres wide and 2 metres long.
To which he'll respond: "Do you want me to cut down a 2.4?"
The only 'round' metric timber lengths at the local merchant are 3m (10') and 6m (20'). All the others are metric equivalents of imperial feet: 1.8m - 6', 2.4m - 8', 3.6m - 12', etc.
Are the distance for time trials (10 miles, 25 miles, 50 miles, etc) just a British thing?
Marathons (running, nor chocolate bars)
I had to look up how many yards to the mile there were and I still can’t remember it (1240?) what a stupid system it was.
There are 1760 yds to a mile*. I'm not sure it's quite fair to call the system stupid.
Being a child of the 60's I am comfortable using both Imperial and Metric for most things, and favour them both for different uses.
Most people seem to mix Imperial and Metric time quite comfortably (I think).
* When did it become a thing not to know that?
I was schooled in the early 80’s and it was all SI units and metric
This. And I use metric at work. I have no frame of reference for imperial measurements but I know that a litre bag of Hartmann’s is approx 1 kg.
I don’t really understand why we didn’t complete metrication like the rest of the Commonwealth, and indeed Ireland.
Wouldn’t that be seconds of angle, minutes being a 60th?
Yep, rush of blood. It’s 1/60.
I believe air rifles went metric round about the 50s to 60s. If you buy a tin of old .22 pellets they won’t fit a modern barrel. Not sure if this is to do with parity with metric 5.56mm barrels as opposed to old 5.5mm IIRC.
Old BSA barrels were 5.6mm in .22. Modern pellets are indeed 5.56mm, which don’t seal as well so lose power and potentially accuracy. Eley Wasps were available in both so you could choose. Just to confuse matters you can also get Air Arms pellets with different skirt measurements as some match barrels can be pellet fussy.
ein pfund
une livre
Interesting that the German Pfund is 500g or half a kilo!
Most Hydraulic fittings on british machines are still BSP (British Standard Pipe) while stuff bought from the continent uses metric fittings. Can be a real struggle to get stuff to mix and match. Fertilizer is sold n 600 kilo bags and put down at a rate of x kgs /acre by most farmers!
Medical needles for injections are imperial in length with diameter given as a gauge number that has no direct relationship to any sensible size, neither imperial or metric
Interesting that the German Pfund is 500g or half a kilo!
Well yes, but not surprising. Before the Europeans went metric, I would imagine they needed to have comparative weights to trade in. So a German Pfund, a French Livre and an Italian Libra would be the same as an English pound.
Interesting to know when they all went metric. ....
Wire gauge...
Marathons (running, nor chocolate bars)
Now I thought that Marathons in any other part of the world were 40km long, but I could definately be wrong.
What did the Romans ever do for us?
pond Netherland
pund Sweden
lb UK
1/2" pitch chain
TV screens
6 inch nails
10 oz steak
12 inch pizza
21 foot scaffold tube
Last time I checked there were still 24 hours in day and 3600 seconds in an hour. Up you jacques! 🤪
Pipes are weird. Screwed MS (heating) pipe is listed in mm dia but is just the internal diameter in inches converted. As valves, etc, have screwed (BSP) conns are in inches... so, 50mm pipe, 2” valve...
Copper pipe (Table X) is all mm and is the external dia...
Also, my favourite velocity is furlongs per fortnight, that’s a proper measure now...
8' x 4' sheet of MDF / Plywwod / OSB
I thought that Marathons in any other part of the world were 40km
42
tuppenny rice and treacle. Resolutely imperial.
One measure I’ve always ****ing detested is Btu’s...
Makes my bleeding blood boil so it does.
1973 is when we went metric, grrrrr.
Old BSA barrels were 5.6mm in .22. Modern pellets are indeed 5.56mm, which don’t seal as well so lose power and potentially accuracy. Eley Wasps were available in both so you could choose. Just to confuse matters you can also get Air Arms pellets with different skirt measurements as some match barrels can be pellet fussy.
That's the one I was thinking of. I have a Diana 52 with a really fussy barrel, slack as a slack thing for some reason. JSB Exacts come in 0.01mm increments as well (though seemingly have as much spread as the next tin depending on the die).
Cougar it could well be Nm depending on if its the force or energy you are measuring.
Railway track gauges. It’s mainly 4’ 8 1/2”. The Russians, Fins, Indians and Spanish have their own standards though again these are imperial.
Interestingly (no really), 4’ 8 1/2” is also Roman chariot gauge.
When constructing a Death Star
One measure I’ve always **** detested is Btu’s…
I was just about to say that. One and a bit kJ innit? That really shouldn't be hard to move away from.
8′ x 4′ sheet of MDF / Plywwod / OSB
Except when its not - especially OSB. OSB varies between an Imperial equivalent 2444mm and and Metric 2400mm depending on what thickness and grade. I imagine in some instances its sized to be paired with plasterboard which is also a dead 2400mm on the same framing.
A handy way to learn his is to have built all your framing before the truck with 50 sheets of OSB turns up and find non of it fits 🙂
Railway track gauges. It’s mainly 4’ 8 1/2”. The Russians, Fins, Indians and Spanish have their own standards though again these are imperial.
Interestingly (no really), 4’ 8 1/2” is also Roman chariot gauge.
Is that actually true?
There's an apocryphal tale about why railway gauges are related to the size of a horses' arse, culminating in it being a limiting factor in the design of the Space Shuttle's engines. How true any or all of it is I've mo idea.
Just thought – is this why IKEA mattresses are a weird size? Cos they’re in metric and our king Size is 5 feet?
Ikea seem to be phasing out their metric mattresses and bedding in favour of olde fashioned UK sizes.
Bought new mattress from there last month - I built my bed to fit an ikea mattress but when replacing it they only had one metric mattress left in stock of the one I wanted and only about 10% of the sheets they sell are metric and they don't stock their whole range in those sized.
Shame if you're tall because the metric mattresses are longer.
There’s an apocryphal tale about why railway gauges are related to the size of a horses’ arse,
ID or OD?
I always work out thrusts for the disc springs in our actuator ranges in inches & pounds then convert to Newton’s.
I find there’s less potential for error as the numbers are smaller.
Railway track gauges. It’s mainly 4’ 8 1/2”. The Russians, Fins, Indians and Spanish have their own standards though again these are imperial.
Not forgetting Ireland.
Industrial metal bands fronted by Trent Reznor
Games Workshop games
De la soul album title.
I remember Pfund from holidays in Germany as a lad. I'm surprised they still use it.
At school woodwork and metal work were imperial but physics and chemistry metric. As a civil engineer up until the 90s both were interchangeable even though the bricks, pipes, rebar or whatever were in fact all metric by then. Calculations were metric though - apart from a short period working overseas for an American consultant. Moments in kips feet!
Oh I buy meat at the butchers in pounds, though the scales are metric.
My Systemdek spins either 33 or 45 rpm but I'm guessing the SI unit is just the same but I thought I'd chuck it in and see
Last time I checked there were still 24 hours in day and 3600 seconds in an hour. Up you jacques! 🤪
Strictly speaking that's Babylonian, not imperial. Although I believe the pesky French tried to decimalise the calender after their revolution.
psi
bhp
Jet engines / gas turbines are rated in
lbs thrust.
Why wouldn't you call something a 'Shatments'?
Hair clippers are in increments of 1/16".
If you drive an old school Mustang or own a Shelby Cobra you will brag about your inches to the power of 3
4 1/2" grinder
6" grinder
12" grinder
Shirt collar size.
If you drive an old school Mustang or own a Shelby Cobra you will brag about your inches to the power of 3
See also, Harley Davidson... 😱
6 inch heels
UK Shoe sizes are in increments of one Barley Corn
12″ grinder
Swipes right
btu
I’m pretty cavalier about measurements, I’ll use whatever’s convenient. I was born in 1954, so all my growing up and education was through the 60’s, as a result I automatically think in pints, miles, pounds, feet, inches, etc. However, I spent most of my working life in print and publishing, which was already moving into metric for paper sizes, using international A, B and C sized paper. Except America uses an A-size that’s Imperial, and a completely different size...
So now everything gets mixed and matches, I use Fahrenheit and centigrade, I have a good idea of how they match - my ideal outdoor temperature is around 70℉, about 20℃,
8-10℃ is about 48-50℉, and on the cool side. I can easily extrapolate from there,
30℃ is too sodding hot!