What do you measure with?

[HarmsWay]

quote:Originally posted by Otter

I have been thinking of converting my shop to metric, easier to work with.

I came into woodworking metrified, but almost everything in North America related to woodworking is in the imperial system. I just got tired of having to convert everything and ending up having meaningless numbers (metric equivalents of meaningful imperial dimensions). I continue to use the metric system for the rest of mylife but have given up for woodworking.

Bob

[Stick]

quote:Originally posted by HarmsWay

quote:Originally posted by Otter

I have been thinking of converting my shop to metric, easier to work with.

I came into woodworking metrified, but almost everything in North America related to woodworking is in the imperial system. I just got tired of having to convert everything and ending up having meaningless numbers (metric equivalents of meaningful imperial dimensions). I continue to use the metric system for the rest of mylife but have given up for woodworking.

Bob

They're just numbers, it really makes no difference which you use. Whatever is more convenient. I most often work in fractional inches when woodworking, and decimal inches when machining. In Canada, our government says we went metric thirty-odd years ago, but I don't know a single soul, not even a kid, that actually thinks completely in metric. I think it was all part of the same evil plot by those villains in the east to force the entire country to emulate France. Well, if France was so great, they wouldn't have left it hundreds of years ago.

[Woodchuck_Buck]

Thinnest book I ever had to read in school: French War Heros.

I've since seen a book titled, "Dating Etiquette," by Mike Tyson ... it was an even shorter read.

[RodKirby]

quote:Originally posted by Mainemarc

Rod,
In your photo of your measuring tools, it looks like your digital calipers are positioned almost 1/2 degree out of parallel to your rulers. You've got a reputation to maintain!

I promise to do better [)]

[ElRay]

quote:Originally posted by RodKirby

Now we know why the shop is so clean. Rod's a giant. If 150" appears that tiny, then of course the sawdust would be too small to see. [^]

Ray

[germdoc]

Well, this is what I got yesterday for measuring:






It's a vintage Starrett combination square. I have been frustrated by the lack of precision of common carpenter's squares, so I decided I needed a Starrett. This vintage tool with a Lufkin cross-arm attachment cost me $25, less than half what a new Starrett would cost. There's quite a selection of vintage squares and rules on Ebay, if you're interested in something a little less than shiny...

[Armini]

quote:Originally posted by HarmsWay

quote:Originally posted by Otter

I have been thinking of converting my shop to metric, easier to work with.

I came into woodworking metrified, but almost everything in North America related to woodworking is in the imperial system. I just got tired of having to convert everything and ending up having meaningless numbers (metric equivalents of meaningful imperial dimensions). I continue to use the metric system for the rest of mylife but have given up for woodworking.

I'd have to agree with that. The stock is sold in quarter inches, fasteners are "Imperial/US" thread by default, many tool settings are in inches. I naturally think in mm, cm, and meters, but have gradually learned the old system for this very purpose.

[Tom Miller]

quote:Originally posted by Armini

quote:Originally posted by HarmsWay
I came into woodworking metrified, but almost everything in North America related to woodworking is in the imperial system. I just got tired of having to convert everything and ending up having meaningless numbers (metric equivalents of meaningful imperial dimensions). I continue to use the metric system for the rest of mylife but have given up for woodworking.

I'd have to agree with that. The stock is sold in quarter inches, fasteners are "Imperial/US" thread by default, many tool settings are in inches. I naturally think in mm, cm, and meters, but have gradually learned the old system for this very purpose.

Me three. But the real slap in the face is when your digital calipers read in decimal inches. ("Hmmm, now how many 64ths is that?!") [}]

Regards,
Tom

[Stick]

quote:Originally posted by Tom Miller
[br But the real slap in the face is when your digital calipers read in decimal inches. ("Hmmm, now how many 64ths is that?!") [}]

Regards,
Tom

That'll be because their more common use is for machining, where it's decimal inches or millimeters (not centimeters). I actually learned to machine using 1/128ths and converting those to decimal inches or millimeters, before I bought the right instruments for each system. THAT was fun!

[jcjrsmith]

quote:Originally posted by RodKirby

Otter - Depth/height gauge came as a kit from ShopNotes.

I subscribe to their book service, and one of the recent volumes was "Fine Hand Tools." It has the plans in it for that guage, and it is on my "I wanna make one" list

[mdudley]

I found this article and the one following it (Part II) to be very interesting. I am just know starting to think of how to increase my accuracy.

http://www.woodworking.org/WC/GArchi...asuremat1.html