General > General Technical Chat
why is the US not Metric
bsfeechannel:
--- Quote from: KL27x on November 02, 2019, 09:53:04 pm ---I've purchased metric collets for my routers so I can use metric end mills (cuz they're cheaper), so there's an example of adapting to metric TO SAVE MONEY vs spending money just be metric.
--- End quote ---
OK. Now that we've dispelled the idea that suggesting the US forgo this dreaded imperial system is an "attack" to the US, let's study how much it costs to maintain it.
Last year I made a series of videos about repairing a vintage Black and Decker drill. It was an imperial festival. Screws were not a big problem, although I could not find the exact models for a reasonable price.
I had also to change an oilite bronze bushing. You can find them in whatever supplier of parts for home appliance repair shops. The problem is that they are all metric these days. I could find one that was almost exactly the size I wanted but it would not be interference-fitted in the pocket, requiring a special Loctite® glue for oilite bushings. I'd also have to enlarge the inner diameter using a brand new drill bit. This bearing cost me US$0.30.
On ebay I found the exact size for my drill. It cost US$6.00 delivered. Let's discount US$3.00 for postage and there you have it: ten times more expensive. Just because it is imperial.
So does it take a lot of money to change to metric? And how about to keep it imperial? My sample shows that it costs a lot, perhaps more than the change.
KL27x:
--- Quote ---we CHOOSE not to use metric. It's a choice and we made it!
--- End quote ---
As an American, I apologize for rstopher.
America didn't choose imperial. We were handed it by the Brits. I wouldn't say we actively choose to keep it. We just don't have incentive to change it officially/completely. We already took the knee to the rest of the world by changing all of our units of measurement to be defined by global (metric) standard. Why should anyone in another country care, beyond that?
Fasteners are the only place you might say that standardization could save money in the long haul, but this is realistic only with a global centralized government. In the current world, multiple standards have a life of their own. Setting aside threads, we have torx, hex, robertson, phillips, Japanese phillips, and about 48 other standards for drivers. At any given point in time, someone is gonna gravitate towards one or the other based on where he was born, what is available in his area, and what tools he has (which this includes not just what kind of screwdrivers and/or taps he might have, but we're also talking machine lathes and gearing/transmissions. And whether metric or imperial, a given machine lathe might only be able to do a small subset of thread sizes. You can't just change a label or a setting or a few lines of code to change thread pitch.
It would also "save money" if we decided on 10 models of car and made everyone choose from those 10 models instead of a hundred. But since we would be able to maintain those 10 models of cars for 100 years, it would tank our economies. It wouldn't just be the auto industry that would suffer. Just think of all that lost revenue from folks no longer having to buy that one stupid SAE/metric bit/wrench for a single job. >:D
boffin:
--- Quote from: Gyro on November 03, 2019, 09:55:32 pm ---
Has it occurred to you how insulting your naive comments and view of the rest of the world are to the rest of us outside the US?
....
Enough with the superiority crap, as I said, it's insulting.
--- End quote ---
Watch the 1st eight minutes of the US TV Series "The Newsroom", it sums up this thread beautifully
soldar:
--- Quote from: bsfeechannel on November 04, 2019, 04:15:52 pm --- So does it take a lot of money to change to metric? And how about to keep it imperial? My sample shows that it costs a lot, perhaps more than the change.
--- End quote ---
Having to buy, use, stock, manage, etc different items (American and metric) costs a lot of money. manufacturers will always try to minimize the number of parts because it saves money. Maybe you can use three long screws and three short screws to hold a part in place but, even though using six long screws, even though it might cost a tiny amount more in purchasing would simplify the list of parts, save in number of parts that need to be stocked, etc.
Standardization and uniformity save money. It is not cheaper to make a car with manual roll up windows. It is cheaper to make all the cars in the same model line alike. Making one with manual windows would cost more, not less, even though in theory you are saving the purchase of the electric motors.
Simon:
--- Quote from: boffin on November 04, 2019, 08:55:58 pm ---
--- Quote from: Gyro on November 03, 2019, 09:55:32 pm ---
Has it occurred to you how insulting your naive comments and view of the rest of the world are to the rest of us outside the US?
....
Enough with the superiority crap, as I said, it's insulting.
--- End quote ---
Watch the 1st eight minutes of the US TV Series "The Newsroom", it sums up this thread beautifully
--- End quote ---
to be honest is the same stuff in different words that comes out over here, usually it's about haw we won the war and don't need anybody. And those people will happily take us back to a system that is pointless. Sure we could use the inch, but I'd never use feet or yards, it would be all inches and thou's just like we use mm and µm.
I can put inches into my 3D CAD package, not sure it supports feet, definitely not yards....... It's an american made software. imperial does not work. Sure keeping some stuff helps but change where ever feasible.
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