Digital caliper question

[Tesoro]

Why?

Well because we already do in a way anyhow as we ditched standard base 12 to metric base 10's for our reloading measurements and alot of what we shoot is already referenced in metric ie 6x47(mm) 6.5, 7 etc etc. Scopes are 3x12x42 (mm). Bump your shoulder back .002 in = .05 mm =less decimals to carry. I think we are about the only country in the world that dosent use the standard universal measurement system. Our military uses metric and so do our scientists but we do not!

 

[M-61]

I think we are about the only country in the world….

That put men on the moon.
It’s pounds of fuel on an aircraft not kilograms.
There was one brief moment in time when one model of one car had 390mm rims. I haven’t seen any metric rim but that and it was made here.
When you want a 2x4 in Canada ( which is metric since about 1965) you ask for a 2x4…
What the heck is a 4x8 Sheetrock called?
It’s pounds of thrust from a jet engine.
The USA considered it once and Reagan cancelled it.
The fact that we are the only country that doesn’t use it is reason enough for me to want to keep it.
Want to wake up to some Celsius temperature? Air in your tires? 55 gallon drum? They did ram the 2liter pop bottles down our throat.
Screw them.

 

[Tesoro]

Yeah when it is freezing outside it is zero degrees not 32! Water boils at 100 not 212. Hard one to figure!
A 55 gal drum dosent hold 55 gal!
We even use the statute mile which makes no sense . We should atleast be using the nautical mile. But atleast we don’t drive on the left side.

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

Why?

Ok, I'll bite and try to answer it, coming from a machining aspect.

Working with millimeters is much easier than working with fractions. We do deal with fractions when talking millimeters, such as 1.5, 2.5, 2, etc...(think thread pitch), where with Imperial we often deal with fractions that are based on 1", and the actual measurement a craftsman uses relates to .001". There is really no easy way to relate .001" to 3/4" as an example, so machinists often refer to 3/4" as .750", but not everyone does.

Dealing with the Imperial system is much more difficult in this regard, IMO.

As most people know, this is a long debated topic. I have all Imperial tooling, but I know people that did standardize on metric to make their lives easier. I have felt more than once I should have done just that. It's too hard to replace all tooling...Food for thought.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

That put men on the moon.
It’s pounds of fuel on an aircraft not kilograms.
There was one brief moment in time when one model of one car had 390mm rims. I haven’t seen any metric rim but that and it was made here.
When you want a 2x4 in Canada ( which is metric since about 1965) you ask for a 2x4…
What the heck is a 4x8 Sheetrock called?
It’s pounds of thrust from a jet engine.
The USA considered it once and Reagan cancelled it.
The fact that we are the only country that doesn’t use it is reason enough for me to want to keep it.
Want to wake up to some Celsius temperature? Air in your tires? 55 gallon drum? They did ram the 2liter pop bottles down are throat.
Screw them.

Yep, keep it the way my Papa taught me

 

[DonkeyHote]

Lot of inaccuracy can come from the way people use the tool, proper force must be applied 1lbs .
Measuring faces must be parralel to surfaces measured.
You can squeeze harder or less, and get different measurements. Also dial calipers can introduce parralex , and can introduce errors. you must look at the dial correctly. Both good to .0005in if you have the feel.
For more accuracy they invented the micrometer. it works the same for inches or millimeters.
Just my 2 cents based on experience of 40 years.

 

[Tesoro]

Ok, I'll bite and try to answer it, coming from a machining aspect.

Working with millimeters is much easier than working with fractions. We do deal with fractions when talking millimeters, such as 1.5, 2.5, 2, etc...(think thread pitch), where with Imperial we often deal with fractions that are based on 1", and the actual measurement a craftsman uses relates to .001". There is really no easy way to relate .001" to 3/4" as an example, so machinists often refer to 3/4" as .750", but not everyone does.

Dealing with the Imperial system is much more difficult in this regard, IMO.

As most people know, this is a long debated topic. I have all Imperial tooling, but I know people that did standardize on metric to make their lives easier. I have felt more than once I should have done just that. It's too hard to replace all tooling...Food for thought.

When a kid I logged and caterpillar yellow was the color of choice. But there were some Komatsu machines which were superior due to modern engineering which my boss wanted but never got because all his tools were imperial. I hear ya!

 

[Konocti's Wigwam]

When a kid I logged and caterpillar yellow was the color of choice. But there were some Komatsu machines which were superior due to modern engineering which my boss wanted but never got because all his tools were imperial. I hear ya!

I once bought several tool boxes from a retired Caterpillar tool & die maker. A couple of the Kennedy boxes still have this odor that reminds me of him. The toolboxes tell a story. Everything is Imperial though. LOL

A lot of stuff has moved to metric per volume/size. It doesn't seem like the rest of the world is gonna move to Imperial at this point. LOL

Firearms calibers are a case in point, heh? Isn't America the most fubar in regard to calibers?

 

[NZ_Fclass]

My " Shining Deer" calliper, from the Shanghai Dishwasher and Optical Company (SHODCO - "often make good product = super quick") sometimes loses good contact with the earth side of the battery. A quick tighten up usually puts it back in operation.

 

[Tesoro]

Here is a good example of non-metric mindset: back in 80’s i drove my toyota pickup to central america. Navigation was road maps and watch always to get to destination before dark. I remember looking at a roadsigns that said ie: merida 240 km and me doing the x 5/8 thing in my head to convert to miles to calculate eta at 45 mph avg speed. WHEN next to the mph numbers on my speedo were red ones in kmh! I never saw them or thought to convert my brain to driving in kmh! I not the brightest anyhow..

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Remember the good old days when half the bolts on a car were metric and the other half Imperial? Lol! Wait a minute!

 

[wkdickinson]

I have had a Mitutoyo "absolute" for maybe 10 years. It has served me very well. Recently it has started not "holding zero", not bad but .0005 or something else random, but none to extreme. I've changed batteries and done everything suggested. Still does the same thing. So I bought a new one from Amazon (non-certified). It works great! I still use the old ones for "everyday" measuring tasks, but when I need to be confident, I use the new ones.

 

[209jones]

I just find a dial caliper simple to use, no batteries involved, I can look at where the needle stops and know if I have a big or small thou, not wondering if it is or is not a plus or minus reading, similar effect to a .1 vs a .01 readout on a scale.

 

[Cloudrepair]

I'm a machinist for 30 years or so and have worked with both metric (in California ) and imperial.
Now I convert everything to imperial.
And I use .03937not 25.4
Oh the battery size is 357
I always have a few on hand most my measuring tools take them mics calipers the sights on my bow take them.

 

[Zero333]

I love being able to use Meters and yards. Inches and centimeters. Fahrenheit and Celsius. Gallons and Liters. Ounces and grams. Ounces and mililiters. Grains - Grams. & ounces. Miles and Kilometers... And all the other Imperial and Metric measurements.

In specific scenarios some measurements are more preferable than others. So,.. ENJOY BEING ONE OF ONLY A HANDFUL COUNTRIES THAT GET THE PRIVILEGE of having the best of both worlds !

About the Mitutoyo Digital Calipers. I have a set of the 6" Absolute Digimatic,... Yet I still prefer the older Mitutoyo analog I dropped a few years ago.

They were very tight and extremely smooth. Must of been fairly old because the numbers in the readout were much smaller than anything else I found on the interweb.

( Click on pics to enlarge )



The old ones have gear teeth along the bottom of the runner....

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Machinists seldom deal with fractions at all. If I was king for a day I'd squash the metric system in this country. The system we used 200 years ago played a part in us becoming the greatest country on the planet and it still works. I don't feel strongly about what other countries use, either way but conformation is not a strong suit for me. As long as we end up at the same place, why should we change to suit others? It's not like we owe them this and I see no reason to fix something that's not broken. Teach math in schools and hand me a 3/8 wrench please.

 

[Doug Beach]

I'm a machinist for 30 years or so and have worked with both metric (in California ) and imperial.
Now I convert everything to imperial.
And I use .03937not 25.4
Oh the battery size is 357
I always have a few on hand most my measuring tools take them mics calipers the sights on my bow take them.

Why would you use .03937? It’s more digits, and a tiny bit less accurate. An inch is exactly 25.4 millimeters. No more, no less.

 

[Cloudrepair]

Why would you use .03937? It’s more digits, and a tiny bit less accurate. An inch is exactly 25.4 millimeters. No more, no less.

Easier for my brain because of dyslexia .
Then I don't make the mistake of 24.5
What are we talking about a 50 millionth? In most cases 5 millionth or so when we get down to bullet diameters.
In most machining a 10th is about as close as you can get without a lot more work.
For most people It's hard to even measure anything closer then a 10th accurately.

 

[Tesoro]

When I do any kind of (amateur) fabrication in my shop then out come the metric measuring devices. Unless you are old hat, finding the center of a board that is 17 9/16 (or simply 44.6 cm) is a no brainer for me. Sure half of 17 is 8 1/2 or 8 + 8/16 and then half of 9/16 is 9/32 so then convert 8/16 to 16/32 to add to 9/32 and.....furck it, using metric I would have already made the cut!!

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

I think I'll list some Remington 5.689mm BR bullets in the classifieds. They are the 3.36954 gram bullets that were so popular. Lol!