Imperial vs. Metric Conundrum

[verporchting]

Well, I read an article recently about an asteroid half the size of a giraffe passing the earth and realized science and measurements aren’t what they used to be.

Probably best you didn’t commission your pipe half the size of a Venezuelan ring necked whooping aardvark because there’s just no telling how big that might have been. Could have been morta-fying.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Tried to convey my wishes for a commission Black Morta. I reside in the US and we still abide within the Imperial system. I thought I used Google well enough to translate my antiquated measurements into an understood measure. The pipe is a beauty but is too large to fit comfortably in my hand (I am no clencher). Live and learn.

My wish is that both US and European measurements be given. They are! Unfortunately, probably less than 10 % of the time...

 

[mingc]

This may not be well known but Google and other search engines do conversions if you simply search for, e.g., "6 in to mm." The Windows calculator also does conversions.

In general, 5" is approximately 130mm, 5.5" is 140mm, and 6" is 150mm. If you can remember these, you should be fine.

 

[Streeper541]

What a beautiful pipe. Shame about that rounded shank...

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Metric, phhhht... I have no idea what those numbers even mean. I order my pipes made to be measured using goldfish.

 

[kcghost]

Weighing in at 4 ounces it is no wonder you can't clinch it.

 

[mingc]

Metric, phhhht... I have no idea what those numbers even mean. I order my pipes made to be measured using goldfish.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

You know… you could lay all of the girls on OnlyFans, end to end… And, I wouldn’t be one bit surprised.

 

[trudger]

When the last boomer passes we will go metric. ?

 

[frozenchurchwarden]

Tried to convey my wishes for a commission Black Morta. I reside in the US and we still abide within the Imperial system. I thought I used Google well enough to translate my antiquated measurements into an understood measure. The pipe is a beauty but is too large to fit comfortably in my hand (I am no clencher). Live and learn.

View attachment 136098

Looks pretty ordinary to me, the pipe I ordered yesterday weighs twice as much.

 

[Franco Pipenbeans]

Ironic that the last place to not leave the British Imperial measurement is the US.

At least you aren’t in a position where you measure: short distance in metres, long distances in miles; speed in miles per hour but athletic races in metres; petrol in litres but fuel consumption in miles per gallon; weight in stones and pounds for a human but grams and kilograms for food - unless you go to a market where market traders prefer pounds and ounces; height of a human in feet and inches but the height of a building in metres; drill bits in millimetres but the depth of snow in inches…it’s bloody confusing!

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

My wish is that both US and European measurements be given. They are! Unfortunately, probably less than 10 % of the time...

I would enjoy that as well. But Google is your friend. The conversions are quite easy with a minute or two of effort.

 

[bullet08]

I've been using imperial system for over 40 years. Before that metric. Not sure why, but I prefer imperial system. It's much nicer to say "pint 'o Guinness" than "liter of Guinness".

 

[TheIronMonkey]

Some might argue it's nicer to drink a liter of Guinness than a pint of it.

 

[mortonbriar]

Living between New Zealand and Canada, I have had to swing back and forwards between metric and imperial, its all the same kind of brain confusion that comes with the driving on the opposite side of the road etc...the math is not really so hard to readjust to, (fractions or decimal points) the really annoying part is retraining my brain to see lengths correctly, like looking at a length of cedar in Canada and knowing it is just over 16 ft, but going back to New Zealand and second guessing whether that stick of framing is 5.4m or 6m, that takes time to get back.

 

[Brendan]

Living between New Zealand and Canada, I have had to swing back and forwards between metric and imperial, its all the same kind of brain confusion that comes with the driving on the opposite side of the road etc...the math is not really so hard to readjust to, (fractions or decimal points) the really annoying part is retraining my brain to see lengths correctly, like looking at a length of cedar in Canada and knowing it is just over 16 ft, but going back to New Zealand and second guessing whether that stick of framing is 5.4m or 6m, that takes time to get back.

On an aside, I hope you guys are having better luck with framing timber over there than we are.

'Five-Four's and Six-Oh's' of anything is like hens teeth in Oz.

 

[Brendan]

For me working at a Hardware/Timber and Timber Yard in Australia we still get our fair share of blokes using imperial and getting us to do the conversions.
Plus we still use the old imperial slang regardless at how approximate it is.

1/2", 3/4" Copper pipe.

Or the old length of 2" PVC pipe, which actually measures more than then metric equivalent for some reason.

3 be 1 and a Half and 4 be 2 Treated Pine etc.

Or my favourite is when somebody measures a 1/2" BSP screwed brass fitting at 20mm overall and double-guesses me as to the real size..

I'm not sure if it will die off down here and really I kinda hope not - keeps things interesting.

 

[mortonbriar]

On an aside, I hope you guys are having better luck with framing timber over there than we are.

'Five-Four's and Six-Oh's' of anything is like hens teeth in Oz.

Same problem here, any standard sized regular framing is completely non-existent. Also things like gib (drywall). I framed my last little job out in rough sawn treated timber really just so I could get the material.

 

[username]

When the last boomer passes we will go metric. ?

I have a news paper from my birthday from 1981 on the bottom front page is the article “US inches towards metric use” over 40 years later and we still are on imperial so I don’t know about that.

 

[mso489]

I'm a metric dyslexic. I have no idea what metric specs on a pipe mean. And in the U.S., conversion charts aren't common, although Mr. Google is always there to help.

I suspect you can sell that for what you paid, but it could take a while. It doesn't mean don't do commissions, but it does speak to the convenience of shopping pipes in person and looking at pipes already made, so you know what you're getting.

Commissions need some cultivation of the carver, to see if you speak the same language and have some kind of understanding or simpatico. I'm introverted and it takes me a long time to put myself across, and a long time for people to feel certain of me, so that could be tricky commissioning a pipe. Yet I still have friends from high school and college in retirement.