XPost: sci.electronics.equipment   
   From: presence@MUNGEpanix.com   
      
   In sci.electronics.equipment Commander Kinsey  wrote:   
   > On Tue, 21 Jul 2020 02:13:56 +0100, Cydrome Leader    
   wrote:   
   >   
   >> In sci.electronics.basics Commander Kinsey  wrote:   
   >>> On Thu, 16 Jul 2020 08:30:20 +0100, Cydrome Leader  wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>> In sci.electronics.equipment Commander Kinsey    
   wrote:   
   >>>>> On Sun, 12 Jul 2020 20:21:10 +0100, Tom Gardner  wrote:   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>>> On 12/07/20 19:01, Pimpom wrote:   
   >>>>>>> On 7/12/2020 11:15 PM, Commander Kinsey wrote:   
   >>>>>>>> On Fri, 26 Jun 2020 05:23:31 +0100, Cydrome Leader    
   >>>>>>>> wrote:   
   >>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>> In sci.electronics.equipment Pimpom  wrote:   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>> My mechanical slide caliper has a resolution of 0.001 inch. This   
   >>>>>>>>>> means that it can display measurements with a precision of 1 mil,   
   >>>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>> What if your caliper had a resolution of 1 mil +/- 3 counts on the   
   last   
   >>>>>>>>> digit?   
   >>>>>>> .............   
   >>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>> In America, what is a "mill"?  In the UK, it used to mean a   
   thousandth of an   
   >>>>>>>> inch, but people use it to mean a millimetre nowadays.   
   >>>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>>   
   >>>>>>> It's not a mill. It's mil - single l. It means, and has always meant, a   
   >>>>>>> thousandth of an inch. It's not an Americanism.   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> In the UK "mill" means millilitre.   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> If you want to refer to fractions of an inch, then   
   >>>>>> it is /always/ "thou", i.e. thousandths of an inch.   
   >>>>>>   
   >>>>>> In the UK "mil/mill" /never/ means 0.001".   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> Yes it does.  My neighbour's a tradesman (in Scotland) and says   
   >>>>> "mill/mil" (I don't know which as they sound the same in speech) as   
   >>>>> shorthand for millimetre.  As in "that kitchen unit is 600 mill wide".   
   >>>>> Since we don't use inches for such things in the UK, there's no   
   >>>>> confusion.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> The context there is key too. While I'd not measure a countertop or   
   >>>> whatever in millimeters, it would make no sense that anything in a kitchen   
   >>>> would be measured thicknesses of paper.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> We (in the US) use "guage" for wire   
   >>>   
   >>> Isn't that really hard to work out?  We use cross sectional area in mm.    
   Which is really easy to imagine.  With the added bonus that a higher number is   
   thicker.  It's also pretty handy as a rough guide that 1 square mm carries 10   
   amps.   
   >>   
   >> Not really. If you can only count with your fingers you probably aren't   
   >> building anything impressive to start with. The entire fallacy of "metric   
   >> is easy, base 10, duh" is just bullshit. Check dimensions of anything   
   >> designed by people that don't know what fractions are. There are tons of   
   >> weird numbers like 13.1mm and so forth. It's no different than 1-1/8th   
   >> inches.   
   >   
   > Yes it ism because the number system works in 10s.  So if the   
   > measurements do too, it's simpler to calculate, especially when you get   
   > 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32 inches.  What's 1/4 inch + 1/16?  And even   
   > worse, how many feet in 197 inches?   
      
   Is this supposed to be some sort of "hard" challenge? answer 1 is 5/16".   
   answer 2 is 16'5". No calculator, no pencil and paper and no real   
   thinking even needed to solve these. Sorry metric slaves can't do basic   
   match and can only slide commas around between digits.   
      
   >>>> and sheet metal.   
   >>>   
   >>> Seriously?  Wow.  Why would you not measure a thickness in a unit of   
   >>> distance?   
   >>   
   >> The guage for sheet metal is sort of obnoxious. It will vary by type of   
   >> metal as well, if that makes any sense.   
   >   
   > It's daft for wiring aswell.  I can immediately visualise what a 6mm^2   
   > cross section of wire is like, and know how much current it will take.   
      
   Wow, you're so smart. You think we can't visualize 18 or 6 guage wire and   
   know how much current it can carry?   
      
   >>>> We also use "guage"   
   >>>> for measuring really thin stuff like plastic films. In the last case, it's   
   >>>> a completly different unit, but with proper context won't confuse anybody.   
   >>>   
   >>> We use microns.   
   >>   
   >> how many microns thick is your plastic trash bag?   
   >   
   > Not enough.  They've now made them so thin that everybody ends up   
   > tearing them or using two or three layers to stop stuff going through   
   > them.  Fucking environmentalists.   
      
   I have to agree here on most bags.   
      
   >> The last ones I got were   
   >> speced on the box as "0.7 mil" There's no false sense of precision there,   
   >   
   > Mil what?  Millimeters?  Thousands of an inch?   
   >   
   >> like with the 610mm countertop or whatever it was.   
   >   
   > What's wrong with bags in microns?  It's the correct unit of measurement, as   
   it's thinner than a mm.  You wouldn't drive 17,000 yards, you'd state it in   
   miles.   
   >   
   >>>> Question for the metric woodworkers. Does anybody cut a piece of wood to   
   >>>> 317mm or 429mm or other off numbers when building a house or handing a   
   >>>> door or installing a countertop?   
   >>>   
   >>> Depends if something else is in the way.  I'd always try to use round   
   >>> numbers.   
   >>   
   >> Would round be 320mm and 430mm instead of 317 and 429? Do you split in 5mm   
   >> increments too? I'm really curious about this.   
   >   
   > Not sure what you're asking here.  If I'm designing something, I'll use   
   > round numbers.  I just built a parrot nestbox.  Funnily enough I cut the   
   > wood to 30cm, not 25 or 28.   
      
   quick, what's 30cm + 3.5mm?   
      
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