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| Michael Storer Wooden Boat Plans For the multitude of wooden boat fans that use, and need info on Michael Storer Wooden Boat Plans. Put your questions etc here and they will be answered and dealt with quicker and easier by the man himself and others in the know. |
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8th Apr 2008, 07:06 PM
|  | Member | | Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Ca, USA Age: 55
Posts: 73
| |  RE: Using the Metric System in USA - getting tape measures and others
Here we have no "Metric tape measures" the fellas at the hardware store
look confused when the subject of meters comes up. I had to do something. What I'm not sure. I got confused. Even more then usual.
Well, now what. I got these "Aussie" boat plans in metric. Well, I had a
rum$coke and took a nap. That worked wonders. Now I kinda got
it figured out. "GOOGLE"!!! has these conversion things. Yippee
The boat might be upside down when It's finished, but the spec's will
be right on. Keith
(Michael Storer - Boatmik - the designer replies below - look for the "IMPORTANT" in large print as it is very important not to convert all the measurements into another system - easier and simpler to use a metric tape measure)
Last edited by Boatmik; 25th Apr 2008 at 10:54 AM.
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8th Apr 2008, 07:40 PM
| | Member | | Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Southern Riverina
Posts: 92
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Not sure if you are having a lend of us, but surely a tape measure with both metric and imperial can't be that hard to find?! Maybe get onto eBay and order one from your nearest civilised country.
Once you dip your toe in the 20th century you'll love it. Nest thing you know you'll be wanting some decent mains voltage...
Oh, and they aren't meters they're metres. Millimetres, centimetres, kilometres etc.
A meter is something which measures, a metre is a unit of length. Pass that along to the others would you?  |
8th Apr 2008, 08:00 PM
|  | Most Valued Member | | Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Kentucky NSW near Tamworth, Australia Age: 73
Posts: 3,825
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Here you go Coogzilla
A conversion tool from the ex big Australian. http://www.bluescopesteel.com.au/ind...37964B795E94A5
__________________ Regards Bazza
Skype Username: bazzabushy "Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards." -Vernon Sanders Law The views expressed by the poster are general in nature and any advice should be taken in this vein. The poster accepts no responsibility if this advice is used. When undertaking any work personal professional advice should be sought from suitably qualified persons in the field of work being undertaken.
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8th Apr 2008, 10:25 PM
|  | Sum ergo cogito (Cogito) | | Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Tallahassee FL USA Age: 70
Posts: 4,301
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Quote:
Originally Posted by coogzilla  Here we have no "Metric tape measures" the fellas at the hardware store look confused when the subject of meters comes up. Keith | Balderdash. The clowns at the hardware store don't know their butts from last week. Although I did find a nice Stanley 33-115 at Lowes or Home Despot - conventional one face, "pi" on the other: inch marks are 3.1416" apart, so it measures the diameter directly by wrapping around the whatever. Not dual metric and Imperial though.
Have a look at McMaster-Carr ( http://www.mcmaster.com/ ). Select "Tape Rules" under "Measuring," etc.
Grizzly also has some ( http://www.grizzlyindustrial.com/ ). Enter "tape measures" in the search field.
Also, be alert for Cummins Industrial Tools travelling tent shows. They probably have a web site. My no. 3288 is 1" wide x 25 ft, with dual markings, inch/feet and cm/mm.
(Dave, please do a search for "spelling nazis." And as George Bernard Shaw said, "England and America are two countries separated by a common language.")
Joe
__________________
Of course truth is stranger than fiction.
Fiction has to make sense. - Mark Twain |
9th Apr 2008, 12:16 AM
|  | Most Valued Member | | Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Adelaide Age: 56
Posts: 2,042
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Quote:
Originally Posted by joe greiner Balderdash. The clowns at the hardware store don't know their butts from last week. Although I did find a nice Stanley 33-115 at Lowes or Home Despot - conventional one face, "pi" on the other: inch marks are 3.1416" apart, so it measures the diameter directly by wrapping around the whatever. Not dual metric and Imperial though.
Have a look at McMaster-Carr ( http://www.mcmaster.com/ ). Select "Tape Rules" under "Measuring," etc.
Grizzly also has some ( http://www.grizzlyindustrial.com/ ). Enter "tape measures" in the search field.
Also, be alert for Cummins Industrial Tools travelling tent shows. They probably have a web site. My no. 3288 is 1" wide x 25 ft, with dual markings, inch/feet and cm/mm.
(Dave, please do a search for "spelling nazis." And as George Bernard Shaw said, "England and America are two countries separated by a common language.")
Joe | G'day Joe and Coogzilla,
You blokes have the best tool supplier next door.
Lee Valley is your friend.
Cheers Mike  |
9th Apr 2008, 01:06 AM
|  | Deeply flawed human being | | Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: 'Delaide, Australia Age: 53
Posts: 7,169
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Howdy All and thanks for this topic Coogzilla
Duckworks Magazine has a mail order service for tape measures. http://www.duckworksbbs.com/tools/measure/index.htm
Chuck and Sandra are prompt and reliable and have good follow up if there are problems. IMPORTANT Please don't use any conversion tools - there is no way that you can go that way without making an error or 23. One guy got the tops of his bulkheads out by around an inch and a quarter by the time he had converted several of his measurements with the result his mast leant forward rather than back.
Conversions work OK for a single measurement but metric tape measures are the only way to minimise errors in a boat building project.
On the plus side - the metric system is a dream to use and the plans do have an imperial timber list and most timber sizings through the plans are in metric and imperial so you can see what is needed from the pile of timber in your shed. So identification information is in both systems.
But measuring information is only in metric (if you haven't met my plans before)
Best wishes
Michael
Last edited by Boatmik; 25th Apr 2008 at 10:52 AM.
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9th Apr 2008, 07:56 AM
|  | Alien in a Strange Land | | Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: South Carolina, USA Age: 65
Posts: 2,491
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Just had a walk out to the shed to check the model--a Stanley 30-824, 8 metres long, dual markings. Bought at Lowes right off the shelf. 
__________________ Cheers,
Bob
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9th Apr 2008, 09:37 AM
|  | Grumpy old Bugga | | Join Date: May 2003 Location: South Oz, the big smokey bit in the middle Age: 55
Posts: 4,623
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I'll second Mik's thoughts on measuring things rather than converting and measuring. The more steps you have in the process, the more places to go wrong.
Following that thought on, transfering measurements when you're working with full sized plans/bits is better done without using a ruler - use a board with one edge bevelled nice and thin, then lay board over the bit to be 'measured', put on a pencil mark, move the board to the other part of the job, transfer the pencil mark to the new job. The accumulating pencil marks can be 'rubbed' off with a chisel used as a scraper every now and then.
The theory is that when you use a ruler, you have the opportunity to make a mistake when reading the ruler, another mistake remembering the measurement and another mistake when making the final mark. Using a board (I can't remember the salty name for the damned thing  ) and pencil marks removes those three opportunities. Besides, it's quicker and easier on aging thought processess 
Richard |
9th Apr 2008, 10:04 AM
| | Deeply flawed human being | | Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: 'Delaide, Australia Age: 53
Posts: 7,169
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Howdy Daddles,
It is a method I use a lot when there is a repeated measurement. But I do check the final overall measurement against the original too.
(as I know you do)
Michael |
9th Apr 2008, 01:00 PM
| | Grumpy old Bugga | | Join Date: May 2003 Location: South Oz, the big smokey bit in the middle Age: 55
Posts: 4,623
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I just remembered the name of the thing too, a 'pick up stick', which is a tad more obvious than the equally useful (but used for a different job) 'joggle stick' ... of which I have two
Richard |
9th Apr 2008, 01:03 PM
| | Grumpy old Bugga | | Join Date: May 2003 Location: South Oz, the big smokey bit in the middle Age: 55
Posts: 4,623
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The other gadget I use a lot are calipers - no, I never read them, I just set them on the job then take them to the bit to be cut out 
Richard |
9th Apr 2008, 03:48 PM
| | Member | | Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Ca, USA Age: 55
Posts: 73
| | RE: tape measure
OK guys what is a joggle stick?
We got a "Lowe's" but it's 40miles away. The people working there
are as talented as the ones working at McDonalds. On a good day
they can locate their aXX all by their own self. If you ask about a
"tape mesure" they say, what kinda tape? It comes in rolls. Oh, ok.
Well, wtf. Mcmasters will have one most likley.
Unless one of you Aussie's want to send me one (-:
Keith |
9th Apr 2008, 04:25 PM
| | Grumpy old Bugga | | Join Date: May 2003 Location: South Oz, the big smokey bit in the middle Age: 55
Posts: 4,623
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A joggle stick is an amazingly useful wee gadget.
It's made out of sheet 'something' - ply, wood, tin, plastic. Mine are cut out of a piece of ply on the grounds that it's cheap and not hard to make another.
Basically, it is anywhere from a foot long, depending on the job. It's straight on one side and has randomly serrated teeth about 1" deep on the other with a point at the end. You can buy 'plans' for them, but that's not necessary, nor is it necessary to number the teeth though that can help with complicated jobs.
You use it for mapping out the shape of something.
For example, the shape of a seat top where you need to get the inside shape of the hull. You fix a piece of scrap ply to the seat frames. You then place your joggle stick on the scrap ply with the point against the inside of the hull and draw it. Remove the joggle stick, and you are left with its outline drawn on the ply. Do this for a cunningly selected number of spots. Remove the sheet of ply, lay it on top of your good ply, place the joggle stick inside its outline and mark on the good ply where the point is. You wind up with a series of points which mark out the inside of the hull, hence the 'cunning selection' of the points
Very quick and accurate if done carefully.
Numbered teeth can help locate which teeth line up where but in reality, if your teeth are randomly shaped and with a bit of thought, it's not hard to put the joggle stick in the right place.
Richard |
9th Apr 2008, 04:43 PM
| | Member | | Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Ca, USA Age: 55
Posts: 73
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Thank's Richard. I kinda get it. The "teeth" part has me confused.
Diagrams for a bozo like me would help a lot. Keith |
9th Apr 2008, 04:58 PM
| | Grumpy old Bugga | | Join Date: May 2003 Location: South Oz, the big smokey bit in the middle Age: 55
Posts: 4,623
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Sheesh, give a bloke a chance to take some photos
Here ya go
Richard | | |
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