Thread: US vs British (and Australian?) woodworking terminologies

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

If you want to get technical about it, the inch was redefined in the 50s and 60s to be exactly 25.4mm so Imperial measurement is actually metric, just with a base of 25.4

Much more sensible when it was the length of some medievil English king's digit.

I get lost at 1 & 23/52nds of an inch.....

Originally Posted by Repete

I get lost at 1 & 23/52nds of an inch.....

Hmmm... perhaps you need this?

If only the priests were such gentle teachers! I lost the love of maths because of their humiliations....

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

If you want to get technical about it, the inch was redefined in the 50s and 60s to be exactly 25.4mm so Imperial measurement is actually metric, just with a base of 25.4

That wasn't actually a definition, it was a treaty agreement between the US and Australia and a few others. The US defined the inch that way in the 1930s. Prior to that is was still defined in terms of the meter but as 1/39.37 meter (25.4000508mm). And that definition dates to 1893 with the Mendenhall Order that made the long standing de facto practice official. It seems the US never had a stable yard bar and always used their French made meter bar for calibration.

Originally Posted by dmorse

That wasn't actually a definition, it was a treaty agreement between the US and Australia and a few others. The US defined the inch that way in the 1930s.

My bad. At any rate, the inch is still defined according to a metric measurement so is therefore technically metric.

What about sub-millimeter lineal measurement? I’d be interested in knowing the US equivalents of a smidgeon, poofteenth and a bee’s winky.

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

My bad. At any rate, the inch is still defined according to a metric measurement so is therefore technically metric.

Exactly. And it's been that way for a long time. There's something to be said for a story stick.

Originally Posted by Chief Tiff

What about sub-millimeter lineal measurement? I’d be interested in knowing the US equivalents of a smidgeon, poofteenth and a bee’s winky.

The one's I'm familiar with would be inappropriate for a public forum.

Originally Posted by Chief Tiff

What about sub-millimeter lineal measurement? I’d be interested in knowing the US equivalents of a smidgeon, poofteenth and a bee’s winky.

When I get down to the shed tomorrow I will measure them, but true story, I do a lot of metal machining and a mate regularly gets me to make bits for his dragster. He will give me rough dimensions and when I ask about clearance, he would always say just a "pussy hair" but the more Aussie vulgar term. How much is that? So I stole one, measured it and it's .003" that's three thousandth's of an inch.
I still do all my metal machining in thous. As that's what all my old machines are calibrated in.
Rgds,
Crocy.

Originally Posted by Chief Tiff

What about sub-millimeter lineal measurement? I’d be interested in knowing the US equivalents of a smidgeon, poofteenth and a bee’s winky.

Here is your answer hair ruler | Etsy

Cheers Andrew

Originally Posted by Old Croc

....So I stole one, measured it and it's .003" that's three thousandth's of an inch......

Interesting .... it wasn't a metric one.

Originally Posted by dmorse

That wasn't actually a definition, it was a treaty agreement between the US and Australia and a few others. The US defined the inch that way in the 1930s. Prior to that is was still defined in terms of the meter but as 1/39.37 meter (25.4000508mm). And that definition dates to 1893 with the Mendenhall Order that made the long standing de facto practice official. It seems the US never had a stable yard bar and always used their French made meter bar for calibration.

Originally Posted by elanjacobs

My bad. At any rate, the inch is still defined according to a metric measurement so is therefore technically metric.

No, Elan. I think the bad was by Mr Mendenhall or the US Office of Weights and Measures in the 1860's. Fascinating Wiki here:
Mendenhall Order - Wikipedia

It seems that the official British yardstick was lost 9literally0 when the UK Houses of Parliament burned down in 1834, and after that it became convenient for everyone to use the French metre stick. The Continentals simply divided the metre by 100 to get centimetres, by 1,000 to get millimetres and by 1,000,000 to get microns. All very simple.

But the Americans, in their infinite wisdom, divided the French metre stick by 3937 and then multiplied the fraction by 3600 to get the American yard. There was probably a more elegant solution!

One more elegant solution was derived 2,000 years ago by the ancient Roman legions marching off to conquer Gaulle or Britain or wherever. Every marching soldier must take steps exactly the same length as his fellow legionaires to stay in step; the length of a legionaires pace was apparently the original definition of a yard. Sure beats dividing a brass bar by 3937......

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

Very select company - apparently there are only three non-metric countries left in the world - Burma, Liberia, and the USA.

Technically, the US uses US customary and not the imperial measurements. For example, an oil drum holds 55 US customary gallons but only 44 imperial gallons.