@Inspire Woodcraft, but isnt that the attitute which causes the USA to always stay imperial? I am European and dont care what you use over there, but i imagine it as pain i nthe ass to divide all the time by 8, 16, 32 and all those outdated and unnecassary standards. The longer you stay with that system, the harder the change would be. I understand the point thats its easier to use imperial in an already imperial working space "Yes i replace you that 10" whatever thing" instead of 25,4cm. But as soon you have to make something fit where the object didnt care about any standards... uff. Saw some youtube vids of those workers who use calculators to even get the stuff they measure on the same level to add it. 1 3/4+ 1/8+ 3/16. what ? xD

Ighu

If you feel weak and flimsy weighing only 106 kg, it might comfort you that you also weigh a hefty 212 metric pound.

@@antonsmith1497 and then add subtraction on top of that. The main problem is you need to remember a numer and a fraction, which is two more numbers when you do calculation.

My mate was measuring a long wire hf radio antenna he said its 60 metres 2 foot

Guinness 🍻

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 no wonder when I go to the us I drink more than the usual to get the same buzz

@@MohammedNatheer And US beer is weak as though it were brewed for democrats ;)

@@DeeegerD 🤣🤣

A six pack in metric is 42 beers - double it and add 30.

they might miss be a million millimeters

@@jyvben1520 but that's only 0.6 of a mile ;)

no shit because having the measurements down to the very little digit would be easier than trying to work shit out in your head

@@Rumym8 putting shit in my head, now.

The tip of your index finger is EXACTLY one inch. Measure it. Imperial is based on the golden ratio. There is no better, more natural measuring system, point blank.

@@bestyoutubernonegraternumber1 nope. Each person have different length of their fingers. And no, imperial are not based off the golden ratio. And inches have been between 2 and 5 cm. Depending on which country or even city inch you uses. That was why changing into metric system was so good. We had both an industrial and a wood working inch here in Sweden until we stopped that shit and went fully imperial. Now everyone uses nm, micrometer, mm, m and km instead of inches for nails and dimensions on wood. and meters for longer distances. Yes, the dimensions on nails and building materials are multiples of 25 mm. You are welcome to guess why.

Or putting a man on the moon. Metric did that also, just the controls all had to be recalibrated to imperial so the astronauts could fly the thing.

Luke Dogwalker and as NASA discovered grinding mirrors on Hubble. The pyramids incidently were constructed using cubits, palms and digits, not imperial or metric. You'd wonder how Chippendale managed to make such furniture before metric was even heard of! The biggest smile though is your, "the system we NOW call imperial"! The system has been used since1824, metric didnt come in until 1965. However did we manage? The bridges, steam engines, railways, ships, all during the Victorian industrial revolution and not a millimetre in sight!

@@gbwildlifeuk8269 wait, why do machinists use decimal fractions instead of multiples of two then? What's a "thou" if not an admission of the fact that to do annotations on really precise stuff fractions just don't cut it in terms of conveniance?

@@gbwildlifeuk8269 The French started using the metre in the 1790, whereas the first coherent metric system (CGS) was developed in the 1860s. Otherwise, being older doesn't mean being right - there was, for example, a unit called rod (Rute in German), which had about 20 definitions, ranging from 3 to 9 metres, all depending on the region and field where it was used. So were these better? (I am not against using inches and such, it obviously doesn't give lower (or higher) precision, as the video points out. Even if I have to do some math when you people say 5/8 inch, I laughed watching it.)

@@avandras i never said imperial was more precise than metric so i dont see the point of your rant

Valid point indeed!

When you say, most of the world. You actually mean all of the world outside of the USA, minus, Liberia and Burma.

@@harveysmith100 and england...at least macro level measurements (miles). But I do suppose we aren't watching a road construction channel so not very applicable

@@hansonlife9465 Point well made. They are actually constructed in Km but then use Miles on the sign boards. Very British.

@@harveysmith100 haha that's funny

Blame it on the building industry. When framing a house your slimmed down 2 by 4 will be covered with sheets of 1/2" plywood to become a 4" wall, with a 'real' 2 by for you would end up with a 5" wall, giving the cabinet maker a headache. Same for doorways. It is just laziness, if you want to hit a guy over the head with a 1 1/2" x 3 1/2" he will be long gone so you pretend it's a 2 by 4 you are waving about ;-)

Because it’s easier to say 2 x 4 ‘s you don’t go to the lumber yard, and ask for 1 1/2 x 3 1/2 ‘s the same as a 2 x 6 is 1 1/2 x 5 1/2.

@@astranger448 But we're constantly told that 1/2 inch plywood isn't actually 1/2 inch, so that arguement in invalid. Our 12mm ply is 12mm. :)

There seems to be a sort of measuring "slang" where the size from the rough cut log mill carries through to the fine finish despite losing thickness at each stage.

I also don't understand where this persistent myth comes from that the US uses "imperial units".

@@tstcikhthys They use... Metric! (yes, it is true! But then they convert it to some... strange units that no one understands)

@@Xanthopteryx I was referring to the fact that everyone keeps saying "imperial units" when they refer to the US, but the US uses US customary units; they're actually different. Imperial units are only used by Canada, the UK, and some other Commonwealth countries. But you're right; in the US, US customary units are defined using metric units.

We don't call them World Standard units. Just Standard. And if you know anything about the USA, our context is scoped to our borders.

@@charanvantijn541 Wrong. The metric system (SI Units) do NOT contain US customary units. Rather, US customary units reference metric units (e.g., 1 inch = 2.54 centimeters exactly).

Awesome! LOL

That was a common joke when Sweden switched to right-hand traffic in 1967

If you really want to troll your US friends. Then add a bit of the old Danish imperial into the mix. One Danish mile is aprox 7,5 kilometers.

@@brostenen Which is actually equivalent to the old nordic Sea mile = 4* 1 nautical mile = 4*1,852 km = 7,408 km

@@kjellg6532 That I did not know. 🙂

The advantage of metric is also another thing. If we say that mile is kilometer and we say that foot is meter and inch is centimeter. Then it takes so time to figure out what 186549 inches is in feet. As compared to metric, you just move the dot or comma (depending on what you use in your country) the correct number of times to the left.

I would think all handymen use both. In europe brass piping couplings are in inches but copper pipe diameters are in metric.

Last generation to be taught imperial at school so can use both imperial mostly for large dimensions metric for the smaller stuff

Metric allows for far easier conversions, but especially that last par is important. Working with decimals is just so much easier and more precise than with fractions. I get that the US can't simply change when a lot of their infrastructure is based on imperial, and pretty much everyone has known it since birth. But metric really is the proper modern day standard. In fact, funnily enough, the modern exact measurement for a pound is even measured by using the "standard kilogram". As in, a pound is defined as "0.45359237 kg" EDIT: And I believe the modern day inch is also defined based on the centimeter.

@@Sanquinity Most of the rest of the world survived converting ages ago.. metric was not the standard always and yes some strange remains still exists in Europe as well - just be aware if you are talking a local inch, Imperial inch or standard.. just to mess it up.

@@hookedonwood5830 There where a lot fewer road signs back then.

@@darkiee69 in the UK roadsigns still have miles on, not Km. Everything else is metric (pretty much) so I think America will cope

@@Sanquinity inch is define by meter as meter is define by light travel path in vacuum in 1/299 792 458 s, you can use cm but it basically you converting from meter.

the only? how about being compatible with the rest of the world?

@@szepi79 a minor detail if you're making things in your shed. It's more important to be accurate than to worry about what the rest of the world is doing

@@howardchambers9679 yeah, but he (John) never said anything about that. Based on that debated on both of them, I find it more plausible that he is doing more than just some shad work for himself.

@@szepi79 unless he's exporting I don't see that

The funny thing is that most countries use a combination of both. Even the the ones that have diehard metric fans. They are both useful in my opinion.

I believe you mean a shifting spanner. No such thing as a "wrench" in metric.

@@goulash75 I believe you mean an "adjustable" spanner...

@@howardchambers9679 A Bahco spanner (Swedish invention!)

@@howardchambers9679 And we have screws that screw. Not bolts... A bolt does not have thread. If it has a thread, it is a screw.

@@Xanthopteryx so my threaded coach bolts are actually screws?!! Wow I learn so much from yt comments. I'll have to inform the hardware shop they've labelled everything up wrong! Although I'm not sure what screws and bolts have to do with the different names for the same thing

Thank you for what you do. It really is a shame that shop class and other similar classes keep disappearing from the education system. I think the biggest issue is that people get taught or used to a system and then can't figure out how anyone could possibly do it any other way. I personally am not opposed to any system but I did grow up using the imperial or standard system with both carpentry related materials and automotive, so it's comfortable for me. In the automotive industry things slowly started switching to metric or becoming a mixture of metric and imperial, and I learned to adapt. But here in the states carpentry related tools, equipment and even hardware are still far more commonly found in imperial units, so there is really no incentive to make the switch. In fact one might say that it's almost encouraged not to. I think that in other places where that is not the case, people just can't wrap their heads around how this works. I completely agree about the ease of use math-wise. I have found my own workarounds. In most practical applications when I need to add a few fractions, I don't even do math at all. I measure to say 1-5/16, and then move my rule to a zero point, like a whole inch mark, and then measure from that point the other "X" amount. I'm sure you understand what I'm saying. Although it's far less complicated to do than to explain in writing. I have been reading US based tapes and rules since I was a little kid so for me it just makes sense: just keep splitting things in half. I actually struggle with metric rules because I find myself having to focus and count the millimeters and keep track of how many centimeters I already counted and, like you said, we aren't "allowed" to use decimeters. This is in part because I have not been taught to use metric and I am not practiced. With an imperial tape or rule I just look at it and know exactly what it means as soon as I see it. I see people use metric rules all the time and they are just fine. Just as I am with imperial units. One thing I will say is that being off by a half millimeter can wreak havoc on a project, especially if compounded. In certain projects a half millimeter may as well look like a mile. I have not seen a single tape or rule commonly available here in the US that reads less than a whole millimeter. I know they are out there because some of my higher-end tools have the option of buying in parts of millimeters. But it's seems silly that I would have to spend the money on a high end tool just to be able to split a millimeter. This whole debate is why I have been trying to encourage folks to stop measuring as much as possible and let the materials themselves do the hard work. Most of the time neither a metric or imperial rule will read something 100% accurate without braking out a micrometer, so why use either one if you don't have to?

@@InspireWoodcraft HI, I’m a steel fabricator in the UK. Your confession that when you need to add fractions, you move the tape to the nearest full inch and measure again proves it’s way more difficult than adding whole numbers as with metric. Taking the metric equivalents of your example 1 5/16”: 1 inch =25mm, 5/16=8mm so 33mm. Now multiples becomes 33,66,99,132,165 etc use a calculator if necessary but my point is that it’s more accurate to hold the tape still and mark off multiple measurements rather than keep moving it. Kept still your only tolerance is the mark you do each time so 1x tolerance all the way down however many marks your doing. By moving you have now doubled that to 2x tolerances. First one for where you moved the tape to to start and then your next mark. Now repeated only 4 times you have introduced 8 tolerances. There are times I could be putting 15 bars in a gate so your method would not be good for my job if I wanted accurate even spaces all the way. Normally for this task I’d measure what I have and divide it by the number of bars and put the figure in my calculator memory, which I round up to one decimal point of a millimetre. Then by hooking my tape on the end I just keep adding the calculator memory and thus I’m never more than one tolerance out. But I do want one of your planers because it can take off nearly an inch with each pass!!😂🇬🇧

I’m from india and even though we’re officially metric still most of our thermometers and measuring tapes are in imperial and in Casual and business talks we still use imperial for everything except for measuring weight and volume Even though land measurements are written in metric people still convert it into imperial

I measure in mm, cm, dm, m, km, ... All depending on what you want to do with it. How long is a paper (A4)? Roughly 3x2 dm. Exactly? 297x210 mm. How wide is this kitchen door? 60? 120? 40? Cm. This is standard measures for kitchen cabinets. I need a stick to put down as a marker in the garden. How long? Well.. maybe 3-4 dm? I need a box for my stuff. The longest piece to fit is almost 2 dm so it should be longer than 2 dm. It all depends on how accurate i have to be. No one remembers 193 mm when in the shop looking for a box. But 2 dm is easy. And no need to know that the kitchen cabinet is 600 mm because it is 60 (not even using a unit here! If i ask for a kitchen cabinet door i just say a 60 door, 120 height, and everyone knows). Washing machines are actually the same. 40, 60. Fridge: 60, 120, maybe some arbitrary special size like.. 180. Rare i would say. Stove the same, 60 is the most common. Normal kitchen cabinets are 60 (a double as it is called is 120). And a small one is called 40 (there are also 20 as an example). So everything is easy multiples and, things fit easily thanks to that. I normal cases. I really love standards! It makes life so much more easy!

Metric viewer here. We definitely use dm, since 1 dm³ is a litre, a volume which in turn has the mass of 1 kg of water. I'd say it's the very key to understanding the metric system. But when building stuff professionally, sure, millimetres are the standard.

They taught us metric in the 70’s here in the USA as well, it just didn’t stick. In reality, it’s a mix here now, just more on the imperial side.

Same experience for me in Canada. I use Imperial for projects and all of our building materials are in Imperial, but we drive in metric and buy fuel, food, alcohol in metric, take medicine in metric, etc. I really hate the fractional system of Imperial, though. Working with decimals would be so much easier when measuring stuff.

@@jeanchapman1301 similar in England as its difficult to visualise a metre as opposed to a yard, if youre used to imperial. They say metric is more accurate, it is if working in nanometres and the likes but for woodwork? No way! If youre desperate you can go into thousands of an inch with imperial, how close do they want it? And as for him fitting that shelf you need neither, offer the shelf up, pencil line on inside of leg, cut -it fits! No tape required

@@fergusontea yeah that’s the way it is here.

What a mess

not very useful for a carpenter to know how much energy to heat a cc of water one centigrade/Fahrenheit, so the point is kinda moot. but i get you

Well, depends on the type of math... Golden ratio, fractions, and other types of math that don't break down easily to units of 10 or change over time are where metric can fall short. It's just much better for most science and engineering math but there are always exception to any system as no system is perfect at everything... Everyday use and nature tend to not follow precise units of 10. For example, the Earth's rotation is steadily decelerating at an irregular rate. So no long term precise unit of measurement will remain accurate forever, which is probably one of the reasons pretty much no one has adopted metric time, for example. Though, it's popular in the internal functions of computers. Some things in life are also more an art than science, and metric is better at science but that makes it less useful in art...

The precision is in how accurately you measure, not what units you measure in ... But yes, with ten fingers and ten toes, working in eighths, sixteenths, and thirty-seconds just doesn't make sense! It'd be like buying eggs by the dozen ... Oh, wait, we still do that!

@@ZeoCyberG of course they break down easily, and certainly far more easily than imperial does. That's what the numbers after the . are for!

@@kurtadkins880 That isn't easier, that's different and you can get into extremely large number after the "." ... Like calculating Pi to the million decimal point vs just writing 22/7 in fractions... Easier and simpler is relative...

@@ZeoCyberG from a practical standpoint it's far easier. Calculators have been handling decimals since the 70s, yet none of them handle, for example, 13/64ths particularly well.

LOL and things still don't fit!

I'll have to try that. I meant to talk about how much easier it is to vacuum metric sawdust but I forgot to add it to the video.

Well, it's actually called the US customary measurement system... It's just based on the Imperial and units of measurements used for most of human history but people just call it imperial despite any differences to the British Imperial system... While metric was created in part to create a more universal standard, but that's an example of forcing conformity that tries to eliminate any difference in ways of thinking, which doesn't fit well with US ideals of freedom and individuality. But it's not like the US doesn't use Metric, it's just not dominant in daily life but it's used regularly in engineering and science...

Easy, 29/96.

@@massimookissed1023 OK, so that's one out of three. And the answer to the other two problems is....? :)

what

😂 I don’t know how I haven’t heard of that one yet. Brilliant!

Fractions, especially in woodworking, you can easily go down to 1/64, more common to break it down to units of 12, just like inches into a foot... Otherwise, anything really small then everyone switches to metric, typically cm that you can just multiple 2.54 to get the equivalent in inches.

With imperial you just keep dividing in half for fractions of an inch. Just as you would with fractions of a mm. I think people get hung up on the fact that dividing a mm is the same as dividing anything in another system. It's quite literally just math, although the metric math is easier. Both systems can be broken down indefinitely.

Sarcasm converted to metric, yes. 👍

Same.. Miles i understand another more. Yes I know 1k is 1000m but miles is easier for me. Metric on all other things though.

Born into the metirc system in Aus, I use metric for EVERYTHING. In fact, only use Millimetres, Metres, and Kilometres as measurements (not centimetres). Use MPG for my fuel efficiency. And PSI for tyre pressure.

Older than you, so Imperial was more ingrained. I envisage measurements in feet and inches, so if I'm told that that something is 20 cm long, my mental process is 200 mm (cm is not a unit it the SI system), which is 8 inches which I can visualise. My tiny brain cannot see 20 cm.

@@jeffreythompson9549 My tiny brain is wired in metric. When I'm told something is 8 inches long, which occurs only in KZfaq in my case, my mental process is 8 + 8 + 8:2 = 20 (cm) and that's the length I can visualize. Trying to actually visualize 8 inches results in a weird mental image of a tray containing 8 bleeding thumb fingers which I cannot realize as a length concept. Rather, as a few chicken wings before going into the pan. That's me 🤖

Centimeters... no one here says like "37 cm and 2 mm" but instead just 37,2 cm (or 37.2 if you are into that habit - thirty-seven point/comma two). If you say it like that it is not that critical to be hundred precise. But 372 mm is very precise. The same in meter: 1,55 meter. Then it is not that fussy by the precision. Could be a mm or so either way. But if you say 1550 mm then it means exactly that. And so it goes with dm and km. 1500 meter is very precise, down to the meter. 1,5 km could be like 100-200 meters either way.

so what USCU size hole to drill for a #6 bolt, and now in metric a 4mm bolt?

14mm

@@JohnColgan. 14.2875

So you mean that it is more easy to convert based on decimal? 10 mm is 1 cm. 100 cm is 1 m. 1000 m is 1 km. 10 cm is 1 dm. 0,5 m is 50 cm is 500 mm. And so on... Instead of 3/7 inch that is.. uhm... i have no idea. Need a calculator.

😆

Just tell your wife 15 16ths is longer than 24mm.