Re: [kicad-users] Re: Mils

[Robert]

 I've never seen or heard of one that used 'thou'.

For the benefit of those unfamiliar with the term, 'thou' is defined as:

an alternate name for what Americans call a mil: a unit of distance
equal to 0.001 inch (25.4 micrometers). This name originated in Britain,
but it is now common in the U.S. also. -
http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/dictT.html (University of North Carolina)

So although I accept (from our discussion here) that 'mil' appears to be
more widely used than 'thou', my (British) engineering background means
that 'mil' is 'millimetres' first, 'milli-inch' second.   It's like the
word 'pants', which to me is underware first (UK meaning), and an outer
garment for the lower part of the body second (US meaning).   I could
avoid this issue altogether by using my preferred measurement system,
which is metric.   However when I switch kicad to metric I get
unfriendly grid choices, such as 0.127mm.   Since it looks like 'mil' is
more widely used to mean thousandths of an inch, is there a way of
getting kicad to give me rational metric grid options, so I can work
purely in metric without immediately hitting a brick wall?

BTW, this US vs UK vs the world business leaves a bad taste in the
mouth.   This isn't a battle, it's a matter of the same word having
different meanings in different parts of the world.

Robert.



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06:48

[kicad-users] Re: Mils

[ruffrecords]

--- In kicad-users@yahoogroups.com, KeepIt SimpleStupid
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

 Let's face it, humans like things easy.  It's much
 easier to say 5 mills, than 5 thousanths of an
 inch,

No, you would just say 5 thou'

Ian

Re: [kicad-users] Re: Mils

[KeepIt SimpleStupid]

Let's face it, humans like things easy.  It's much
easier to say 5 mills, than 5 thousanths of an
inch, although saying 250 thousanths seems to be
more of the norm when machining in english units. 
Thickness, such as a plastic bag seems to be expressed
in Mills.  Confusion, of course.

When connecting thermocouples, RED is negative.  Go
figure.

Even the metric system has it's pecularities, the
Angstrom and the micron.

My boss once said, he likes numbers to be between 1
and 10.  In other words the exponent expressed in
words such as nano, micro, pico.

I prefer metric too, but when the parts and the tools
are English, do as the Romans do and use the unit of
measure that the parts are in.






  

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