John S. Ward wrote:
>How common is metric paper usage (A4, A3, etc.) in recently
>metricated countries?
I am not entirely sure whether Britain would class as 'recently metricated'.
But I will answer the questions from my experience living here in Britain.
Britain only uses the A4, A3 series now. I remember the old British sizes
('quarto' and 'foolscap') being used back in the 1970's.
My experience is that corporate photocopiers in Britain often have A4 in one
tray and A3 in the other. This allows for exact enlargement or reduction of
images A4<->A3 and there is usually an option specifically for that.
It is still fairly common to find British office furniture (filing cabinets)
and folders in the old 'foolscap' size. Foolscap is slightly larger than A4
so this is an example of backwards compatibility. However, if you buy new
office furniture now, you will often be offered cabinets designed
specifically for A4.
>Where in the U.S. do you get affordable metric size paper, esp. A3?
>(I'm paying about $100 / ream!)
You have had some US based suggestions from others. Many non-US suppliers
could beat $100 including shipping (it would be tax free).
www.mr-office.com
>Do engineers in recently metricated countries draw on metric sheet sizes,
>or inches sizes?
I am not an engineer, but I am sure that British engineers use A4, A3 etc. I
would be very surprised if you found anything but A4, A3 etc in a British
office (engineering or otherwise).
>Do engineers in recently metricated countries use hard-metric parts,
>or do they simply convert inch-pounds parts to metric numbers?
That is a big question. I think the short answer is that British engineering
is now metric by default. The vast majority of parts are also metric (hard
or soft). In some particular domains, non-metric is still very visible.
If you want to get a more precise answer, pick a part that interests you and
look at British parts suppliers on the web, or ask here and we can discuss
it.
