On Monday 01 September 2003 16:18, Carl Sorenson wrote: > John Ward wrote: > [begin] > Machinists make a big point to not do anything in metric, and if you give > them > a metric drawing, they will pencil in inches everywhere, and make the part > in > inches. To me, this seems like a lot of extra work and creates opportunity > for error. Yet most machinist bear a grudge against the metric system, and > make it a point to avoid it as much as possible. They also make it a point > to train new machinists inches-only, indoctrinate the anti-metric grudge, > and > avoid buying metric tooling. Therefore, most engineers draw inches > drawings. > [end] > > Do you know why the machinists have this attitude? If you asked one of > them, "It seems that you dislike working in metric units. Why is that?" > what would they say?
"Inches work fine. Why change? Inches parts and tooling are easier to find than metric parts, and I can get them quicker. All of my measuring tools are in inches, they were expensive, and I paid for them out of my own pocket. I'm not going to spend my own money to buy new ones just to be metric. One turn of the knob on my lathe/mill is exactly 0.2 inches.... I know everything in inches, and I don't want to have to learn a new system." These agruments are largely valid. Converting will require some effort, and machinists don't really see the benefits. Most machinists would almost certainly be better off making a clean break with some specific training, new equipment, and going metric all at once rather than trying to juggle two systems during a multi-decades long transition period. John
