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Someone in a metric country who has to do some
work in USC would be advised to buy a dual one if possible to 1/16 accuracy on
the inch side, as USC-only tapes are not available here and buy a
metric-only tape for the metric jobs. Too often people don't think when
they buy measuring equipment and needlessly buy duel gear. There are also too
many dials with dual measurements where the non-metric (deg. F, lb/sq.in etc.)
can be read conveniently and the metric readout is covered by the tip of the
needle. Very convenient indeed for doing the vast bulk of measuring in a metric
country. And such trash is bought thoughtlessly! Thermometers with C and F:
bought thoughtlessly! I would not touch such stuff with a 10 m
pole.
I once saw this: someome was measuring something
with a dual tape. The inch side was in front of him. I thought, is he really
measuring with inches? No, he was confused and then turned the tape around. Dual
measuring gear should not be sold in metric countries. Metric only in the
shop and some USC-only equipment in the magazine for a any person who needs
it.
The only thermometer or barometer with non-metric
readout I would like to hang in my house would have to be an
antique instrument or a facsimily of
such. If someone offered me a thermometer that was made by Fahrenheit
personally and if it was certainly not a con trick I would certainly not
reject it. If I buy modern measuring gear I avoid dual stuff and even more
non-metric only like the plague.
The three questions below; the first two instantly,
the third 5 seconds. I have to take in and process the fractions in my mind,
then convert the eights into sixteenth to find the anwer.
Han
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, 2006, April 22 9:31
Subject: [USMA:36637] Buying rulers and
tapes
Dear
All,
Readers of the USMA mail list might be interested in a question I
received from a client and my answer as it relates to a recent discussion
about buying rulers and tapes.
Question:
When I visited a hardware store recently, I
noticed that I could buy various different kinds of tapes. There
were:
- metric only
in millimetres, centimetres and in both millimetres and centimetres;
- US Customary
only marked in eighths on one side and sixteenths on the other;
- dual sided
tapes with inches on one side and centimetres divided into halves and
quarters on the other;
- dual sided
tapes with inches on one side and millimetres and centimetres on the other;
and
- dual sided
tapes with inches on one side and millimetres on the
other.
Which should I choose?
Answer:
Buy two tapes.
Tape 2
If you
still have to do some jobs in old measures then buy a US Customary tape with
both sides marked to sixteenth inch accuracy. Don't get anything too expensive
this tape will hopefully become redundant before it wears
out!
Tape 1
Buy a metric tape to do metric jobs with both
sides marked to millimetre accuracy. Buy quality this tape is for the long
haul.
Tape 0
Do not buy tapes marked in centimetres. We
noticed in Australia that using a tape with millimetres on one side and
centimetres on the other was confusing so the Australian building industry
chose to use millimetres only. I suppose that using centimetres with
millimetres was a kind of dual measuring method, albeit both metric. Avoiding
centimetres reduced the time taken for the metrication process remarkably in
all the industries where the millimetre only strategy was used.
Tape
1
Do not buy dual tapes or rulers of any kind. Avoid them. Walk away
if they are presented to you. Do not accept them as gifts!
When we
upgraded to the metric system in Australia, we quickly noticed that the
process went much more smoothly, and was much faster, if you didn't have
anything to do with conversions back and forth from old pre-metric measures to
the (then new) metric units. We even used a motto for building and
construction workers:
Don't duel with dual.
More
questions:
Please
time your answers.
Which is bigger
9 mm
or 12 mm?
Which is bigger
1.2 cm
or 9 mm?
Which is bigger
3/8"
or 9/16"?
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
PO Box 305, Belmont, Geelong,
Australia
Phone 61 3 5241 2008
Pat Naughtin is the editor of the free online monthly
newsletter, 'Metrication matters'.
You can subscribe by going to http://www.metricationmatters.com/newsletter
Pat
is the editor of the 'Numbers and measurement' chapter of the Australian
Government Publishing Service 'Style manual for writers, editors and
printers'. He is a Member of the National Speakers Association of Australia
and the International Federation of Professional Speakers. He is also
recognised as a Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist (LCAMS)
with the United States Metric Association. For more information go to: http://metricationmatters.com
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