Metric or Standard?

[AliHajiSheik]

You guys are the reason Canadian lumber yards still sell 2×4's and 4×8' sheets of plywood. We can't convert to metric in sawmills when so much of our lumber goes south.
Construction is strange in Canada. We have tape measures in the stores with metric along one edge and Imperial on the other. Steel wide-flange beam sizes are designated in Imperial; for example, on the drawing an 8×24 beam is 8" across the flange and 24 lbs. per foot, but it's 12.5 meters long.

Then 2x4's are actually 1.5" x 3.5"

 

[Hamish Howl]

You think this "poll", like many others, may be slightly slanted? If your answer is NO - read the first two choices again. The third choice is just to highlight the second.

 

[Grand Mal]

Then 2x4's are actually 1.5" x 3.5"

Yeah, they are. There was some lame excuse for reducing the dimensions but I forget what it was. Something about rough-cut dimensions vs. finished product but I'm pretty sure it's just about getting more pieces out of a log.

 

[AliHajiSheik]

Yeah, they are. There was some lame excuse for reducing the dimensions but I forget what it was. Something about rough-cut dimensions vs. finished product but I'm pretty sure it's just about getting more pieces out of a log.

Actually, it is because of further processing and preparation.

 

[Chock Full o Nuts]

Yeah, they are. There was some lame excuse for reducing the dimensions but I forget what it was. Something about rough-cut dimensions vs. finished product but I'm pretty sure it's just about getting more pieces out of a log.

Been in many old home remodels, and yes, old 2x4 were 2x4, and rough cut with sharp edges. Not the smooth with rounded edges of today.

I'm sure they are still rough cut to dimension and then planed into 1/2" smaller.

Not positive of what they profit from on the saw dust. Likely goes into pressboard of some sorts.

 

[Grand Mal]

Been in many old home remodels, and yes, old 2x4 were 2x4, and rough cut with sharp edges. Not the smooth with rounded edges of today.

I'm sure they are still rough cut to dimension and then planed into 1/2" smaller.

Not positive of what they profit from on the saw dust. Likely goes into pressboard of some sorts.

Do planers take 1/4 inch off each face of building lumber? For that matter, is building lumber run through a planer? I've worked maintenance in sawmills and it seems to me that the lumber goes through the edgers and out onto the green chain and it's a finished product. Planers involve a different category of product, here in Canada. Like kiln dryers.

 

[Rexedgar]

My old house, circa 1930, had rough hewn lumber in the frame. Rough as a cob and a full 2”x4” dimension.

 

[Chock Full o Nuts]

Do planers take 1/4 inch off each face of building lumber? For that matter, is building lumber run through a planer? I've worked maintenance in sawmills and it seems to me that the lumber goes through the edgers and out onto the green chain and it's a finished product. Planers involve a different category of product, here in Canada. Like kiln dryers.

Using planer as a generic term. But from some of the rough lumber I've seen in many an old house cut at a mill with a sloppy blade, built early 1900's, I fully expect 12.5 mm to be taken off each side to result in the finished product of today.

Still , be sure you crown them unless you like waves.

 

[ttwtt78640]

Been in many old home remodels, and yes, old 2x4 were 2x4, and rough cut with sharp edges. Not the smooth with rounded edges of today.

I'm sure they are still rough cut to dimension and then planed into 1/2" smaller.

Not positive of what they profit from on the saw dust. Likely goes into pressboard of some sorts.

The following video explains the various ‘standard’ size changes over time for 2x4s:

 

[marduc]

Well globally metric is the standard so I admit that I am confused.

Further exacerbating this confusion is that my collegiate education was steeped in metric yet my elementary education and my childhood made "standard" the - dare I say - foundational measuring stick

I prefer using metric but I still find myself converting to standard instinctively while doing so.

 

[RF667799]

Been in construction management for over 40 years. Decades ago out government decided they were only going to publish construction drawings in a metric format.

Here are the.problems that came apparent.

None of the workers had metric tapes or knew how to read them after we distributed them.

You lose your perception of distance. You know what 25' should look like. But can't picture what 6 meters looks like. Led to a lot of mistakes that could have been caught.

Didn't last long. We just started having the drawings converted to Standard. Sure did come up with some silly measurements in 32nds and 64ths.

Personally since I do have an engineering degree metric is a much simpler system all the way around. It just doesn't work with a standard workforce.

Yes. I was a superintendent on a metric highway job in my state. I had no problem laying out the work in metric. I did have a little visualization trouble, as you said. But not nearly as much as our laborers out of the hall. But then, we had a laborer who was supposed to be checking grade for an operator in a backhoe digging out shoulders. Very simple...set a level on the existing edge of pavement and see that the operator is maintaining a certain depth. Well it was a damn good operator, but when I came upon the operation the laborer was literally screaming at him that he was too deep. He was measuring the cut by putting his level on the sod to the outside of the cut, and in that area the sod was higher than EOP. The operator just continued along, maintaining an almost perfect grade, and ignoring the protestations of the laborer.

 

[coyote505]

It all depends what you were brought up with. I can visualize the standard measurements that were taught to me, inch, foot, yard, mile and velocity. I made my living in the auto repair trade and have gotten accustomed to both when dealing with fasteners. US cars were a mess during the transition. GM used to powder coat their metric fasteners with a blue dye. The Germans use 10mm, 13mm, 17mm.Japan uses 10mm, 12mm, 14mm and 17mm. Last time I worked, almost 20 years now, US cars were a hodge-podge of both types. US cars were the only one to use an 18mm fastener.

I do some woodworking and I am ate up with the standard measurements, 16” on center, 4’X8’ sheet goods. I have tape measures that have both graduations

Did you miss out on old British motorcycles? THREE sets of wrenches and 6 systems of fasteners.

 

[coyote505]

It all depends what you were brought up with. I can visualize the standard measurements that were taught to me, inch, foot, yard, mile and velocity. I made my living in the auto repair trade and have gotten accustomed to both when dealing with fasteners. US cars were a mess during the transition. GM used to powder coat their metric fasteners with a blue dye. The Germans use 10mm, 13mm, 17mm.Japan uses 10mm, 12mm, 14mm and 17mm. Last time I worked, almost 20 years now, US cars were a hodge-podge of both types. US cars were the only one to use an 18mm fastener.

I do some woodworking and I am ate up with the standard measurements, 16” on center, 4’X8’ sheet goods. I have tape measures that have both graduations

I always wondered why I had an 18mm in my wrench set. Never used it, but I never had an American car.

 

[Carjosse]

Been in construction management for over 40 years. Decades ago out government decided they were only going to publish construction drawings in a metric format.

Here are the.problems that came apparent.

None of the workers had metric tapes or knew how to read them after we distributed them.

You lose your perception of distance. You know what 25' should look like. But can't picture what 6 meters looks like. Led to a lot of mistakes that could have been caught.

Didn't last long. We just started having the drawings converted to Standard. Sure did come up with some silly measurements in 32nds and 64ths.

Personally since I do have an engineering degree metric is a much simpler system all the way around. It just doesn't work with a standard workforce.

It takes a very well thought out plan and a lot of time to effectively switch. It very easily something that can take a generation or two to actually change how people think.

For me my parents all grew up with imperial and my Dad still uses imperial for everything but for me I have very little concept of imperial and really only think in metric units for everything. Though in Canada we do commonly use imperial for some things like height and weight of people but I can just as easily tell you in metric and I am more familiar with a metre than a foot.

 

[jmotivator]

 

[Parker_Chess]

Voted standard but that's because I'm American. Honestly, we use both systems here.

 

[cpwill]

 

[Athanasius68]

Standard of course.
The metric system is stupid.

 

[The Populist Right]

Some things aren’t optimal, but we're stuck with them. Like the "QWERTY" keyboard, a base-ten number system, the seven-day week.

The one US unit I like is Farenheit because you can talk about temps being in the 60s, 70s, 80s, etc because one degree isn’t as large.

 

[StillBallin75]

There's no good reason to not transition to metric versus colonizer units other than people's colonizer feelings.

 

[NJBob]

There's no good reason to not transition to metric versus colonizer units other than people's colonizer feelings.

OK, I’ll bite.

Tell me more about colonizer units and how metric isn’t colonizer units.

 

[Safiel]

There's no good reason to not transition to metric versus colonizer units other than people's colonizer feelings.

Might want to talk with Vietnam and the rest of Indochina about metric colonizers.

 

[Grand Mal]

Been in construction management for over 40 years. Decades ago out government decided they were only going to publish construction drawings in a metric format.

Here are the.problems that came apparent.

None of the workers had metric tapes or knew how to read them after we distributed them.

You lose your perception of distance. You know what 25' should look like. But can't picture what 6 meters looks like. Led to a lot of mistakes that could have been caught.

Didn't last long. We just started having the drawings converted to Standard. Sure did come up with some silly measurements in 32nds and 64ths.

Personally since I do have an engineering degree metric is a much simpler system all the way around. It just doesn't work with a standard workforce.

Yes it does work. We made the switch in Canada.
You just assume that, even though you can adjust, workers can't.

 

[Safiel]

View attachment 67581934

Too bad that is a total load of bull shit.

Von Braun and the Germans who were running our space program worked in metric.

The computers did calculations in metric.

The only standard units were the interfaces the astronauts used to control the space craft, since they were used to standard units. However, when they entered input in standard units, those units were converted to metric for actual calculation by the computer.

By the way, if I had time to burn, I would make a picture of Mars with the caption:

Those who use the standard system, and those who have successfully orbited climate orbiters around Mars.

 

[Moi621]

Metric is great for science
but, I find The Lord's system more
convenient for everyday life.

How many items in a Metric Dozen ?