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Return to imperial measures


john1000

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15mm and half inch, 22mm and 3/4 inch pipes are very similar and fitters still use imperial terminology so technically if a fitter requests 1/2 inch he would get 15mm. Same as waste pipes are still refered to as inch and a half but on the pipe it states 40mm. inch and a quarter is a 32mm pipe.

As far as I'm aware the plumbing was changed in the early 70's in line with currency.

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Odd really, having worked on old Fords a size 10mm and a 13mm spanner was often all that was needed, even on Escorts built in the late 60's, but then again many were built in Germany hence a standardisation I guess,

When ordering stuff like fuel lines, it's always the internal diameter in mm, even for really old stuff.

Plumbing is an interesting one, never knew that it was such a mix of imperial and metric, even today. Is pipe length still ordered in feet or meters?

 

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I always worked on British aircraft which in common with the US were always AF spanner sizes as opposed to metric.Apart from the BAe ATP which had a mix of Whitworth & AF,because half of it derived from the old Hawker Siddeley 748.

It was handy when I got my Harley.

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The modern 6mm dowel is actually 6.35mm in diameter. I wonder why....?

Probably the same reason 9mm dowel is actually 9.5mm

1 minute ago, coxyhog said:

I always worked on British aircraft which in common with the US were always AF spanner sizes as opposed to metric.Apart from the BAe ATP which had a mix of Whitworth & AF,because half of it derived from the old Hawker Siddeley 748.

It was handy when I got my Harley.

Similarly, I had a set of imperial tools I kept on the boat to work on the original Lister engine. When that died we went to a modern revvy European diesel (it was cheap!), and had to buy a new set of metric spanners. 

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41 minutes ago, Butch said:

Odd really, having worked on old Fords a size 10mm and a 13mm spanner was often all that was needed, even on Escorts built in the late 60's, but then again many were built in Germany hence a standardisation I guess,

When ordering stuff like fuel lines, it's always the internal diameter in mm, even for really old stuff.

Plumbing is an interesting one, never knew that it was such a mix of imperial and metric, even today. Is pipe length still ordered in feet or meters?

 

Pipe lengths are sold in meters. So if you go into a plumber merchants and ask for a length of inch and half waste pipe you would get a 3 meter length of 40mm pipe.

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25 minutes ago, gs joe said:

Can anyone else remember petrol.prices being advertised in gallons and litres 

I recall in late seventies in Ireland petrol neared £1 per gallon and a lot of pumps back then could not cope with higher than 99.9p per gallon so they changed the internals of the pumps to read litres, which dropped the price to 25.0p per litre.

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5 hours ago, galenkia said:

The only people alive who remember imperial are only gonna need it to order a coffin in foot and inches.🤣

how very dare you.  the important factor that 22 chins are in a furlong and 8 of those make a mile is a life or death issue 🙂    dont start on rods and gills or there will be hell to pay

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9 minutes ago, tommy dee said:

how very dare you.  the important factor that 22 chins are in a furlong and 8 of those make a mile is a life or death issue 🙂    dont start on rods and gills or there will be hell to pay

1 chain is 66 feet I think, from my Railway days.

Any sea dogs remember fathoms?

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20 minutes ago, fygjam said:

 

Good background on how the kg was defined. A nice cliff hanger at the end with "..and that's why as of 2018 the kilogram will no longer be defined as the mass of a metal cylinder".

The world just redefined the kilogram
...
With the vote Friday, the world’s top measurement scientists chose to affix the kilogram to the Planck constant, a fundamental concept in quantum mechanics that can never, ever change — here on Earth or in the deep reaches of the universe.
..

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1 hour ago, forcebwithu said:

Good background on how the kg was defined. A nice cliff hanger at the end with "..and that's why as of 2018 the kilogram will no longer be defined as the mass of a metal cylinder".

The world just redefined the kilogram
...
With the vote Friday, the world’s top measurement scientists chose to affix the kilogram to the Planck constant, a fundamental concept in quantum mechanics that can never, ever change — here on Earth or in the deep reaches of the universe.
..

Excellent article although I noticed that they stayed well clear of defining the cost of the Baht bus.

 

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