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Why the heck does America still use outdated measurement and date units?
- Thread starter garirry
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There are sockets in every sensible metric size you could imagine.
But the nominal driver sizes are often quoted at 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, etc., as you suggest.
When you look for screwdriver bits, they are often quoted as 6.25 mm or 6.35 mm or 1/4 - without anyone actually caring what it says - enough slop to make it unimportant. But there are some other sizes such as 4 mm and 9/16 inch.
Checked some tool sets online
They are quoted in millimetres, the smallest with one millimeter increment.
For example one had one side 6, the other 7 mm. The following 8 and 9 and so on. The largest on the set tended to have 2 mm, that is one side 30, the other 32 mm.
One funny example is the British Challenger 2 MBT which has a imperial hull and a metric turret. Two sets of tools.
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You can buy imperial wrenches, metric wrenches, and I even have a set that has both. (It's from a long time ago, when I had a metric-based Datsun 1000 car and an imperial-based Ford Cortina car.)
I think Herdfan was referring to the drives - the square part that fits into the top of the sockets.
Otherwise they'd have referred to sizes like 9/16. There is a chart of available sizes here:
Socket Size Chart: 2 Charts To Easily Find the Size Or Conversion You Need | Properly Rooted
View a socket size chart as well as a conversion chart for easy reference.
properlyrooted.com
You may be correct. What he was referring to is called "drive," or socket-head drive. In this case 1/4," 3/8", 1/2", and so on. I believe that these drive sizes are Imperial numbers, and remain as such worldwide.I think Herdfan was referring to the drives - the square part that fits into the top of the sockets.
Otherwise they'd have referred to sizes like 9/16. There is a chart of available sizes here:
Socket Size Chart: 2 Charts To Easily Find the Size Or Conversion You Need | Properly Rooted
View a socket size chart as well as a conversion chart for easy reference.
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The wheels/tyre thing is funny. They should really decide on one or the other! However I do think all countries do it the same.
Well with the flooding round here, they maybe a serious consideration next time round!
Yes, those are the socket drive sizes (Imperial sizes: 1/4-inch, 3/8-inch, and 1/2"). I have one breaker-bar that has a 1" drive. I used it in the past to remove the spindle nuts on some of my cars' half-shafts. Now that I can afford it I just let the mechanic deal with it, but for some reason I haven't had any CV-boot failures in the past 40 years.This was my point:
It looks like this thread was on hiatus when this aired, but it seems relevant to the discussion:
Very good.
So far, I don't think anyone has ventured into the mysteries of pound-force per square inch. Or defined a US customary version of the Avogadro constant. Nor have I ever seen a Young's modulus in Megapounds per square inch.
I saw this on tv live. It is one of the all time best SNL bits. I just about died laughing…. It’s still just as funny the 8th time I’ve seen it.
I've seen one, but never had to use one. Largest I have used is a 3/4" on lugs on a backhoe.
I have a 1" breaker bar as well. Back from my Jeeping days, to remove the 36 mm axle nut (metric axle nut). I've seen several breaker bars break trying to remove them.
The socket walls would crack before the 1" breaker bar. To remove some I had to use a pipe that's a couple of feet long to extend the length of the breaker bar handle
3/4" drives are more widely used than ones with 1" drive, but the 1" can take a lot more force on the handle. Axle spindle nuts in some vehicles can be quite tough to loosen. The ones I use the most are 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2". I do have a Craftsman ratchet that has a 3/4" drive that I use to loosen or tighten tire lug nuts. The latter (tighten) just before using a torque wrench. The torque wrench has a 3/4" drive, but the drive does not cachet.
And let us not forget this insane "cup" measurement one sees in some US recipes.
Most of the rest of the world uses grams, and kg, or litres for liquids; or, in the old imperial system, yes, we have used, ounces and pounds, or pints, when measuring a volume of liquid.
I have no problems with either, and have used both.
Moreover, I don't even mind references to teaspoons, tablespoons and dessertspoons, we all have them, in our cutlery drawers; as long as the measuring system that is used is internally consistent, it doesn't really matter.
But, "cup".......what on Earth is a "cup"?
For years, I had pondered this, wondering whether they meant my Le Creuset mug, the elegant porcelain Villeroy & Boche cups and mugs I had bought my mother, or something else entirely.
Nowadays, when consulting recipes online, whenever I come across a recipe that refers to "a cup", (or "margarine", another culinary horror), I simply abandon the page, - at speed, actually, at something resembling warp speed - recognising that this is like one of those weird antique alphabets that I will never recognise, let alone understand, or comprehend.
Most of the rest of the world uses grams, and kg, or litres for liquids; or, in the old imperial system, yes, we have used, ounces and pounds, or pints, when measuring a volume of liquid.
I have no problems with either, and have used both.
Moreover, I don't even mind references to teaspoons, tablespoons and dessertspoons, we all have them, in our cutlery drawers; as long as the measuring system that is used is internally consistent, it doesn't really matter.
But, "cup".......what on Earth is a "cup"?
For years, I had pondered this, wondering whether they meant my Le Creuset mug, the elegant porcelain Villeroy & Boche cups and mugs I had bought my mother, or something else entirely.
Nowadays, when consulting recipes online, whenever I come across a recipe that refers to "a cup", (or "margarine", another culinary horror), I simply abandon the page, - at speed, actually, at something resembling warp speed - recognising that this is like one of those weird antique alphabets that I will never recognise, let alone understand, or comprehend.
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Mrs AFB just bought a set of cups to get over this issue. Very weird measurement.
When I was a kid I remember going with my grandma to farmer's markets and smaller stores and some things (not liquids or bottled goods) were sold by the litre or half litre like dry beans and some similar produce. It was measured with wooden boxes. Quite similar to modern US YouTube videos with their cups and spoons.
But in the kitchen you had your scale and grams and kilos came along.
Well not her, everything by heart. Still remember her cooking particularly her Christmas sweets. Unbeatable like everyone else grandma.
But in the kitchen you had your scale and grams and kilos came along.
Well not her, everything by heart. Still remember her cooking particularly her Christmas sweets. Unbeatable like everyone else grandma.
I was born in the metric measuring system, but my mother always used cups, and fractions of it in the kitchen. Also tablespoons, teaspoons, and so on. As for me in the kitchen, I always improvise and deviate from exact measurements. Once I get the flavors that I want, nothing else matters. My mother improvised and memorized quantities, and er food always tasted great to me. Hmm...I should have a cup of Cabernet South AU wine with dinner
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