North Oxford - Questions/Advice etc!

[dmr]

24 minutes ago, Athy said:

I don't think that politricks have really come into it.

Thinking it through, I've realised that two areas which interest me, boats and records, use imperial measurements ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY. yOU'LL OFTEN HEAR A BOATER TALKING ABOUT HIS 45 FOOT BOAT, BUT i HAVE NEVER HEARD ONE SAY THAT HE HAS A 14 METRE (OR WHATEVER) CRAFT. sOME BROKERS TRIED TO USE METRIC LENGTHS TO DESCRIBE THEIR BOATS A FEW YEARS AGO, BUT WHEN i LOOK AT SALES SITES THESE DAYS THJE BOATS ARE ALWAYS measured in feet.

 

I do wonder why my caps lock sometimes does that without my permission.

 

Similarly, in this country records are always referred to as 7" or 12", not 18cm or 30cm.

 

The daftest use of metric must be in the motor trade, where the dimensions of cars tend to be given in piddling little millimetres, making them almost incomprehensible. Why do they do it? If they must usemetric, why not centimetres, or metres and centimetres?

 

Just like imperial vs metric, the metric system has two versions with a battle between them, known as mks and cgs ?   mks has sort of won and m is metres, cgs is no longer really allowed and the c stands for centimeter, so centimeters are no longer a real proper part of the metric system 😀

[MtB]

3 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

Just like imperial vs metric, the metric system has two versions with a battle between them, known as mks and cgs ?   mks has sort of won and m is metres, cgs is no longer really allowed and the c stands for centimeter, so centimeters are no longer a real proper part of the metric system 😀

 

 

The main problem with the SI system is it is not based on human measurements. An inch is intuitively understandable (unlike a mm or cm) being the width of a carpenter's thumb. A foot is the length of his forearm, a pint and a pound are, well, I'll leave those to your imagination....

[dmr]

1 minute ago, MtB said:

 

 

The main problem with the SI system is it is not based on human measurements. An inch is intuitively understandable (unlike a mm or cm) being the width of a carpenter's thumb. A foot is the length of his forearm, a pint and a pound are, well, I'll leave those to your imagination....

 

and there is me thinking a foot was the length of a typical.......foot

 

and a thumb an inch wide has probably sufferred a few serious hammer blow accidents?

 

and on the subject of human based measurements I now realise that I am non binary............

 

 

..............i'm decimal 😀

[MtB]

2 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

and there is me thinking a foot was the length of a typical.......foot

 

and a thumb an inch wide has probably sufferred a few serious hammer blow accidents?

 

and on the subject of human based measurements I now realise that I am non binary............

 

 

..............i'm decimal 😀

 

 

Are yes, binary. There are 10 types of people in the world. 

 

Those who divide people into categories, and those who.........

 

[Athy]

9 hours ago, dmr said:

 

 

and a thumb an inch wide has probably sufferred a few serious hammer blow accidents?

 

 

 

 

Out of curiosity I just measured the breadth of my thumb and, though I am not a carpenter, it's almost exactly an inch across.

Edited June 23, 2022 by Athy

[MtB]

1 hour ago, Athy said:

A

 

Eh?

 

 

[gatekrash]

9 hours ago, dmr said:

 

and a thumb an inch wide has probably sufferred a few serious hammer blow accidents?

 

I think from memory it's supposed to be measured from the tip of your thumb to the first knuckle when you bend your thumb over.

 

I was brought up using metric (just) and my Mrs is a bit older and was taught both. However I spent years fixing old land rovers where every fixing is Imperial, and imperial a/f spanner sizes are ingrained into my brain now, so everything I measure is in inches. More logical to me, most units easily divisible by 2,3,4 and 6 if I need to calculate things in my head and I can just picture the sizes without having to think about it.

 

The Mrs however worked as a technician in the workshop in a school using the laser cutter and CNC machines, so now measures everything in mm. She hates me measuring anything as she has to convert my measurements into mm.

 

We've also only got a set of old balance scales in our kitchen so all our weight measures are in pounds and ounces for cooking as those are the only weights we've got. Have to admit to struggling a bit more with those though, they don't come naturally!!

 

[IanM]

10 hours ago, Athy said:

The daftest use of metric must be in the motor trade, where the dimensions of cars tend to be given in piddling little millimetres, making them almost incomprehensible. Why do they do it? If they must usemetric, why not centimetres, or metres and centimetres?

 

Because it's the standard used in engineering.  All the drawings I produce are dimensioned in mm whether it's for a small component or a house.  We tend to only move up into metres for really big stuff.

[Athy]

27 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Eh?

 

 

No, "A". Not sure how that extra letter got there, but it was very early.

[Athy]

2 minutes ago, IanM said:

 

Because it's the standard used in engineering.  All the drawings I produce are dimensioned in mm whether it's for a small component or a house.  We tend to only move up into metres for really big stuff.

Yet, when I see an advert for a house for sale, the estate agent doesn't give the measurements of the rooms in millimetres. They use either feet and inches, metres and centimetres, or both. These are easier for prospective buyers to understand than millimetres would be.

[MtB]

4 minutes ago, IanM said:

 

Because it's the standard used in engineering.  All the drawings I produce are dimensioned in mm whether it's for a small component or a house.  We tend to only move up into metres for really big stuff.

 

 

The problem with millimetres is the 'visualisation' of a value expressed in mm. In my trade for example, there is a lot of focus on the cross sectional area of flues and air vents. Its easy to look at say an air vent an see instantly that it is roughly right when it is supposed to be, say 20 square inches in open area, but could you do the same with, say, a flue specified as needing a cross sectional area of 50,677 square mm? 

 

And then there is also the unnecessary and ridiculously fine resolution of values one gets as in the example above. You may recognise it as the area of a circle 10" in diameter. 

 

 

[IanM]

8 minutes ago, Athy said:

Yet, when I see an advert for a house for sale, the estate agent doesn't give the measurements of the rooms in millimetres. They use either feet and inches, metres and centimetres, or both. These are easier for prospective buyers to understand than millimetres would be.

 

In all fairness Estate Agents dimensions are in a world of their own. 

 

I really don't get the problem with using different units in different circumstances. Saying the motor trade using mm to dimension cars is daft just because you think it is makes no sense to me.  Millimetres are what the car manufacturers use to dimension them so that's how they document them.  

 

I'm mid-40s and was never, ever taught imperial measurements at school, college or university.  I've just picked up using them where needed.  

 

2 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

The problem with millimetres is the 'visualisation' of a value expressed in mm. In my trade for example, there is a lot of focus on the cross sectional area of flues and air vents. Its easy to look at say an air vent an see instantly that it is roughly right when it is supposed to be, say 20 square inches in open area, but could you do the same with, say, a flue specified as needing a cross sectional area of 50,677 square mm? 

 

And then there is also the unnecessary and ridiculously fine resolution of values one gets as in the example above. You may recognise it as the area of a circle 10" in diameter. 

 

 

 

I don't disagree.  I'm all for people using units which makes it easier for them to visualise something but it's important to be aware that an industry standard might not be the units you want to use.  I have to design a floor joist in mm however most builders I deal with instantly know what that is in inches.

 

 

[Athy]

46 minutes ago, IanM said:

Saying the motor trade using mm to dimension cars is daft just because you think it is makes no sense to me. 

 

 

It does to me. It's called expressing an opinion which, this being a discussion forum, happens quite a lot on here, and long may it continue to do so.

[IanM]

2 minutes ago, Athy said:

It does to me. It's called expressing an opinion which, this being a discussion forum, happens quite a lot on here, and long may it continue to do so.

 

But that's not really discussing it is it.

 

That's more "This is my opinion, end of story".  Maybe you could of asked why it didn't make sense to me, then that would have been a discussion.

 

Anyway, as this is a topic about the North Oxford Canal that's probably best kept for another time.

[Athy]

47 minutes ago, IanM said:

 

But that's not really discussing it is it.

Yes.

 

That's more "This is my opinion, end of story". 

No.

Anyway, as this is a topic about the North Oxford Canal that's probably best kept for another time.

So that's your opinion, end of story.

 

[MtB]

13 minutes ago, Athy said:

 

 

 

I see like many of us here, you have mastered the subtle art of the empty post now....

 

 

[Athy]

4 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

I see like many of us here, you have mastered the subtle art of the empty post now....

 

 

Not exactly; if you look in the quotation box, you'll see my replies contained within it.

I do occasionally see posts which are completely blank or which, equally mysteriously, contain just a row of dots, and wonder why this is done.

[David Mack]

5 minutes ago, Athy said:

Not exactly; if you look in the quotation box, you'll see my replies contained within it.

Which attributes the words you have written to the author of the post to which you are replying. Better to respond outside the box, with the relevant text from the previous post  quoted in multiple sections.

7 minutes ago, Athy said:

I do occasionally see posts which are completely blank...

Like this (to illustrate the point, as I am not actually responding to your second paragraph).

[dmr]

3 hours ago, gatekrash said:

I think from memory it's supposed to be measured from the tip of your thumb to the first knuckle when you bend your thumb over.

 

I was brought up using metric (just) and my Mrs is a bit older and was taught both. However I spent years fixing old land rovers where every fixing is Imperial, and imperial a/f spanner sizes are ingrained into my brain now, so everything I measure is in inches. More logical to me, most units easily divisible by 2,3,4 and 6 if I need to calculate things in my head and I can just picture the sizes without having to think about it.

 

The Mrs however worked as a technician in the workshop in a school using the laser cutter and CNC machines, so now measures everything in mm. She hates me measuring anything as she has to convert my measurements into mm.

 

We've also only got a set of old balance scales in our kitchen so all our weight measures are in pounds and ounces for cooking as those are the only weights we've got. Have to admit to struggling a bit more with those though, they don't come naturally!!

 

 

Im doing a bit of a construction project at the moment and often having to shout measurements to a team member to cut timber. I find mixed imperial and metric really good as it avoids accidents due to numerical dislexia, so I do the dimension in mm and then confirm with "and thats about 85 and a half inches" etc. Even if working alone I do this as a good safety check.  Can't be doing with those pounds and ounces though

[Athy]

6 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Which attributes the words you have written to the author of the post to which you are replying. Better to respond outside the box.

Thank you for explaining how to post on the forum.

No, the replying poster puts his replies in colour or, in my case, in bold type, to make it clear that these are answers to a previous post and not part of the. This method has been in use since I joined CWDF (which was probably in the same years as you) so, if it ain't broke, I don't feel inclined to fix it.

[Hudds Lad]

6 hours ago, Athy said:

Yet, when I see an advert for a house for sale, the estate agent doesn't give the measurements of the rooms in millimetres. They use either feet and inches, metres and centimetres, or both. These are easier for prospective buyers to understand than millimetres would be.

This is more likely due to them using the handheld laser measuring devices and not having the nous to change the settings  

Edited June 23, 2022 by Hudds Lad
mysteriously vanishing word

[MtB]

3 hours ago, Athy said:

This method has been in use since I joined CWDF (which was probably in the same years as you) so, if it ain't broke, I don't feel inclined to fix it.

 

Yes, and almost exclusively by posters who can't figure out to do multi-quoting, or are too lazy to bother.

 

 

[cuthound]

On 21/06/2022 at 11:06, mrsmelly said:

That whole stretch used to be moorings. We actualy bought our first boat there with twenty pound notes, its only recently in the last few years the no mooring regime has been persued. That was a decent stretch of moorings gone.

 

Also most of the visitor between the bridge and the ex-bridge that used to lead to the pub garden have been given over to long term moorings.

 

Ansty now only has room for perhaps four to six visiting boats, where's before it was tens of boats.

[Athy]

17 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Yes, and almost exclusively by posters who can't figure out to do multi-quoting, or are too lazy to bother.

 

 

. Laziness is not a factor. Efficiency is.

[MtB]

2 minutes ago, Athy said:

. Laziness is not a factor. Efficiency is.

 

 

Not very efficient is it though, when people don't notice you dun it? (Like what I didn't!)