Beginner Project Suggestions

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mklotz
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Re: Beginner Project Suggestions

Post by mklotz »

Harold_V wrote: Tue Mar 23, 2021 3:14 pm...I keep the constant in my head----a mm equates to .03937".
None of these are exact but close enough for what most folks need...

It's particularly easy to mentally multiply by a number of the form x.x

This makes two common metric to inferial conversions easy.

There are 2.2 pounds in a kilogram. (e.g. 2.2 * 23 kg = 46 + 4.6 = 50.6 lb)

There are 3.3 feet in a meter. (e.g., 3.3 * 1000 m = 3000 + 300 = 3300 ft)

Some other memory aids...

A km is ~0.6 mile; a mile is 1/0.6 ~= 1.6 km.

A US nickel weighs 5 grams and a post-1983 penny weighs 2.5 grams. An ounce is about 28 gm so five nickels and a penny. (Also, a penny has a diameter of exactly 3/4 inch.)
Regards, Marv

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pete
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Re: Beginner Project Suggestions

Post by pete »

Metric is unquestionably easier learn and to do in your head. But since my schooling did there best to force imperial into my head and I've used it my whole life. I can't think of any real advantage at all for me to change over to metric. And I'm just like Harold, I think and visualize in imperial so metric measurements just get converted to imperial. And in Marv's example I still convert kilometers, meters, weights, volumes, temperatures etc to close enough numbers in day to day life. I have met a few real machinists who say they can think and visualize in either system but I sure can't do so. In North America, or at least in Canada that's supposed to be fully metricized there's still quite a bit that's only available in imperial. And today most modern metric only country's base a lot of at least there residential construction using imperial measurements. There just converted into metric. 4' x 8' sheets of plywood and stud spacing as examples I've seen mentioned elsewhere for it seems lots of Europe. The materials thickness on something like plywood may be a true metric dimension, but the rest isn't.

And in a home shop we might be using whole inches in measurements, but anything under that is still a base 10 system. I've got fractional inches to decimal equivalent charts hanging on the wall within about 8' / 2439.399 cms / 2.439 meters :-) from anywhere else in my shop. There almost never used since I've always got a calculator handy and it takes a couple of seconds to convert any inch fraction to a decimal number. Those old drawings with fractional inch dimensions I mentioned are probably a slow to change hold over from when using a machinist scale on less important dimensions was a lot more common than today. It might be more tradition than anything else is my guess. Plus there also a well understood short form within the drawing of the allowable + - tolerances for size on that particular dimension. If you've used up say 25% in your cars fuel tank do you say there's about xxx number of liters or I've still got about 3/4's left? Ordering 1/2 a kilo of fancy sliced meat from the butcher in a shop sounds easier than 500 grams. Fractional metric measurements are probably still used in some cases. And knowing only metric with a home shop is almost a deficit once you start using any older reference books. No doubt there's lots of reference material in your location we would never see that's only in metric. For us references such as Machinery's Handbook are still afaik in imperial. If I switched to only using metric I'd have to convert most of the information I have anyway. I don't think converting a gauge block stack to metric dimensions while using imperial gauge blocks works out to well unless you get lucky and it's an exact conversion. So fully converting to metric would also cost a lot in my situation.
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Bill Shields
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Re: Beginner Project Suggestions

Post by Bill Shields »

Until you get to baking and try to convert your grandmother's imperial recipe to metric while you are doing it and forget that you do not have cups, teaspoons and whatnot available while the mixer is running..
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
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Harold_V
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Re: Beginner Project Suggestions

Post by Harold_V »

Bill Shields wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 6:08 am Until you get to baking and try to convert your grandmother's imperial recipe to metric while you are doing it and forget that you do not have cups, teaspoons and whatnot available while the mixer is running..
Heh! My grandmother, as well as my mother, didn't bother with measuring cups. A fist full of this and a pinch of that was their way of cooking. Neither of them ever disclosed whether they had Imperial or metric hands.

H
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Bill Shields
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Re: Beginner Project Suggestions

Post by Bill Shields »

When they wanted your attention...always IMPERIAL hands.
Too many things going on to bother listing them.
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liveaboard
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Re: Beginner Project Suggestions

Post by liveaboard »

pete wrote: Tue Mar 23, 2021 9:08 pm If you've used up say 25% in your cars fuel tank do you say there's about xxx number of liters or I've still got about 3/4's left?
My fuel gauge, and every fuel gauge in every vehicle I've ever owned, reads in tank fractions, usually with an amazing lack of accuracy.
Car fuel gauges are mostly (insert derogative word of choice here).


But I always want to know the actual litters, so I can multiply that by my average mileage and know my remaining range.

I reset the odometer at each filling and divide the reading to estimate actual liters used.

Then I'll drive along while designing things in my head, because with metric weights and measures I can do a lot of that in my head.

I don't listen to the radio.
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NP317
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Re: Beginner Project Suggestions

Post by NP317 »

Both of our newer vehicles (2017 Chevy Colorado truck and 2018 Subaru Outback) provide calculated Remaining Range information.
So I ever need to determine those again.
Our Russian Ural motorcycles have no fuel gauges, so I always use the odometer for remaining range calculation. Simple.
Our steam launch has nothing useful for range calculation. (!)
Can't help you. :lol: :lol: :oops:
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Harold_V
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Re: Beginner Project Suggestions

Post by Harold_V »

liveaboard wrote: Thu Mar 25, 2021 9:03 am
Then I'll drive along while designing things in my head, because with metric weights and measures I can do a lot of that in my head.
I rarely use the metric system, yet I, too, can design things in my head, and I do that listening to music. The (measuring) system used makes little difference, assuming one is comfortable with the system.
I don't listen to the radio.

Music plays a huge role in my life, and always has, even as a young boy. So much so that I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on sound equipment. To me, it has been a wise investment, yielding endless hours of pleasure, listening to the music I prefer (jazz and classical).

As far as listening to commentary, if that was my only choice, my radio would get no use. I have little interest in hearing the thoughts of those with whom I am most likely to disagree. Fortunately, we have access to a couple of distant stations, one playing jazz full time, the other classical. The radios in my trucks get regular use, assuming I'm on the road.

H
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John Hasler
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Re: Beginner Project Suggestions

Post by John Hasler »

>Then I'll drive along while designing things in my head, because with metric
> weights and measures I can do a lot of that in my head.

Like Harold, I also do that in my head using the US customary system (though I'm comfortable with SI as well).

> I don't listen to the radio.

I listen to classical music.
whateg0
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Re: Beginner Project Suggestions

Post by whateg0 »

NP317 wrote: Thu Mar 25, 2021 10:40 am Both of our newer vehicles (2017 Chevy Colorado truck and 2018 Subaru Outback) provide calculated Remaining Range information.
So I ever need to determine those again.
...
My Cadillac does that too but after it gets below about 50, it just says "LowFuel" so if you weren't paying attention to it when it went from 50 to low fuel, you'd better get to a station NOW! Because you really only have about 15 miles before the car dies. And then your gf gets chapped at you for running out of gas when it's 94 F outside while you wait for AAA to arrive with a couple gallons of gas, they get lost and take an hour and a half to get to you. That's when you find out that the next gas station was only 2.7 miles down the road. And you never get to live it down.
whateg0
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Re: Beginner Project Suggestions

Post by whateg0 »

pete wrote: Tue Mar 23, 2021 9:08 pm ...

I've got fractional inches to decimal equivalent charts hanging on the wall within about 8' / 2439.399 cms / 2.439 meters :-) from anywhere else in my shop. There almost never used since I've always got a calculator handy and it takes a couple of seconds to convert any inch fraction to a decimal number. ....
If it was metric you wouldn't need the chart or calculator because 6.5mm is 6.5mm. just saying
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rob_martinez03
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Re: Beginner Project Suggestions

Post by rob_martinez03 »

I bought two "beginner" kits from LittleMachineShop.Com (both come with materials and plans) but found that their definition of a beginner wasn't the same as mine. To them a beginner has the terminology down to a science, can readily read plans, has a existing and extensive knowledge of all the capabilities of their lathe and oh, yeah, you only need a lathe translates into a mill, 4 jaw chuck, key accessories for the lathe/mill, and misc hand tools. Ultimately I found what I was looking for but it took a lot of hunting and pecking. First was a good video on safety, then advice on books to read beside just the owners manual. Then I got a steel rod, faced the ends and started trying to make 'steel wool' .... not as an end product but as an indication of correctly reducing the bar stock. First Lessons -- Initially I learned that it may take 10 min or more the first few times when centering your stock in a 4 jaw chuck - and how critically important that is. I also learned that I was feeding way too slow and started feeding at an estimated rate of the CNC machines I had seen on line. My next initial "light bulb" moment was when I was trying to determine how to cut a specific amount.... Gotta convert inches to metric for my metric lathe, dial in 1/2 versus the entire amount and plan to take an extra cut to smooth out the cut surface. First project? I used my reduced rods to make my lathe headstock hard stop that they sold on the Sherline site for $20...
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