Do you work in Imperial or Metric?

I've used both over the years, but the majority of my work is inch and Mil Spec, so much easier for me. Easier to work to a .003" tolerance rather than a .0762 mm.
 
I am equally comfortable in either but preference doesn't usually come into the choice. The project usually dictates which I will use. If I am doing something that uses bearings, I usually will use 608 bearings because they are dirt cheap. I order them by the box of 100. Same with M8 x 1.25 screws. They fit the bearings. Stock comes in Imperial dimensions. Tooling and fasteners are easier to find in Imperial sizes. Machining information such as Machinery Handbook have an Imperial bias for the tables.

What I don't like are conversions. Not because I can't do them but because they are a huge source of error potential. If I am working in metric, I want metric scales and such. Thankfully, with modern digital indicators and calipers, it is a non issue.
 
i was raised imperial, learned metric in grade school but didn't use it until i started working for a living.
i use both systems now and have measuring tools and tooling in both Imperial and Metric.
i prefer the metric system it's easier for me to do computations quickly.
when using imperial, i find myself always wanting to turn every fraction into a decimal so i can gauge it's size.
for example 47/64", i know it's larger than 1/2" but i have to crunch numbers to find out that it's smaller than 3/4"
whereas in metric you'll have 10 mm, 12 mm, 16.5mm etc., pretty easy to do the math when working metric...
converting back and forth usually for me is relegated to charts and memory
 
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Imperial for everything, except on my Harrison H mill, which is metric, A fact which I didn't notice when buying it, because the price ws so right \i didn't care!!
Phil
UK
 
Here in Belgium we only use Metric.
But I know how to convert to Imperial if I have to.
 
I've had to smile about the guys who hate fractions & prefer metric .. pray tell me what is metric but fractions & multiples of 10's 100's and 1000's

I live working in different mathematical measurement bases other than in tens or multiples it keeps my mind active , it allows me to see patterns & values that I suspect I would miss if I was only schooled in the metric system .

My daughter is nearly 13 , she was amazed earlier this year when I showed her how to multiply , divide , add & subtract fractions and explained that a fraction really showed that the top set of numbers was just a part of a whole one that's been divided up into the bottom set of numbers . Her teachers are shy of anything that's not metric which shows just how dumbed down modern schooling is here in the UK .
Munchkin wants to become a veterinary surgeon so it's important to get a handle on maths early in the game and learn to enjoy the mind games you play when doing them.

Years ago in the British Army I played with all manner of explosives handling equipment most of which that was pre 1930's German machinery , a heck of a lot of it was Withworth / imperial and made in Germany .

I was always taught that the non metric stuff was designed to take the load that the quality of steel of the day could handle where as metric thread was frequently mis-engineered too high so as to use metrically dimensioned metal . Though these days with our knowledge of steel making etc. it's becoming the norm to have the steel formulae developed /manufactured to the load that the thread is going to have placed upon for all manner of threaded rod /nuts it no matter what thread form is used.
 
I was schooled in INCH (Imperial) first. In 1977, we had the switch to Metric.

At work I have to use inch, metric, microns etc. Our manual machines are inch. The modern EDMs, milling center and other CNC machines don't care. As long that you toggle the correct switch or setting!

At home I use inch.
Pierre
 
Inches forever. I'm 68 and set in my ways. When someone brings me a print of a part they need machined with metric dimensions, I tell them to come back when they FIX the print.
I bought a Hardinge TM horiz mill a few years ago. It has metric feed screws. I would have brought it back to the guy but it was 300 miles away. I promptly put a DRO on it to solve the PROBLEM
 
pdentrem: Toggling the correct switch setting indeed! It can be a hazard: All my torque specs at work are in Newton metres and I use an elecronic torque wrench. Somebody borrowed it and switched it over to foot pounds and returned it without my knowing. That first nut seemed to put up quite a fight....then, "DAMN!"
 
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