When did metric take over?

[great white]

I beg to differ. The Imperial community was standardized, as was the metric community, until someone thought globalization was a good idea.

Tom

No worries, I not only accept differences of opinion, I encourage them. As long as it's a healthy debate supported by verifiable facts that is. An unsupported opinion is just that, unsupported and consequently, lacking validity.

But yes, we do differ. Standardization, as I am using it, is global. Countries don't only sell products within their borders, the must export if they want to increase their economies. Everyone working to the same standard facilitates that business model.

As far as globalization being a good idea or not......that's a discussion better had somewhere besides this forum.....

 

[Ischgl99]

Standardization, as I am using it, is global. Countries don't only sell products within their borders, the must export if they want to increase their economies. Everyone working to the same standard facilitates that business model.

That is very true. I lived in Germany for a bit while in training at my company’s factory, some of the arguments made by the imperial proponents are exactly the same my German friends made about metric. One friend put it very simple, if I buy an American product, I also need to buy a new wrench set. While not entirely true, the impression over there was all American products are made with Imperial fasteners and components and they would need new wrenches to work on it, and not be able to find replacement parts. Some things they would make exceptions for, like a Harley, because it’s a Harley, but for most things, it took a lot of convincing to get someone to buy it because of the perception it was not made to their standards.

 

[Aaron_W]

That is very true. I lived in Germany for a bit while in training at my company’s factory, some of the arguments made by the imperial proponents are exactly the same my German friends made about metric. One friend put it very simple, if I buy an American product, I also need to buy a new wrench set. While not entirely true, the impression over there was all American products are made with Imperial fasteners and components and they would need new wrenches to work on it, and not be able to find replacement parts. Some things they would make exceptions for, like a Harley, because it’s a Harley, but for most things, it took a lot of convincing to get someone to buy it because of the perception it was not made to their standards.

They probably shouldn't buy anything Japanese either. You know that JIS / DIN thing.

 

[Ischgl99]

They probably shouldn't buy anything Japanese either. You know that JIS / DIN thing.

LOL. The metric wrenches and sockets will still fit, they would just need new screwdrivers.

 

[higgite]

LOL. The metric wrenches and sockets will still fit, they would just need new screwdrivers.

I thought vodka and orange juice was already pretty universal. But, speaking of new screwdrivers, I'll have another.

Tom

 

[ChazzC]

LOL. The metric wrenches and sockets will still fit, they would just need new screwdrivers.

Trust me: after some research last year I got a set of JIS screwdrivers: they make s world if difference.

 

[Aaron_W]

LOL. The metric wrenches and sockets will still fit, they would just need new screwdrivers.

True they wouldn't need new wrenches but maybe a few additions if their set skips as many do..
Aren't the heads of bolts different sizes, I think JIS a bit smaller for same size shaft? Are the threads the same between them?

I get the metric system is easy, but metric standards seem to be far from standard and somewhat confusing. USC / Imperial at least have the benefit of (mostly) being internally consistent even if those standards are derived from weird heritage foundations like the size of a kings foot.

It's like the French offered this coherent structure and then every adaptor did their best to make their make version unique, which kind of defeats the point of a unified coherent system of weights and measure.

 

[Ischgl99]

Trust me: after some research last year I got a set of JIS screwdrivers: they make s world if difference.

Oh I know! I have a lot of camera equipment and I wouldn't even think of using a standard Phillips screw driver on those screws.

 

[Provincial]

Trust me: after some research last year I got a set of JIS screwdrivers: they make s world if difference.

If you grind just a little off the tip of a Phillips screwdriver, it will work acceptably well on JIS screws. Not as well as a real JIS driver, but well enough.

It also reduces the tendency to back out of Phillips screws!

 

[Ischgl99]

True they wouldn't need new wrenches but maybe a few additions if their set skips as many do..
Aren't the heads of bolts different sizes, I think JIS a bit smaller for same size shaft? Are the threads the same between them?

I get the metric system is easy, but metric standards seem to be far from standard and somewhat confusing. USC / Imperial at least have the benefit of (mostly) being internally consistent even if those standards are derived from weird heritage foundations like the size of a kings foot.

It's like the French offered this coherent structure and then every adaptor did their best to make their make version unique, which kind of defeats the point of a unified coherent system of weights and measure.

Yes, some of the head sizes are a bit different, but I believe most metric wrench sets have most if not all of those sizes included. At least mine does.

Metric is a generic term, there are many different standards that use metric dimensions. DIN/ISO are the most common specifications in Europe, and there are several different thread forms that are covered by different standards in the ISO specifications, but when someone says metric threads, they are usually referring to the threads that are similar to standard screw threads. The biggest difference is Germany created DIN standards for just about everything so that there was no question what was meant when a standard was specified on a drawing. So, they have a spec for hex head screws, Allen head screws, set screws, etc. It gets confusing until you realize those specifications are really just saying how big the head needs to be, how much of the bolt is threaded, etc. You will see in some parts manuals for industrial equipment where the DIN/ISO specification is stated and all that is saying is what kind of screw should be used. If you look on the McMaster-Carr website, you will see the specifications in the descriptions of the various metric screws and bolts.

We have Imperial based standards here as well, but Germany took that to the next level. Most of those DIN standards became ISO standards once Europe unified and now pretty much everyone over there uses them. Many countries created their own standards, and some just stole the standard from Europe and renamed it, ie India. All of the Indian standards I have found are direct copies of DIN/ISO with maybe slight variations.

If you want your head to explode, take a look at this website of all the different thread types, some of these are metric threads, just not what we think of when we say metric, and some of them are Imperial.

International Thread Standards