Carleton, I am aware which part of the wrench we were talking about. My point is that it is an unimportant as the length of the handle of the wrench. The most important thing about the wrench is the socket that fits on them. For al it matters you can call each type by a letter such as A, B or C in such away that A sockets fit on A wrenches. You don't have to know anything about inches or even know that an inch exists in order to work with those sockets. However when picking a socket out of the set there has to be some understanding of how big each socket is in order to spot the right socket when needed or to look at the nut or bolt head and accurately judge the socket that will be needed.
For example. I have a set of sockets in my tool box. I have no idea what size drive it is, but I know the metric sockets will fit the drive. They were purchased as a set so I didn't need to know what size the drive was when I purchased them. I was more concerned with the range of sockets sizes it contained. Even if those drives have inch designations they are made to metric dimensions in a metric factory somewhere in China. The moral of the story is that it doesn't matter what it is called, it matters how it was made. Jerry ________________________________ From: Carleton MacDonald <carlet...@comcast.net> To: U.S. Metric Association <usma@colostate.edu> Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 1:22:38 PM Subject: [USMA:43838] Re: Jerry's questions regarding "imperial" fuel & fish sales in the UK. Um, achtung, everyone – We’re not talking about the size of the socket itself (the part that fits over the nut or the bolt head). The 1/4 inch and 3/8 inch and 1/2 inch notations are for the square-shaped fitting that connects the socket to the ratchet part. Somehow that got standardized decades ago in imperial units and for the sake of compatibility they’ve remained that way – even for sockets that are completely metric. And there may be some metric sockets that will fit closely to an imperial nut or bolt – but many others don’t. I know; I have metric sockets only. Sometimes I have to take out the adjustable wrench if I’m dealing with an imperial fastener, and for other sizes the metric socket works well enough. Carleton From:owner-u...@colostate.edu [mailto:owner-u...@colostate.edu] On Behalf Of Jeremiah MacGregor Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 12:43 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:43834] Re: Jerry's questions regarding "imperial" fuel & fish sales in the UK. I've seen people at work tighten and remove 13 mm heads with a half inch wrench. The wrench fitted the bolt with no effort and the bolts were not damaged. There is a big difference between what things may be intended to be or what is stated on a piece of paper and what they really turn out to be. Jerry ________________________________ From:Bill Potts <w...@wfpconsulting.com> To: U.S. Metric Association <usma@colostate.edu> Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 12:25:36 PM Subject: [USMA:43830] Re: Jerry's questions regarding "imperial" fuel & fish sales in the UK. Wrong, Jerry. 1/2" sockets are definitely not 13 mm ones in disguise. If you're trying to loosen a stubborn metric nut made of relatively soft metal (e.g., on a car battery clamp, which usually has a 10 mm nut), the wrench will slip and you'll wear down the apexes of the hexagonal shape, creating an almost circular nut. That's because the nearest non-metric size, 13/32", is not 10 mm in disguise; it's a little over 10..3 mm. The 1/2" socket in your example is, similarly, not 13 mm is disguise.. It's exactly 12.7 mm and would not even fit onto a 13 mm nut (or bolt head). The imprecise fit, in your 8 mm socket example, is a close one you might get away with, but it's an exception. 5/16" sockets are just that -- not 8 mm. Bill ________________________________ Bill Potts WFP Consulting Roseville, CA http://metric1.org/ [SI Navigator] ________________________________ From:owner-u...@colostate.edu [mailto:owner-u...@colostate.edu] On Behalf Of Jeremiah MacGregor Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 06:53 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:43808] Re: Jerry's questions regarding "imperial" fuel & fish sales in the UK. 5/16 is 7.9375 mm. An 8 mm socket would fit and the less than 0.0625 mm difference would not be noticed. I have also seen 1/2 inch wrenches and sockets fit a 13 mm head even though the 1/2 inch is smaller then 13 mm. It would seem that the 1/2 inch sockets are really 13 mm ones in disguise. Thus I would not be surprised if a socket labeled as 5/16 inches was really 8 mm in disguise. According to this thread: http://www.smokstak.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57707 Spark plugs are metric, so it would be a true 8 mm. You can even buy spark plug taps with a metric thread. Here is a whole set of spark plug taps, all metric: http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?item_ID=9721&group_ID=1154 Or are you trying to tell us you still drive a model T which did use inch based spark plugs? Jerry ________________________________ From:Stephen Humphreys <barkatf...@hotmail.com> To: jeremiahmacgre...@rocketmail.com; usma@colostate.edu Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 8:31:32 AM Subject: RE: [USMA:43788] Re: Jerry's questions regarding "imperial" fuel & fish sales in the UK. It would not work - you have to buy a 15/16ths socket as per instructions ________________________________ Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:39:49 -0700 From: jeremiahmacgre...@rocketmail.com Subject: [USMA:43788] Re: Jerry's questions regarding "imperial" fuel & fish sales in the UK. To: usma@colostate.edu Are you sure it isn't really 8 mm and you are just approximating it? Jerry ________________________________ From:Stephen Humphreys <barkatf...@hotmail.com> To: Jeremiah MacGregor <jeremiahmacgre...@rocketmail.com> Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 11:08:15 PM Subject: RE: [USMA:43759] Re: Jerry's questions regarding "imperial" fuel & fish sales in the UK. mixed My sump plug is 15/16ths ________________________________ Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:03:06 -0700 From: jeremiahmacgre...@rocketmail.com Subject: Re: [USMA:43759] Re: Jerry's questions regarding "imperial" fuel & fish sales in the UK. To: barkatf...@hotmail.com Then what units are cars made in if not metric units? Jerry ________________________________ From:Stephen Humphreys <barkatf...@hotmail.com> To: jeremiahmacgre...@rocketmail.com Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 9:57:15 PM Subject: RE: [USMA:43759] Re: Jerry's questions regarding "imperial" fuel & fish sales in the UK... No because they're not ________________________________ Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:48:17 -0700 From: jeremiahmacgre...@rocketmail.com Subject: [USMA:43759] Re: Jerry's questions regarding "imperial" fuel & fish sales in the UK. To: usma@colostate.edu So do you discuss cars in metric since cars are only made in metric units all over the world? Jerry ________________________________ From:Stephen Humphreys <barkatf...@hotmail.com> To: U.S.. Metric Association <usma@colostate.edu> Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 7:25:46 AM Subject: [USMA:43670] Re: Jerry's questions regarding "imperial" fuel & fish sales in the UK. Sounds like we have some car enthusiasts on the list :-D ________________________________ Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:37:31 -0700 To: usma@colostate.edu From: br...@bjwhite..net Subject: [USMA:43668] Re: Jerry's questions regarding "imperial" fuel & fish sales in the UK.. Funny. All of my cars have been manual transmissions (including my Audi Allroad and my BMW 540i...both 6-speed manuals). It took me getting a British vehicle to have an automatic. :) (A Range Rover Classic I picked up for $500, fixed it up a little bit and have since put 16,000km on it since I bought it a year ago.) I wish it was a manual transmission, but they never imported manuals to the US. But, I have 7 other cars, and they are all manual transmissions..... At 20:24 2009-03-10, Carleton MacDonald wrote: I’ve actually driven a manual transmission car most of my life: MG 1100, VW Beetle, two Rabbits, two Saab 900s (and two motorcycles mixed in). The car I have now (and have had since 2002), a 1999 Saab 9-5, is the first automatic I’ve ever owned. Metric related: Unlike most American cars, the km markings on the speedometer of the 9-5, inside the mile ones, are lit at night and can be read. Carleton From: owner-u...@colostate.edu [mailto:owner-u...@colostate.edu] On Behalf Of Stephen Humphreys Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 05:50 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:43627] Re: Jerry's questions regarding "imperial" fuel & fish sales in the UK. Congrats are due to you for mastering the use of a manual gearbox! I think that's more of an achievement than road placement (based upon most Americans driving Automatics). > From: carlet...@comcast.net > To: usma@colostate.edu > Subject: [USMA:43622] Re: Jerry's questions regarding "imperial" fuel & fish > sales in the UK. > Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:18:29 -0400 > > > I remember the first time I rented a car in the UK. October 1982, > Edinburgh, Scotland, British Rail Waverley Station. > > Left my wife Susan at the bed and breakfast, took a bus downtown, went to > the station, to the Godfrey Davis office. A kind, pretty young woman (I was > young then too) had me fill out the paperwork then gave me the keys. I > thanked her, opened the door, got in, and sat down. On the left side. > Where's the steering wheel? Oh, right. Got out, closed the door, glanced > at the booth: she was inside, hand on her mouth, suppressing a laugh. > Walked round the back of the car, got in the right side, sat down, felt the > shift with my left hand, started the car, said a very significant Anglican > prayer, put the car in gear, and headed out, saying to myself, "Drive on the > left. Drive on the left. Drive on the left. Drive on the left ..." Headed > back to the bed and breakfast, scared to death. Picked up Susan, headed out > of town toward the bridge over the Firth of Forth. Stopped, took picture of > the famous railway bridge. Started up again, found myself making a left > turn to the right side of the intersecting road, corrected quickly, too > quickly, hit a stone kerb, blew out the left front tire, stopped to change > it. > > Somehow we got through the three days without hitting anything, and it even > included a distillery tour, a steam train ride, and a night in Glencoe, > where my ancestors got massacred in 1692. > > Carleton > > P.S. When we got back to San Francisco we went to the store and Susan > bought soup; I told her to put the Campbell's soup back on the shelf! > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-u...@colostate.edu [mailto:owner-u...@colostate.edu] On Behalf > Of Paul Trusten, R.Ph. > Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 21:02 > To: U.S. Metric Association > Cc: U.S. Metric Association > Subject: [USMA:43620] Re: Jerry's questions regarding "imperial" fuel & fish > sales in the UK. > > > Ah, but the rule of the road is in the eye of the beholder. Left-siders must > think the rest of the world has it backwards. > > Quoting Brian J White <br...@bjwhite.net>: > >> >> I think you brits should also fix your cars and >> roads so you drive on the correct side of the road. But that's just me. > :) >> >> >> At 15:54 2009-03-09, Stephen Humphreys wrote: >>>Sorry  - I think you might have the wrong person. >>>I'm not anti-metric - I'm a pro-choicer. >>> >>>The most 'extreme' views I hold on the subject regards safety.... >>> >>>I have always said and always been firm that: >>> >>>1) Road signs should stay imperial >>>2) Medicines and chemist goods should always be metric >>> >>>Both of these relate to safety concerns. >>> >>>For most other things (in fact prob all) I >>>prefer the dual route or a flexible degree of choice. >>> >>>This may put me at odds with many on this list >>>but I'm always truthful and up front about it >>>and as many many have said it is healthy to have >>>a contrary view here for purposes of debate. >>> >>>With regards to the USA - I actually believe it >>>should be more metric than it is. >> >> >> > > > -- > > > > Paul Trusten, R.Ph. > Public Relations Director > U.S. Metric Association (USMA), Inc. > www.metric.org > 3609 Caldera Boulevard, Apartment 122 > Midland TX 79707-2872 US > +1(432)528-7724 > mailto:trus...@grandecom.net > ________________________________ Beyond Hotmail see what else you can do with Windows Live. 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