METRIC SYSTEM - slowly getting there, inch by inch
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Metric Fasteners
Many issues still surround the use of the Metric System in manufacturing today. In the 70's there was an effort to increase the use of the metric system in the United States. Congress passed the Metric Conversion Act of 1975, then the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act in 1988, making the metric system the preferred method. Today the US still does not consider the metric system as its primary or preferred means of measurement.
Looking more specifically at the manufacturing of fasteners, screw, and bolts metric fasteners are in a large part driven by the Automotive Industry. Let's start with design and engineering. In the 70's many companies were still on draft boards, however today we fully utilize CAD systems which not only let us draw parts to size instead of scale, they easily switch between the english and metric systems of measurement. However specifications are still hard to get in metric, Why is there not a IFI standard for metric hex washer head when one is available in inches?
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rejection of the metric system is a mystery
Those planning to travel, for business or pleasure will do well to learn the system of length conversion known as the metric system. In fact, a knowledge of metric length conversion will serve you well wherever you go on the planet, since only three countries in the world - Liberia, Myanmar and the U.S. - have refused to accept the metric system. (In the U.S., rejection of the metric system cost NASA $125 million dollars when a valuable Mars probe was lost back in 1999, because the scientists were working with two different measurement systems.)
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US election
Americans have clung proudly and stubbornly to the USA measurement system, resisting a switch to the metric system, despite the occasional catastrophe that might be avoided by getting onboard with the rest of the world. Now, the metric system has become an issue in the US presidential election.
Bringing the issue to the forefront was an article in the German tabloid Bild titled “I worked out with Obama!” In the article, Bild reporter Judith Bonesky writes of observing the candidate working out in the gym of the Ritz Carlton hotel in Berlin: “He goes and picks up a pair of 16 kilo weights and starts curling them with his left and right arms, 30 repetitions on each side. Then, amazingly, he picks up the 32 kilo weights! Very slowly he lifts them, first 10 curls with his right, then 10 with his left. He breathes deeply in and out and takes a sip of water from his 0,5 litre Evian bottle.”
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bar fighting metric ban
The owner of a Polish restaurant today described laws which ban him from serving beer by the litre as "barmy" after he was threatened with court action.
Nic Davison, who owns the Kuchnia Polska restaurant in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, with his Polish partner Dr Krystyna Ciurai, was served an infringement notice by trading standards officers for selling beer illegally because he serves the drink in litres rather than pints.
The 1988 Weights and Measures Act states draught beer must be sold in pints.
Mr Davison, from the Toll Bar area of Doncaster, was told by Doncaster Council standards officials he could face a court appearance and a £2,000 fine if he does not change his glasses within 28 days.
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