Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

Hi,

When I was young the UK used Imperial.  When I started work in 1960 as an apprentice watch repairer I used metric; so I used metric to 100 mm about 4" and Imperial for larger measurements.  I never really got my head around using a Imperial micrometer; where my friends; apprentices in trades using larger sizes could convert most of the fraction sizes to thousandths in their head I had to use tables.  Over the years as most of the machines I worked on were imperial I found I could convert the 1000 divisions seeing them as metric.  Making models whose plans were almost always in Imperial was hard work but again made easier as time went on.  The advent of DRO's and digital verniers has made life a lot easier.  Our son who is near fifty only uses metric as do all his generation so I talk to him in metric and to the old members of our model engineering club in Imperial.

When I started work in the jewellery and horological trades: grains (7000 to the pound), dwt (20 to the Troy oz), lignes and doziems (something to do with an old French foot if memory servers) were being phase out.  I think the price of gold is still quoted in Troy oz (31.6 grams) not the Avoirdupois oz (28.4 grams).  But if it was simple anyone could do it.

Take care and stay safe.

Tony.