• Captain Aggravated@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    I’ll tell you something I do as a woodworker a lot that metric isn’t great for: divide by powers of two, three or four. I’ve got some boards milled up 3/4" thick. I’m going to join them with a bridle joint, that means cutting the middle third out of one and the outer two thirds from the other. So each of the remaining “tongues” are each 1/4" thick. 3/4" is approximately 20mm. That’s a nice metric number, a multiple of 10. Let’s cut that same bridle joint in 20mm stock. What’s a third of 20mm? Can you come point to 6.6666mm on my metric tape measure here?

    Don’t pretend base ten doesn’t do stupid things too.

    • barsoap@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Can you come point to 6.6666mm on my metric tape measure here?

      Yes: For woodworkers, it’s identical to 6.5mm, accurately eyeballed at between 6 and 5mm. Don’t pretend you’re a machinist. Does your tape measure even have a vernier scale. Does it make satisfying clicks when measuring. If you have a slip instead of interference fit just dump one piece in water for a second it’ll be fine.

      • angrystego@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        To be more precise, it should be rounded as 6.7 cm, accurately eyeballed at between 6.6 cm and 6.7 cm.