Converting plans

I design and build almost exclusively in metric. Using inch sized materials or tools is not a problem, just machine to what you need, and convert where necessary. If I am doing something where the design calls for say 6mm thick stock for something where the thickness really doesn’t matter, I just use 1/4” stock and not worry about machining it to 6mm.

I have a couple metric size end mills and plan to get a few more for small slots on models where the inch sizes are not convenient, but for just about everything else, the inch size tools work just fine. I have some metric drills, but the fractional, letter and number drills are close enough to the metric sizes needed that you could get away without any metric drills in many cases.
 
My European friends invariably roll their eyes at me for designing and building in inches, but they’ve never bought stock or tooling in the US.

For one-off stuff in particular, I wouldn’t hesitate to convert lengths to whatever unit is convenient (decimal inches for me), and substitute tap and die sizes if I didn’t have the metric tooling on hand. How thorough and thoughtful I was regarding substitutions would depend entirely on how many parts I was making, how important interoperability might be, and how much I trusted the designer!
 
Now that I'm retired I think it makes sense to have one measurement system in the shop. Seems silly to have two so I'm now uncluttering my space. My machine side is imperial/inch but my electrical/electronic side is the International (metric) System, also known as the SI System. So I'm converting my electronics side to standardize. For those of you unfamiliar with the proper units I'm including a condensed list.
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The books plans for the rest it's mostly the bolts and threads that are metric specific , the dimensions for the other parts could probably change by a fair amount and still be functionally the same. The advanced one you would have to decide if you want metric or imperial graduations on the adjustment wheels.

Stu
 
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