Moved-off topic

[woodchucker]

I would disagree on both counts. Over the years we've had ski boats, fishing boats, pontoon boats, sailboats, canoes, and kayaks. Other than the initial investment they were all nearly cost free. The power boats did require gas and oil, but in over 50 years I doubt we've spent $500.00 on repairs and upgrades.
Machine tools on the other hand need constant care and feeding. Every project requires another $500.00 of material and about an equal amount in tooling and fixtures. Then there's always that additional operation you could do inhouse if you had just one more machine.

I started with a mill and a lathe. I now have over two dozen machines in the shop, and that's after I gave away a few that were duplicates or triplicates. I don't think I ever had two dozen boats, even if you count the ones I play with in the bathtub.

As for the math to me one is no better than the other. Being a geezer, I started with the imperial measurements. After a short period of time, they became second nature. I do most of the imperial math in my head and occasionally pull out the calculator to double check critical calculations. The vertical mill has both imperial and metric dials and a DRO. The lathes require a little brain function and more use of the calculator in that the lathes use different lead screws. The older one moves .100" or 2.54 mm per revolution on the cross slide the newer one moves 1/8" or 3.175 mm per revolution.

yes, but you have to use them. Having them in dry dock doesn't count.

 

[jcp]

Boats expensive? Yes they can be. For truly expensive hobbies try airplanes. I have done both plus hobby machining. Airplanes win hands down.

 

[projectnut]

I do have to admit we had one fishing boat that got minimal use. The gas in the tank got so bad it was more like rusty jello. The tank wasn’t salvageable but the motor and boat still live on.

 

[Aaron_W]

Thanks for putting that into words!
That's well said and it expresses my own feelings as I try to go metric, but revert to imperial.

I think the advantages of the USC / Imperial system is also the thing that results in so much teeth gnashing from the pro-metric side.

Metric is a 10s based system (except for temperature ), so it seems easy, however being 10s based it is less adaptable because 10s. If your use happens to need a weird fraction, there goes your advantage, good luck finding a measuring stick precisely 304.8mm long.

USC / Imperial is use based so there are different divisions and units based on industry. Decimal inches for machining (0.01", 0.001". 0.0001"), fractional inches for woodworking (1/4", 1/8", 1/16"), chains, acres, bushels, hogsheads etc.
This makes it difficult if trying to use all of them, but very handy within your specific niche because it is custom built for that niche. The difficulty really comes from trying to use all of them, as there are very few use cases to combine surveying, winemaking, wood working and farming units together.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Ahem...may I direct you to the actual words from my post:

In any case, even if I had used the word "most", my prefixing it with "one of the", would have clearly indicated I was not intending to suggest it held top spot in the expense stakes.

As for, what's wrong with US terminology, I wasn't referring to measurement systems, but the insistence that swing be measured as a diameter, rather than as a radius. After all, it's the distance to the ways that is of interest.

As I've said often, Metric vs Imperial is mostly a distraction. Well, apart from the fact that Metric does has a rather annoying gap between resolutions at a certain point: going from measuring 0.01 mm to 0.001 mm feels like a bigger jump (for hobbyist purposes), than going from thous to tenths. It's why I find myself with a minor preference for Imperial.

Anyway, thank you for playing!

You know, if you would just speak plain english.....

As to the part in bolt, how do you normally think in terms of removing material, from the radius or the diameter.

And yes, I know some foreign country's made/make lathes with the dials in R measurements.

 

[SouthernChap]

Decimal inches for machining (0.01", 0.001". 0.0001"), fractional inches for woodworking (1/4", 1/8", 1/16")

Y'see, that's the problem I do have with imperial: the use of fractional inches. I'm much more likely to use mm when doing my (albeit 'rustic') woodwork than 3/8" or 5/16".

And I hate the use of fractional inches in relation to machining (threading, drill sizes, stock sizes, etc.) I understand where 0.3125" sits in relation to say, 0.375" but 5/16" compared with 3/8"?

Now that's probably because I'm used to decimals in the metric system and I guess if I'd been schooled in a time when fractional measurement was preeminent I'd be instinctively comfortable with it. Still, it seems a clunky way of specifying dimensions that requires more mental operations to use.

 

[RJSakowski]

Want an expensive hobby? Try horses. Aside from the initial cost of the beast, there is boarding, the cost of feed, vet care, farrier bills, a horse trailer to take the beast to shows, trail rides, etc. a truck to pull the trailer, tack, suitable personal riding gear. And if you believe that you would be better off boarding yourself, you truly will be buying the farm. Heaven forbid you are going to have that special mare bred. Not you have two mouths to feed, along with all the other expenses.

Oh yeh, the beasts keep costing, even when not in use.

 

[SouthernChap]

You know, if you would just speak plain english.....

As to the part in bolt, how do you normally think in terms of removing material, from the radius or the diameter.

And yes, I know some foreign country's made/make lathes with the dials in R measurements.

Dear God alive! Plain English?

I mean, I expect to struggle to get far enough down the tree of life, to be able to communicate with Scotsmen but damn it all man, you're part of a country that produced F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Walt Whitman.

Don't discard the beauty of your (albeit somewhat over-muscular) version of the finest language in the history of human civilisation. Before you know it, we'll all be speaking German!

Well yes, you make a fair point but something in my bones makes me feel like the move from radius to diameter is more about the American insistence on "Bigger is better" than any commitment to clear communication.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Dear God alive! Plain English?

I mean, I expect to struggle to get far enough down the tree of life, to be able to communicate with Scotsmen but damn it all man, you're part of a country that produced F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Walt Whitman.

Don't discard the beauty of your (albeit somewhat over-muscular) version of the finest language in the history of human civilisation. Before you know it, we'll all be speaking German!

Well yes, you make a fair point but something in my bones makes me feel like the move from radius to diameter is more about the American insistence on "Bigger is better" than any commitment to clear communication.

Even though I don't understand a word, I couldn't have put it better myself.

A little ditty from my youth.

Im 10yrs younger than my closest sibling and was able to turn my friends onto some good older music. Every time someone became inebriated and mumbling or otherwise tongue tied we would proclaim "Jerimiah was a bullfrog!'.

 

[projectnut]

Want an expensive hobby? Try horses. Aside from the initial cost of the beast, there is boarding, the cost of feed, vet care, farrier bills, a horse trailer to take the beast to shows, trail rides, etc. a truck to pull the trailer, tack, suitable personal riding gear. And if you believe that you would be better off boarding yourself, you truly will be buying the farm. Heaven forbid you are going to have that special mare bred. Not you have two mouths to feed, along with all the other expenses.

Oh yeh, the beasts keep costing, even when not in use.

Owning any animal can be outrageously expensive. The last 2 Cocker Spaniels we had went through money faster than kibble.

At first when we would go on vacation we left them with relatives. After the relatives passed we tried sending them to the kennel. It was usually around $1,000.00 for their stay and an equal amount to the vet go cure all the problems and illnesses they had managed to come by during their stay

We gave up on the kennels and bought an RV so we could take them along. That helped but there were always vet visits when we were on the road.

As they got older the vet costs increased dramatically. The last stay for one of the girls at the UW veterinary hospital cost over $10,000.00.

We loved them dearly but have to keep in mind they were expensive companions. That being said we’d do it over again in a heart beat