Canadian question about measuring length

[Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L]

Watching "How It's Made" which is filmed in Canada, though they do go to other countries

 

many times they say things like, "It's 2/6 of an inch"  or "Cut off 2/10 of an inch"--my US tape measure isn't marked in 10ths of an inch, let alone sixth of an inch

 

is that something they use above the 49th parallel?

 

just curious

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

They use inches?

[Alpo]

And even better question would be why don't they shrink the fraction?

 

If I'm measuring something and it is nine of the little hash marks, I say it is 9/16. But if it is four of the little hash marks I say it's a quarter. Eight of a little hash marks and I say it's a half. Six of the little hash marks and I say it's 3/8.

 

I don't say something is 4/16 or 6/16 or 8/16 long.

 

2/6?  2/10?? Who says things like that?

[Rye Miles #13621]

I thought Canada was metric?

[Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062]

46 minutes ago, Alpo said:

 

 

2/6?  2/10?? Who says things like that?

 

   ......... apparently, ...... Canadians .......  

[Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062]

44 minutes ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

I thought Canada was metric?

 

     ...... but they also have whatsisname for Prime minister/governmental overlord/hewhothinkshemustbeobeyed.  

[Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001]

If you were to have an Engineer scale for drafting , you could mark 2/10 , 

 

  measure with a micrometer 

mark with sidewalk chalk 

cut with a chainsaw 

 

  the government way 

 

  Chickasaw Bill 

[The Shoer 27979]

1 hour ago, Alpo said:

And even better question would be why don't they shrink the fraction?

 

If I'm measuring something and it is nine of the little hash marks, I say it is 9/16. But if it is four of the little hash marks I say it's a quarter. Eight of a little hash marks and I say it's a half. Six of the little hash marks and I say it's 3/8.

 

I don't say something is 4/16 or 6/16 or 8/16 long.

 

2/6?  2/10?? Who says things like that?

When I worked as a carpenter I worked with a guy that would call out 3/8 as 6/16 or if he was felling real froggy he would call out 12/32.

I am like you I try to break it down as far as I can

[Sam Sackett]

17 minutes ago, The Shoer 27979 said:

When I worked as a carpenter I worked with a guy that would call out 3/8 as 6/16 or if he was felling real froggy he would call out 12/32.

I am like you I try to break it down as far as I can

I worked with a contractor that called out all measurements in “steents”.  He would be installing, calling out the measurements for me to cut to. I asked him why, he said he sometimes has to hire extra help that can’t cipher, so he got in the habit of steents  (1/16”) to keep everybody on the same page. Worked for him…..

 

Sam Sackett 

[Texas Lizard]

Measure from the side not the bottom...Oh wrong item....

 

Texas Lizard

[KingSnake]

To me two tenths means .0002”. 
Two ten thousands of an inch. 
That’s what 50 years of machine shop speak does to you. 

[John Kloehr]

3 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

I thought Canada was metric?

Yes and no. Way too much detail may be found here:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_in_Canada

 

For instance distance when driving is in kilometers, but altitude when flying is in feet.

 

Steaks are advertised as price per pound, but sold as price per 100 grams.

 

Babies birth weight and size are recorded in pounds and inches, but drivers licenses are issued with metric sizes.

 

The US has mpg, Canada has liters per 100 kilometers. So a bit more math is required to find equivalence.

 

And so much more! Ammunition is pretty much the same as here, whatever the standard was names is what it is. We and they share the same designation of .223, 5.56, .38, and 9mm.

[Buffalo Creek Law Dog]

19 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

I thought Canada was metric?

It is kinda sorta. We still buy 8 ft 2x4s, 3 inch nails and our rural roads are gridded in miles.  Some things are in pounds and some in kilograms. Tape measures are usually Imperial on the top and metric on the bottom.  Seniors you can speak to them in Imperial, young people you have to speak metric.

When my son was just a youngster, he asked me how long 3 inches were. I had to look it up in metric. because that was what he was taught in school. The only way I could tell what to wear outside with out translating to Fahrenheit was that if it was at 14 degrees Celsius and the sun was shining and there was no wind, I could ride my bike in a short sleeved shirt.  Using that as the reference point I could tell whether I needed a coat or not when outside.

[Alpo]

I guess I'm better than I thought I was. I looked at that 14 Celsius, did a rough conversion in my head and was thinking - what is that, 55, 60°?

 

And then I told duck duck goose to find it for me. The duck told me it was 57 and a half. I guess I was pretty close.

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

Dear old Dad was working with a fellow who picked up an engineer's tape by mistake.
It was feet and inches, but the inches were subdivided into tenths.
He'd give a measurement something like "Two foot six and three of them funny little marks."

[Sedalia Dave]

21 hours ago, John Kloehr said:

For instance distance when driving is in kilometers, but altitude when flying is in feet.

 

Where aircraft are concerned, altitude is always in feet. This is a world wide standard.

[Sedalia Dave]

The same is true for nautical charts. Depth is always given in feet.

 

 

[John Kloehr]

6 hours ago, Alpo said:

I guess I'm better than I thought I was. I looked at that 14 Celsius, did a rough conversion in my head and was thinking - what is that, 55, 60°?

 

And then I told duck duck goose to find it for me. The duck told me it was 57 and a half. I guess I was pretty close.

For temperature conversion from C to F, I was taught to double it and add 30. But I never sat down and considered what happened with negative numbers. For those in Canada or Northern DarnedItsColda, might be worth the exercise. Although that cold is so cold, the conversion may not matter.

[Dogmeat Dad, SASS #48563L]

On 9/20/2023 at 2:34 PM, Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L said:

Watching "How It's Made" which is filmed in Canada, though they do go to other countries

 

many times they say things like, "It's 2/6 of an inch"  or "Cut off 2/10 of an inch"--my US tape measure isn't marked in 10ths of an inch, let alone sixth of an inch

 

is that something they use above the 49th parallel?

 

just curious

 

It's the cold up there.  Everything is shorter when it's cold.

[Alpo]

Double it and add 30. That would make water boil at 230°.

 

Negative number should be interesting. -40 converts to -40, no matter which way you're going - C to F or F to C.

[Mud Marine,SASS#54686 Life]

Lift itabove the balls.

[Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L]

17 hours ago, Alpo said:

Double it and add 30. That would make water boil at 230°.

 

Negative number should be interesting. -40 converts to -40, no matter which way you're going - C to F or F to C.

 

for quick, on the go figuring, that would be close enough for me

[Ozark Huckleberry]

On 9/21/2023 at 7:55 PM, John Kloehr said:

For temperature conversion from C to F, I was taught to double it and add 30.

Double, take off 10%, add 32.

 

For Alpo's example of 14 C:

1. Double = 28

2. Take off 10% (2.8 -- round to 3) = 25

3. Add 32 = 57 (most people won't feel the .5 difference).

 

Works all the way down to 0.

 

Below 0 Celsius, basically the same, except double, flip negative to positive,  then subtract from 32 (which is basically the same as adding the resulting negative number to 32, but easier to explain)

 

For your example of -40:

1 Double = -80

2. Flip negative to positive = 80

3. Take off 10% = 72

4. Subtract from 32 = -40.

 

It's all ballpark, anyway.

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

I have the c to f conversions down, altitudes are in hundreds of feet. FL250 is 25000 ft.

[Alpo]

I thought that was Angels 25

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

If it’s wood, 2/6 is 5/16 plus a hair. 2/10 is 5/8 minus two hairs. What really matters is which way is the grain going. Or is it plywood?

[Alpo]

" 2/10 is 5/8 minus two hairs"

 

2/10 is 20%

5/8 is 62½%

 

I thought I heard somewhere you were a math major

[Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001]

this appears to be a case of CORNfusion 

 

  CB  

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

2 hours ago, Alpo said:

" 2/10 is 5/8 minus two hairs"

 

2/10 is 20%

5/8 is 62½%

 

I thought I heard somewhere you were a math major

Right, thinking 6/10.

 

believe it or not mathematics and arithmetic are different things.

[Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L]

On 9/24/2023 at 4:06 AM, Ozark Huckleberry said:

 

For your example of -40:

1 Double = -80

2. Flip negative to positive = 80

3. Take off 10% = 72

4. Subtract from 32 = -40.

 

It's all ballpark, anyway.

 

-40 = where the two scales, F & C coincide 

[Buffalo Creek Law Dog]

On 9/24/2023 at 11:08 AM, Alpo said:

I thought that was Angels 25

When I was in the RCAF it was reverse 50 Angels

[Ozark Huckleberry]

On 9/24/2023 at 1:08 PM, Alpo said:

I thought that was Angels 25

That would be angels 2-5 (as in, 'angels two five') . . . 

 

 . . . IF you're a military aviation type, talking to other military aviation types, while you're doing military-aviation aviation stuff.

 

OR on a forum slinging slang.

 

Military aviation types use ICAO and FAA terminology no matter who they're talking to when they're doing non-military-aviation aviation stuff, in which case, 'flight level two five zero'.

 

[Sedalia Dave]

On 9/24/2023 at 12:08 PM, Alpo said:

I thought that was Angels 25

Angles is military slang. Flight Level is the official terminology.