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JohnCoker said:
CNC takes you in another direction: instead of measuring and marking, one draws on the computer and lets the machine cut the parts. So one can end up at the same place as the traditional woodworker through the entirely different path of CNC!
Click to expand...

I am envious of your ShopBot. I have some manual machine tools and can hold pretty tight tolerances, but the flexibilty of a CNC is really amazing. I do dye layouts on a lot of parts I machine, but that is to make sure that I am not off by a mile, I use the leadscrews to actually position the cutting tools and make the parts. The layout lines are only an aid.
 
JohnCoker said:
Rulers also lose their value when you start to need higher precision; "17/32 plus a little" is at the edge of usability. They work really well at the scale and precision of hand tools (length of the last thumb joint or width of a finger), but fall short for CNC work (thousandths of an inch or hundredths of a millimeter).

Incra's rules are thinner to reduce parallax errors and digitized with slots to make it easy to mark at standard spacings, but when you consider that 0.005" is the difference between a too-tight and a sloppy fit, even 1/64" (0.016") is too coarse.

CNC takes you in another direction: instead of measuring and marking, one draws on the computer and lets the machine cut the parts. So one can end up at the same place as the traditional woodworker through the entirely different path of CNC!
Click to expand...

Thankfully, most of us here are not building models for NASA, Raytheon or MBDA.
 
Just recieved my Shipping notification from Amazon. I had first recieved a notice from them that my Shipment was delayed. Don't know why, but I'm happy now. It gave me an estimated delivery date of Wednesday.
 
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ChrisAttebery said:
I've had the 6" Marking T Rule for at least 15 years. It's indispensable. My only complaint is that you need to use a .5mm pencil with it and I break the lead a lot.

https://www.amazon.com/Incra-T-RULE06-6-Inch-Precision-Marking/dp/B00004TRBW
Click to expand...

Use 2H lead. That is all I'd use in my wood shop. My brother put a shed up one summer in the back field for auto parts. He started using my machines with a carpenters pencil. I took it, threw it in the trash and thumped him on the head and loudly said, "This is a Fine Woodworking Shop", not a on site carpenters corner. 1/8" isn't close enough. If it's 1/128" off, it ain't good enough.

I had many Incra products, all gone now. They make great gadgets, tracks and such for making awesome reliable and acurate jigs.
I'm gunna go cry now. GOD I miss my shop. I worked my whole life for it and was "POOFED" from me thanks to Bush.
The current Commander and Cheif didn't make things any better, since I'm still out of work.
Someday, I'll get even. Watch and see, I have a list...to be continued.
 
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rocketgeek101 said:
Received these in the mail today:) Metric of course. I already opened mine. The other is a gift for someone.
View attachment 248725
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I think I'm going to get Metric from now on. I was using my Inch version today and encountered some situations where it would have been easier to do what I was doing without having to convert fractions to decimals, or whatever it was that I was trying to do. I hate Math, so I'm going to get the 12" model again, but in 300mm Metric this time. I'll get them in Metric from now on.
I was using it to upscale some drawings, and if I could have made measurements in actual numbers instead of 16ths and 32nds, it would have been nice.
 
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TopRamen said:
I think I'm going to get Metric from now on. I was using my Inch version today and encountered some situations where it would have been easier to do what I was doing without having to convert fractions to decimals, or whatever it was that I was trying to do. I hate Math, so I'm going to get the 12" model again, but in 300mm Metric this time. I'll get them in Metric from now on.
I was using it to upscale some drawings, and if I could have made measurements in actual numbers instead of 16ths and 32nds, it would have been nice.
Click to expand...

Yep, that's the nice thing about metric... converting sizes is very straightforward, sometimes as simple as moving the decimal over (for 1/10 scales, 1/100, etc). It's also easier to work with whole numbers versus fractions.

Sometimes I do both just to double-check the numbers... catch conversion mistakes before I actually cut materials.

I know math isn't the "funnest" thing we do, but it IS part of the hobby. Conversion of scale numbers from the actual prototype (actual vehicle scale drawing) to whatever scale you're working with is just simple arithmetic though, so it shouldn't be too challenging, even for those among us who are "math-challenged"... (which oftentimes includes me...)

Good luck! OL JR :)
 
luke strawwalker said:
Yep, that's the nice thing about metric... converting sizes is very straightforward, sometimes as simple as moving the decimal over (for 1/10 scales, 1/100, etc). It's also easier to work with whole numbers versus fractions.
Click to expand...
The other option is to work with decimal inches rather than fractions.

Metric is easier to work with, but not because of any particular unit, but because the conversions are more natural. For example, knowing that 1kg of water occupies one liter means it's easier to estimate quantities that require unit conversion. (For a more complete example, see my Flight Physics article.)

But fundamentally 1cm is just as arbitrary a length as 1in, which is an excuse to include one of my favorite travel photos (from a Paris back street):

paris-metre.jpg
 
JohnCoker said:
The other option is to work with decimal inches rather than fractions.

Metric is easier to work with, but not because of any particular unit, but because the conversions are more natural. For example, knowing that 1kg of water occupies one liter means it's easier to estimate quantities that require unit conversion. (For a more complete example, see my Flight Physics article.)
Click to expand...

Exactly. I think it would be great if the US could switch to metric, for the reasons you mention and also because the rest of the world is metric. But metric doesn't actually make engineering any simpler. I word in decimal inches, and 4.76cm is no easier or harder to deal with than 4.76in. My digital caliper presents decimal inch dimensions and I have a number of rules and scales divided by ten, 100, etc, not 8, 16, etc.
 
Yeah, it's fairly common to work with decimal inches in mechanics and stuff... I do it all the time. No more difficult or easy than metric.

For estimation of distance, area, etc., personally I prefer standard measurements to metric, because it's easier to make a decent estimation...

Of course for folks with a lifetime of experience with metric, it's probably easier for them to estimate distance or area in metric than standard...

Later! OL JR :)
 
I wish their Metric Bend Rules were available in 550mm. The Inch Bend Rules go up to 18", but their Metric only goes to 300mm which is like a foot.
 

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