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Whacky Signs.


Colin_McLeod
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17 hours ago, Deeps said:

I well remember when the RN Submarine Service went metric, with the introduction of the Trafalgar Class. When your brain is full of details for significant pressures, dimensions & levels etc. it takes a while to wipe them from your memory bank and replace them with the metric equivalent, often direct conversions which seemed irrational. Interestingly on the Trident boats, which are nominally metric, the American bits (missile systems) are imperial!

 

Which reminds me of an occasion during my days as a design engineer in the dockyard. One of our team had been doing some survey work on a submarine and when his measurements were examined one of them was for 2 metres 5 inches.

I see nothing wrong with that measurement. I once had a layout where the boards were 1 metre 1 inch long. I designed, made and measured them myself and it was how they were meant to be. These boards consisted of 1 metre long side timbers with half inch ply on each end. I must admit to getting funny looks when I was asked about the size of the boards.

 

I couldn't do the same today of course because you just can't get half inch ply. I use 9mm ply instead these days.

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7 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

The top speed of a sub isn't going to change even if you express it in furlongs per fortnight.  Surely it doesn't matter what units it's calibrated in, as long as you know where the needles on the pressure gauges should be pointing?

 

Generally speaking this is correct; all that is required for safe watch keeping is a quick glance at a meter to reassure you that all was well. However, submarines are fairly dynamic vessels with hundreds of parameters to be monitored, often with a range of acceptable readings dependent on the situation at that time. As a qualified submariner you need to know all of this without reference to documentation or where the needle should be pointing. If I was being examined to prove I was competent to operate a nuclear reactor it wouldn’t do for me to simply state that the needle should be at the twelve o’clock position, for example, I would need to to demonstrate I knew why the parameter was chosen and be able to say what it was.

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4 hours ago, Chris M said:

I couldn't do the same today of course because you just can't get half inch ply

It's called 12mm these days and still available.

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The thickness of ply doesn't seem to be very constant.

I've bought nominally the same stuff but with a 1mm discrepancy.

 

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3 minutes ago, melmerby said:

The thickness of ply doesn't seem to be very constant.

I've bought nominally the same stuff but with a 1mm discrepancy.

 


I’ve found lumber dimensions gradually decreasing over time. The 4x4 timbers I’ve bought for outside construction in the garden have gone from 4 inch to 4 minus to 4 minuser.

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3 hours ago, Chris M said:

My expertise in building baseboards means that it wouldn’t really matter.

 

I've seen some where +/- the half inch wouldn't make much difference....😁

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3 minutes ago, Hibelroad said:

Ummm, has this morphed into a woodworking thread?

Apparently this sort of phenomena is quite normal in rmweb. I feel sure someone will bring the thread back on line shortly, probably with a whacky sign painted on a piece of 12mm plywood.

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10 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

Reminds me of 70s MFI flatpack furniture.

 

After it's been in use for a couple of years............😄

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