Paul P
As an ex-woodworker (for now) I appreciate inches being divisible into halfs, quarters, eighths, sixteenths, etc.  Easy to find the centers of things and do simple calculations.

No matter how OT this is getting, that's a really interesting point.

Yes Paul.
 
I just built my new studio desk from 4 sheets of furniture grade plywood of those exact dimensions.

Remember the sadness of the Hubble: some stuff built to inches, some to mm.
 
No doubt the result of the complexities of translating a shared language.
 
And no common words for "how long is it?"

YouDontHasToCallMeJohnson

forkol
  I can pretty much do lb-kg and mi-km conversion back and forth with pretty good accuracy without a calculator.

How are you with cubits to centimeters?
Furloughs? Leagues?
Short and long tons?
Knots?

Also, don't forget minim, fluid dram, shot, gill, barrel and hogshead.
 

Paul P 

Bristol_Jonesey
The one redeeming feature of the Imperail System was that using a base of 12, there were so many integer divisors (1, 2, 3, 4, 6) compared to metric (1, 2, 5)

 
As an ex-woodworker (for now) I appreciate inches being divisible into halfs, quarters, eighths, sixteenths, etc.  Easy to find the centers of things and do simple calculations.  I tried going metric but it's really weird in this context.  Whoever invented the metric system wasn't a woodworker.

 
That is because in the metric system you don't typically write fractions as 1/2, 1/4 etc, but as decimal fractions like 0.5, 0.25 etc. So woodworkers that use the metric system will simply use decimal fractions of m, cm and mm.
 
Having been taught the metric system in school, going to the US system is an example of how something would not be designed if it was done today. Why exactly is 1 mile equal to 5280 ft? How do you convert from one to the other (say if you had no calculator)?

YouDontHasToCallMeJohnson
Really tired of having two sets of tools: sockets, wrenches, hex, saws, knives, adjustables,...

 
I have a spare left-hand hammer if that helps

SilkTone
That is because in the metric system you don't typically write fractions as 1/2, 1/4 etc, but as decimal fractions like 0.5, 0.25 etc. So woodworkers that use the metric system will simply use decimal fractions of m, cm and mm.

You quickly get into unwieldy decimals which you can't do anything with intuitively.  It's like looking at a clock with hands or a clock with digits.  Imperial you can do with your eyes (fractions) and in your head, metric you need a calculator.
 
And with a 12" foot, as Bristol Jonesey points out, you can quickly divide into quarters, thirds, halves, sixths by eye.  Try doing that with 10 or 30 cm.
 
I remember way back in primary school when the backs of our notebooks had these tables with all the weird imperial units.  They facinated me but we never used most of them.
 

Thank God for metric crescent wrenches.

Dang, must be something wrong with my browser -
 
I came here thinking this thread was a discussion about upcoming membership features for Sonar...

Do metronomes come in metric?