"The Enfield inch" when an inch is not an inch!

[Robert303]

Then there is the old Clydeside 'Baw' hair measurement.

[Aussie48]

Was that the pudding bowl on the head job?

[CINDERS]

Cripes I thought a Fairie F*rt was a small measurement but obviously it is a bit like a sausage down high street and a bulls roar! still it is a good read

[Smellymarkfive]

1ml = 1cc=1g=1cal to raise temp 1 degree Celsius. That's the usefulness of the metric system, makes life a lot easier in the lab. But I still use chains for calculating tree height/lumber, and making a cricket pitch. I did a job once and needed about 6 inches of dowel so I asked the lad to cut me a piece from a broom handle. He cut it from the middle.

[CINDERS]

Least he was half right

[Alan de Enfield]

The old rhyme we had to learn at School (and never forgot)

12" one foot
3 feet one yard
22 yards one chain
10 chains one furlong
8 furlongs one mile
3 miles one league

[Bruce_in_Oz]

And then there is the "utterly Imperial" BA system.

Well, sort of.

It is almost a direct lift from the old Swiss "Thury" system used by yodelling clock-makers. Start with "0" BA. It has a pitch of, give or take a gnats knacker, 1mm, just like M6. The form and flank angle (47.5deg) are, of course, completely different.

"1" BA is simply "0" BA multiplied by 0.9 to give to the next smallest thread. This process repeats ad infinitum (ad nauseum?).

Hence the almost incomprehensible "numbers" attendant to BA threads. I have NEVER even attempted to cut one on a lathe; metric or otherwise. just keep a set of BA taps and dies in the toybox.

An example of the "almost" relationship is the rear-sight adjustment screws on the FAL (metric)/ L1A1 (BA); VERY similar in diameter AND pitch but not close enough.

In the process of "Imperializing" the FAL to arrive at the L1A1, screws of the nearest "industry-standard" appear to have been sought, be they BA, BSF or something different like a Unified number thread or somesuch.

Remember these were the days when Vauxhall (GM UK) built engines with bolts having UNC threads but Whitworth-sized heads. Detroit-designed motors meant to be worked on by UK mechanics with "UK standard" tools.

[bob4wd]

And then there is the "utterly Imperial" BA system.

Well, sort of.

It is almost a direct lift from the old Swiss "Thury" system used by yodelling clock-makers. Start with "0" BA. It has a pitch of, give or take a gnats knacker, 1mm, just like M6. The form and flank angle (47.5deg) are, of course, completely different.

"1" BA is simply "0" BA multiplied by 0.9 to give to the next smallest thread. This process repeats ad infinitum (ad nauseum?).

Hence the almost incomprehensible "numbers" attendant to BA threads. I have NEVER even attempted to cut one on a lathe; metric or otherwise. just keep a set of BA taps and dies in the toybox.

An example of the "almost" relationship is the rear-sight adjustment screws on the FAL (metric)/ L1A1 (BA); VERY similar in diameter AND pitch but not close enough.

In the process of "Imperializing" the FAL to arrive at the L1A1, screws of the nearest "industry-standard" appear to have been sought, be they BA, BSF or something different like a Unified number thread or somesuch.

Remember these were the days when Vauxhall (GM UK) built engines with bolts having UNC threads but Whitworth-sized heads. Detroit-designed motors meant to be worked on by UK mechanics with "UK standard" tools.

So that's the reason! I had a Vauxhall in 1963 or thereabouts, always thought somebody had their head in a dark place when it was designed. Sounds reasonable, except that I'm in the States and standard tools here still didn't fit! But then, the whole car was weird.

[browningautorifle]

My dad had one for a short time in the '60's too...I even thought they were strange then.

[Eggy]

And the next increment of measurement up from a gnats knacker is a gnats cock