Given the many years that the Stevenson's have been marketing to a global market, and the fact that the USA is the only industrialised country still using the old imperial system, would it be fair to expect copies of their boat plans to be available in metric? I sent an email to them asking this question but got no response. So I am throwing it out here as a vent.
Replies most welcomeÂ
Cheers
Andrew
Unlikly moving strongly to not a chance.Â
I live in a metric country too. When building my scale model (the only thing I have been building, so far), I first convert all measurements to metric, and then scale down to 1:10. This is trivial to do. If Stevensons would offer metric plans, that's probably as far as they would go as well. It would be correct, but unnecessarily cumbersome, with unlikely numbers everywhere (use 25.4 mm long screws spaces at 76.2 mm intervals). Doing proper metric would require too much understanding of what sizes of screws and wood is generally available, etc.
Since the only way the difference between metric and imperial measurement really matters is in hardware (metric screws, bolts, etc.), I would suggest buying an imperial tape measure and ruler and building the boat in imperial dimensions. Use whatever fasters you have that are "close". The Stevenson's profit margin on these plans suggest the business is a labor of love and not a plan to retire early to the south of France! I doubt they will redo the plans. Buy an imperial tape measure.
Dave
An after diner evening, with a calculator and the plans, can easily yield the conversion. It's a pain in the butt, but a minor one compare to other head scratching you'll do, during the length of the build process. I now offer all my plans with both sets of dimensions, on the fly and call outs. The metric dimensions are slightly more accurate, though this accuracy isn't as important as you'd think. They're more accurate because a mm is smaller then the 1/16" an inch I limit the SAE dimensions to. Most designers only spec a plan down to an 1/8", which is slightly more then 3 mm. I spec down to a 1/16" which is very fine, but the metric call out for the same distance, will be about a 1/32" more accurate. The thickness of a reasonably sharp pencil line is bigger then this, so it's moot point, but if CNC cutting . . . BTW Imperial measurement is different then SAE, which is what the Americans use (SAE).
Great! So you all agree, it's an easy thing to do so they should do it...yeah?Â
I know they don't make a killing off the plans but they do boast selling over 500 000 plans (of various sorts I imagine). If they made an average of $20 of each plan, it would add up. So a bit of a lame argument really about the "labour of love". If you're in business, it's to make money, and they'll be making some I'm sure. Still my argument was that it would make good business sense to do this if you're marketing to a global market. I didn't see anyone actually respond to this as yet. But thanks for your comments..."buy an imperial tape measure" lol. I hope you're not their marketing manager!Â
I bet you got your plans already.Â
The metal ruler in inches is avaiable at SCA. I use it most of the time, sometimes uses a tape ruler that have both mm & inches printed on it, avaiable at bunnings. Rather get both short and long rulers. Also there is inches & mm conversion printed on the back of ruler.
(02-26-2012, 12:52 AM)Andrew Stokes link Wrote: [ -> ]Given the many years that the Stevenson's have been marketing to a global market, and the fact that the USA is the only industrialised country still using the old imperial system, would it be fair to expect copies of their boat plans to be available in metric?Â
I suspect that they have sold the vast majority of their plans in the US and that there have not been a great many folks calling for plans in metric measurements. If you haven't been around for a long time you probably are not aware that the Stevensons have only recently reprinted many of their plans and the old pricing couldn't have yielded $20 per plan as most of them were priced at or below that number.Â
I would agree that metric is easier overall and makes more sense but old habits die hard even when they are outdated. Welcome aboard and enjoy the journey - build it in inches or centimeters, it will sail fine either way.
I generally agree with complains on imperial units, but I'd like to point out my experiences about:
1. I did sketches and calculations in Autocad and excel, in both softwares a scale factor is a very very easy thing to introduce.
2. I live in a metric county too, but I've been surprised, when I went to buy plywood sheets, to verify that their formats are in feet (even if converted in millimeters). Probably it is a commercial standard that nobody wants to change.
3. My advice is to forget units and consider only figures. I have a cheep Chinese tape ruler with both units and that is enough to trace on the plywood. Try to convert everything in metric and then to trace is the best way to to introduce mistakes.
4. I agree that the real problem is with hardware. I never understood American screws types and therefore the equivalent metric types.Â
Instead of requiring metric units in Stevenson's projects, I rather ask to USA to adopt metric units. Firstly because America is not part of British Empire since centuries, then because also UK has adopted Metrics Units a couple of decades ago, then, last but not least, because metric system has a precise logic that link length, volume, weight, energy and power without complicated conversion factors.
Gianluigi
to Dave Blake: I've been in France many times, but except for the city of Paris is not absolutely a Country where I dream to retire.Â
A few facts:
1) The Stevensons market overwhelmingly to North Americans. (Canada uses and understands both metric and imperial measurements).
2) The United States is not switching to the metric system.
3) Neither are the Stevensons.
4) If you live in a metric country and want to build a Stevenson design, buy an imperial ruler, or do the conversion calculations yourself.
To Gianluigi:Â The Stevensons aren't planning to retire to the south of France either!Â
Dave