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A microleague would be 4.83mm in length. I think that would be too large to have as your base unit. Nautical microleagues are even worse at 5.55mm.Has the OP considered working in milliarshins or perhaps microleagues?
Sorry, I kept that one in as long as I could.
Well then you're looking at 1.2 10000ths of an inch as your base unit. Maybe too small?
For the record, I mostly work in Decimal Inches, to three places. That is, 1.000"; thousandths of an inch. That's because I grew up in the US metalworking/machine shop/mechanical engineering industry in the '70's and '80's. That's what I'm familiar with. Metric/SI moved into the US industry in the '80's. By the '90's, almost all US industry works in Metric/SI.
I learned to work Metric/SI in my jobs as a mechanical engineer from the mid-80's on. But in my own shop, I still like to work with Decimal Inches, because most of my machines and tools are from that era of 1900 to 1980. US machinery and measuring tools pre-1980 were almost all in "thousandths". The scales and graduations and feed threads are in Thousandths.
In common (old time) machine shop talk, numbers are spoken in thousandths. For example 1.562" is pronounced "one point five six two". And 1.560" is pronounced "one point five six zero", not "one point five six". And 1.500" is "one point five zero zero". You say the three digits to indicate that you are working to measurements of three places; 0.001", "a thousandth".
If you are working to four or more places, then you say the extra digits; 1.5623" is "one point five six two three". That extra fourth digit is called "a tenth". It means one ten-thousandth of an inch. When an old machinist says the part needs to be "two tenths over", that means +0.0002". Not +0.2"
If the dimension is equal to a fraction, then it's acceptable to call it a fraction. 1.5625" can be called "one and nine sixteenths". But that implies a lower tolerance level. If a machinist calls for a hole to be drilled with a 1 9/16" drill bit, that assumes that the hole will end up at as much as 1/16" oversize. That's a roughing hole, which will then be bored or reamed to a more precise size in thousandths.
That's the common language for old-time US metalworking and machine shop work.
Now, US woodworking shops, like cabinet shops and boatyards, usually work in Fractional Inches. Even today, most rulers and tape measures at a US Home Depot are in Fractional Inches. It's still the most popular measurement system for woodworking in the US, although Metric/SI is slowly catching on.
The smallest unit of measurement in Fractional Inches is usually 1/64", called "a sixty fourth". For example, 1 3/8" is spoken "one and three eighths" and 1 5/64" is spoken "one and five sixty-fourths". Occasionally, you'll hear reference to "a twenty-eighth" which is 1/128" or one half of 1/64". A cabinetmaker may call for a part to be cut "a twenty-eighth over", which means half a sixty-forth oversize. Woodworking language. To translate, a "sixty-forth" is about equal to "fifteen thousandths". That's how machinists and cabinetmakers speak to each other.
There's also some confusing things about the Metric/SI system. SI (Systems Internationale) is not the same as the classic European Metric or Asian (Japanese) Metric systems. SI was developed in the '70's as a worldwide compromise between the US Decimal Inches system and the various classic Metric systems. It was pretty well accepted in US industry by the 1990's. Europe took a little longer. SI units are mostly in 3-place intervals, like the Decimal Inches system. Dimensions are called out in Kilometers, Meters and Millimeters.
I learned to work Metric/SI in my jobs as a mechanical engineer from the mid-80's on. But in my own shop, I still like to work with Decimal Inches, because most of my machines and tools are from that era of 1900 to 1980. US machinery and measuring tools pre-1980 were almost all in "thousandths". The scales and graduations and feed threads are in Thousandths.
In common (old time) machine shop talk, numbers are spoken in thousandths. For example 1.562" is pronounced "one point five six two". And 1.560" is pronounced "one point five six zero", not "one point five six". And 1.500" is "one point five zero zero". You say the three digits to indicate that you are working to measurements of three places; 0.001", "a thousandth".
If you are working to four or more places, then you say the extra digits; 1.5623" is "one point five six two three". That extra fourth digit is called "a tenth". It means one ten-thousandth of an inch. When an old machinist says the part needs to be "two tenths over", that means +0.0002". Not +0.2"
If the dimension is equal to a fraction, then it's acceptable to call it a fraction. 1.5625" can be called "one and nine sixteenths". But that implies a lower tolerance level. If a machinist calls for a hole to be drilled with a 1 9/16" drill bit, that assumes that the hole will end up at as much as 1/16" oversize. That's a roughing hole, which will then be bored or reamed to a more precise size in thousandths.
That's the common language for old-time US metalworking and machine shop work.
Now, US woodworking shops, like cabinet shops and boatyards, usually work in Fractional Inches. Even today, most rulers and tape measures at a US Home Depot are in Fractional Inches. It's still the most popular measurement system for woodworking in the US, although Metric/SI is slowly catching on.
The smallest unit of measurement in Fractional Inches is usually 1/64", called "a sixty fourth". For example, 1 3/8" is spoken "one and three eighths" and 1 5/64" is spoken "one and five sixty-fourths". Occasionally, you'll hear reference to "a twenty-eighth" which is 1/128" or one half of 1/64". A cabinetmaker may call for a part to be cut "a twenty-eighth over", which means half a sixty-forth oversize. Woodworking language. To translate, a "sixty-forth" is about equal to "fifteen thousandths". That's how machinists and cabinetmakers speak to each other.
There's also some confusing things about the Metric/SI system. SI (Systems Internationale) is not the same as the classic European Metric or Asian (Japanese) Metric systems. SI was developed in the '70's as a worldwide compromise between the US Decimal Inches system and the various classic Metric systems. It was pretty well accepted in US industry by the 1990's. Europe took a little longer. SI units are mostly in 3-place intervals, like the Decimal Inches system. Dimensions are called out in Kilometers, Meters and Millimeters.
This depends on the unit and use case. Most people are most familiar with cm, m, and km. When drawing in cad one uses mm. Ordering or specifying something; mm. Often when i calculate volume i use dm. One cubic dm is a liter. For volume other prefixes are more familiar, ml, cl, dl, l, hl and cubic meter are all in frequent use. For weight mg, g, hg, kg and tonne (1000kg)
Wood for construction is defined in mm, but the standard dimensions come from a strange system. One standard dimension of wood is "48mmX98mm". This is like seven syllables, so carpenters call it a "2X4" witch is two syllables. In a mill an "inch" is 25mm. When adjusted it gets two mm smaler. Flowing this system a "1X8" is 23mmX198mm. For planed wood the mill remove 5mm, so when you want 5/4X5 (fivequarterinchfive) decking you order 28mmX120mm.
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Heh, yes, those are all examples of Europeans stubbornly sticking to classic European Metric units and not conforming to the SI system. Just like us Americans stubbornly sticking to some of our Fractional units. I don't know if you are old enough to remember back in the '70's and '80's, but the worldwide adoption of the SI system was controversial. All sides were angry at being forced to change from their classic measurement systems. It was a Conspiracy! Americans were bitter at being forced to go "Metric"! Europeans were bitter at having to change to an "Americanized" system. The Japanese were bitter at having to change to a "Europeanized" system. Who were these people who were telling us how to measure things????
I got my degree in mechanical engineering in 1982, and got my first Real job at a defense contractor, right when this was all happening. I was forced to take classes, in college and at work, on Learning The SI System. The measurement system that will bring the world together! Nobody liked it, even the poor teachers of the classes. Here in America, it was forced on industry by the Government. They decreed that, from now on, All Department Of Defense Contracts Shall be done in SI units! Drawings and products would be refused if they weren't in SI, with very rare exceptions. It was a big uproar. But, through the '80's, we obediently changed over.
It's funny that you mention that because somehow the American Architectural & Construction industry managed to mostly avoid the SI system. Even in government contract work. Architectural drawings that I see these days are still done in Feet, Inches, and Fractions of Inches. Although sometimes they have SI equivalents in parenthesis. And yes, lumber is still labeled in the classic Inch sized, even though it's actually cut to a SI/Metric dimension.
Meanwhile, we US Luthiers are split about equally between Decimal Inches, Fractional Inches and Metric/SI.....It's an ongoing battle. SI will win eventually.
...if you’re modeling in Solidworks, using cm can sometimes make the smaller, detailed adjustments easier to see, but if you’re following an image or reference in inches, it might be simpler to stick with that to avoid conversions mid-way.
Besides, if you ever need a quick reference to double-check your measurements, you could always pull up something like https://ruler.onl/ to measure right on screen – comes in handy more than you’d think!
Besides, if you ever need a quick reference to double-check your measurements, you could always pull up something like https://ruler.onl/ to measure right on screen – comes in handy more than you’d think!
I find mm to be easier to work with when doing precision work like this. No fractions and most things can be measured to the mm with no further precision needed. But I would recommend investing in a high quality steel rule and calipers. If you get digital calipers you can use either scale.
