An odd thing about CAD...

On 24 Nov 2005 16:17:51 -0800, wrote:

(aside from blank messages :-)

I use DeltaCAD, a simple 2D replacement for the traditional T-square
and triangles, to make patterns for parts, from a 56" rib to itty-bitty
things for home-made clocks, tiny steam engines and similar stuff. And
I talk about it, too. If you hope to share information at a distance
you need good drawings and a simple CAD program is miles ahead of
old-fashioned drafting.

That produces a lot of mail, almost all of it from guys telling me why
they DON'T use CAD, or at least, not DeltaCAD. Such as the message I
received last night in which the feller explained that the reason he
didn't like DeltaCAD -- and only had it so he could print out my
drawings of VW conversion parts -- was because he was accustomed to
working in fractional inches.

"In the time it takes me to convert 27/64ths to decimal and get it
typed in," he wrote, "I could have drawn it a dozen times with a
drafting scale."

I had to think about that for a while. A private answer would have
been more polite but if one person thinks DeltaCAD can't handle
fractional inputs then others might, too. And the truth is, it handles
them just fine. Want a line 27/32nds in length? Then select the LINE
function, indicate the point of oirgin with your pointer and type in
27/32.

One and nine-sixteenths? Then type in 1 (space) 9/16. Two feet, three
and three-sixteens would be entered as 2'3 3/16.

I can appreciate the feelings some guys have when they're faced with
converting a 1920's drawing into a digital format. Back then,
everything was in fractions of an inch and American Wire Gauge, neither
of which is in common usage today. But DeltaCAD, with which I have no
relationship other than as a satisfied customer, really IS handier than
your T-square, triangles and drafting scale. The odd thing is that so
few guys my age think so and I really can't understand why. The
complete manual is only 218 pages long and most of that is white-space.
In fact, compared to other CAD software DeltaCAD is so simple most
guys start turning out usable drawings without ever reading the manual.

-R.S.Hoover

hey bob. do you realise that america has been a metric country for
over 103 years now. are you going to get the message soon?
:-)
Stealth Pilot

Stealth Pilot wrote:

hey bob. do you realise that america has been a metric country for
over 103 years now. are you going to get the message soon?
:-)
Stealth Pilot
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey ozzie, did you realize that the American Congress authorized the
use of the metric system in 1866? Or that the SI system became our
official standard for weights & measures when the United States signed
the original international Metric Treaty in 1875?

America uses a mix of traditional and SI units because Congress
provided no funds for conversion nor penalties for failing to do so and
indicated how little importance they placed on the matter by exempting
themselves and their functions (such as the Library of Congress) from
any legal requirement to observe the metric standards.

So I guess the answer to the first part of your question is, yes. And
since we seem to have gotten the message about a hundred years before
you did, the answer to the second appears to be moot. But perhaps the
most important part of this exchange has to do with the fact DeltaCAD
works equally well with meters or inches. And we were talking about
CAD software instead of how many kangaroo hops there are in a nautical
mile :-)

-R.S.Hoover

And we were talking about
CAD software instead of how many kangaroo hops there are in a nautical
mile :-)

-R.S.Hoover

Depends on whether it is a male or female ;-)

how many kangaroo hops there are in a nautical
mile :-)

Hi all,

Contrary to the statute mile, the nautical mile has nothing to do with
the Imperial system a few countries in the world are still using since
Colonial days ;-)

The nautical mile is based on the cicrcumference of the Earth. One NM
corresponds to a one minute angle along a big circle.
It is thus easy to relate distance to latitude and longitude coordinates.

That's why every nation in the world is (and will keep) using it for
navigation by air or sea.

Regards,
Gilles Thesee
Grenoble, France
Metric since day one

http://contrails.free.fr

wrote:
Stealth Pilot wrote:

America uses a mix of traditional and SI units


In the same DA$$ truck. Some engineer at Dodge aught be shot...with
both a metric and standard size bullet!!

--
This is by far the hardest lesson about freedom. It goes against
instinct, and morality, to just sit back and watch people make
mistakes. We want to help them, which means control them and their
decisions, but in doing so we actually hurt them (and ourselves)."

"Ernest Christley" wrote

In the same DA$$ truck. Some engineer at Dodge aught be shot...with
both a metric and standard size bullet!!

They all seem to do it, at least on some models.

My full sized Chevy van is somewhat consistent. If it is a hole in the
engine block, it is SAE. If it is something not screwed into the engine, it
is metric.
--
Jim in NC

In article ,
Ernest Christley wrote:

wrote:
Stealth Pilot wrote:

America uses a mix of traditional and SI units

In the same DA$$ truck. Some engineer at Dodge aught be shot...with
both a metric and standard size bullet!!

Yes indeed!
My 1994 Plymouth Voyager mini-van has both standard and metric fastners
in the drivers seat. I found out last month when I had to replace the
seat recline mechanism and the seat pan. The recline mechanism has the
metric fastners, leading me to believe it is manufactured offshore.

wrote:

...

And we were talking about
CAD software instead of how many kangaroo hops there are in a nautical
mile :-)


One nautical mile is the arc length of one arc-minute at the equator.
Useful for navigation, do you suppose?

--

FF

Stealth Pilot wrote:

...

hey bob. do you realise that america has been a metric country for
over 103 years now. are you going to get the message soon?
:-)


What, you don't like binary fractions?

Alexander Hamilton convinced the US to adopt metric currency.
Shortly after, he was taken out and shot.

--

FF