Hi,
I have a lot of imperial size spanners and sockets, are these the same as what they call A/F i.e. I don't have to buy more tools??
Sorry for the stupid question...
Ta.
[Edited on 16/3/23 by Mr Whippy]
A/F stands for across flats, ie how big the head of the bolt is.
imperial spanners are usually measured this way. but then the metric ones are too. - a 13 mil socket fits a bolt head that is 13mm across flats
but there are whitworth spanners as well and they are as generally sized by the thread diameter. [except at one point the head sizes change to save
steel...]
[Edited on 16/3/23 by gremlin1234]
ok thanks, just seemed a bit odd not to call them imperial?! I'm glad I never threw them out!
quote:
Originally posted by Mr Whippy
ok thanks, just seemed a bit odd not to call them imperial?! I'm glad I never threw them out!
Thanks for the explanation, it all seems very complicated. I think I have the right ones though.
quote:
Originally posted by gremlin1234
a 13 mil socket fits a bolt head that is 13mm across flats
[Edited on 16/3/23 by gremlin1234]
quote:
Originally posted by peter030371
quote:
Originally posted by gremlin1234
a 13 mil socket fits a bolt head that is 13mm across flats
[Edited on 16/3/23 by gremlin1234]
Just to be a pedantNo it doesn't....13mil is NOT 13mm. A Mil is a unit of measure that equals a thousandth of an inch and using it as 'slang' for mm is misleading to people (like me) that use Mil in everyday life i.e at work for designing PCBs some parts of which are still specified in Mil and some parts in mm!
I am odd and often get funny looks when I ask for (random example) 'a 2mm rod' and they come back and say 'I have 2.5mil will that do' and I then say '2.5mm is fine' or words to that effect![]()
![]()
I know I can't change the world but I can only hope![]()
quote:
Originally posted by peter030371
quote:
Originally posted by gremlin1234
a 13 mil socket fits a bolt head that is 13mm across flats
[Edited on 16/3/23 by gremlin1234]
Just to be a pedantNo it doesn't....13mil is NOT 13mm. A Mil is a unit of measure that equals a thousandth of an inch and using it as 'slang' for mm is misleading to people (like me) that use Mil in everyday life i.e at work for designing PCBs some parts of which are still specified in Mil and some parts in mm!
I am odd and often get funny looks when I ask for (random example) 'a 2mm rod' and they come back and say 'I have 2.5mil will that do' and I then say '2.5mm is fine' or words to that effect![]()
![]()
I know I can't change the world but I can only hope![]()
For some reason that reminded me of my "favourite" drawing scale of all time. I'm a construction guy and drawings are nearly all scaled
as a simple ratio 1:50, 1:100 etc so can't go wrong and that ratio works whether you are using metric or imperial.
A few years ago we were pricing a building project for Dowty in Cheltenham (that probably dates it a bit in itself). The building had been designed by
their in house engineers rather than using an architect as it was a simple "shed" for some new machine tools. The scale on the drawings was
given as 2mm:1ft
quote:
Originally posted by Sanzomat. The scale on the drawings was given as 2mm:1ft
quote:
Originally posted by indykid
If you're going to complain about mil, you should at least use milliinch in its full form instead of its slang form or question "milliinch or millimeter?"
Milliinch has no place in the imperial system. It's just lazy not using 1024ths.
quote:
Originally posted by gremlin1234
I know a milliinch as '1 thou'
quote:
Originally posted by gremlin1234
A/F stands for across flats, ie how big the head of the bolt is.
imperial spanners are usually measured this way. but then the metric ones are too. - a 13 mil socket fits a bolt head that is 13mm across flats
but there are whitworth spanners as well and they are as generally sized by the thread diameter. [except at one point the head sizes change to save steel...]
[Edited on 16/3/23 by gremlin1234]
The thread form of BSW nuts and bolts is by far superior to either metric or imperial threads. By about 1980 BL cars had all three types in use at the same time.
Maybe it's my age (49), but I consider myself a metric generation.
Have a few Imperial spanners (3/4", but mainly for plumbing parts I've had to tackle over the years.
quote:
Originally posted by Theshed
The thread form of BSW nuts and bolts is by far superior to either metric or imperial threads. By about 1980 BL cars had all three types in use at the same time.
quote:
Originally posted by gremlin1234
I think they also had BA British Association fittings on some of the electrical parts too
quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
BA is a metric thread! It's specified in metric measurements anyway, albeit rather eccentric ones.
quote:
Originally posted by gremlin1234
quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
BA is a metric thread! It's specified in metric measurements anyway, albeit rather eccentric ones.
yep but its also a different spanner size
Not to forget unf nuts and bolts
I had a pal in the local model engineering club who preferred to use "Unified Cycle Gas Thread"... but he could be a pillock at times!
quote:
Originally posted by nick205
Maybe it's my age (49), but I consider myself a metric generation.
quote:
Originally posted by peter030371
quote:
Originally posted by gremlin1234
a 13 mil socket fits a bolt head that is 13mm across flats
[Edited on 16/3/23 by gremlin1234]
Just to be a pedantNo it doesn't....13mil is NOT 13mm. A Mil is a unit of measure that equals a thousandth of an inch and using it as 'slang' for mm is misleading to people (like me) that use Mil in everyday life i.e at work for designing PCBs some parts of which are still specified in Mil and some parts in mm!
I am odd and often get funny looks when I ask for (random example) 'a 2mm rod' and they come back and say 'I have 2.5mil will that do' and I then say '2.5mm is fine' or words to that effect![]()
![]()
I know I can't change the world but I can only hope![]()
quote:
Originally posted by nick205
Maybe it's my age (49), but I consider myself a metric generation.
Have a few Imperial spanners (3/4", but mainly for plumbing parts I've had to tackle over the years.
I wish the UK would commit to going metric ASAP - just about everyone up to 30 (maybe older?) has only been taught metric, never taught imperial, and
they simply don't understand the old measurements.
Though I was surprised one day in the local pub when an old boy of 80+ announced that he'd just planted 3 metres of broad bean seedlings!
[Edited on 22/3/23 by David Jenkins]
Having spent many a weekend with my dad (ex time served old school engineer) under a mini in my teens I'm fully conversant with mills
(millimeter), thous (thousands of an inch) and variations of measurement eg it needs an 8th taking off (trim by about 3mm).
I also got to the point I could supply the correct spanner across metric, Imperial and whitworth without checking (some bolts on a 20 year old early
70s mini were worn so you had to use the spanner that fitted, not the size it was supposed to be)
quote:
Originally posted by gremlin1234
quote:
Originally posted by Sanzomat. The scale on the drawings was given as 2mm:1ft
2mm scale is quite common in model building,
OO gauge is 4mm scale (4mm to foot 1:76.2) for the bodies - but uses a different scale for the track!