Metric Mania, Misspellings

Metric Mania, Misspellings

Thanks For The Thanks

“I receive both the paper copy of your magazine and the eZine, please keep them up, they are wonderful. Please keep up the good work and keep it coming.” – Lee Nalley

“Always enjoy the eZine! Can’t help but smile when I see a new one in my inbox!” – George Gonzalez

Removing Silicone Contamination

“I worked for Dow Corning ( the inventor of silicones) for 30 years, and struggled with that question for most of them. The suggestion of Michael Dresdner is the best approach.” – Wayne Holbrook

More Metric Mania

“As a 66-year-old ‘True Blue Brit’ who values the ‘Good Old Days’, I can at least slightly understand the sentiments expounded by Mr. Houchins. But I find his comments regarding “foreigners” a little difficult to swallow. I wonder just where Mr. Houchins’ great-great-grandfather hailed from. From a foreigner’s viewpoint, it appears that the good old U.S.A. is pretty well sprinkled with lots of people whose family trees originate anywhere except America.” – Keith Brooks

“You have me a bit wrong. I am certainly a descendant of foreigners and did not mean to besmirch any of them. I just like fractional math!” – T. J. Houchins

“Mr. Houchins’ comment about those “twelve foreigners” is why a lot of people around the world do not like Americans. It is the arrogance of the writer not in what he says, but the way he says it.” – Ray Buhler

“I am fully metric, but the one thing I can’t bring myself to do is apply a metric tape over the English scale for my table saw’s rip fence. I guess even though I want a relationship with metric, deep down I am a commitment-phobe.” – Roger A. Knopf

“As a signatory to various international standards and conventions, the United States has for some years recognized, accepted and used the metric system, especially in science and engineering.” – Richard Sweeting

“Those persons out there who think the “Imperial” system is “American” should be aware that the U.S.A. was one of the first countries to adopt the metric system after it was developed in France. Many of the early U.S. military firearms were built according to the metric system. So to be “patriotic” and follow the dictates of the Continental Congress (I think it was called that at the time), you should adopt the metric system for all transactions.” – Bruce S. R. Lee

“We could easily eliminate fractions just as the metric system does; just use decimal points.” – John Neisen

Interestingly, all the guitar makers I know, myself included, routinely use thousandths of an inch rather than fractions. For example, we write 3.125″ as opposed to 3 1/8ths inches. In fact, all bindings, fret wire, and inlay materials are also sold in thousandths. Try writing something like .110″ in fractions, and you will see why. That number, incidentally, is the top thickness dimension specified by the largest acoustic guitar maker in the country. – Editor

Misspelled, or Arcane?

“I loved the excerpt about “Caucasian Walnut Dressers.” My first take was that they were people who had the obscure job of dressing walnuts.” – Charles Hotchkiss

“One simple explanation is that Circassian is not in the standard Microsoft Outlook Spell Checker. One suggested correction is Caucasian. Some people use a spell checking tool but don’t pay much attention to the words they correct. It was still pretty funny.” – Jerry Ackels

“While the person may have been talking about Circassian Walnut, she may also have talking about Caucasian Wingnut. Pterocarya fraxinifolia (also known as Caucasian Walnut) is native to the Caucasus mountains. The wood has long been used in Europe for furniture, particularly in pianos and organs, mostly as veneer.” – Clyde Ulmer

Cutters, Collets, or Veal?

In a similar vein, this question arrived recently in my mailbox. Perhaps our readers can help figure out what the writer meant in this case as well.

“Is it normal for a 3 HP router to come with interchangeable cutlets?”

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