TangoBlue
American Adventurist
The American measurement system derived from the English? The same lot that sentenced their ne'er-do-wells to a colony in the Southern Hemisphere "downunda?"
The CrowsWing - Offroad Teardrop Trailer
- Thread starter jim65wagon
- Start date
The American measurement system derived from the English? The same lot that sentenced their ne'er-do-wells to a colony in the Southern Hemisphere "downunda?"
JMann2380
New member
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Thanks!
Heifer Boy
Adventurer
The US gov started the conversion to metric in the early 70's but it didn't stick for some reason. The UK went metric years ago as did all of the Commonwealth countries so the US is about the only holdout left in the world who hasn't changed over. Your military has though...
We still have a lot of imperial stuff down here expecially in the building trades. Most bolts are still 1/4" or 3/16" or 2 1/2" long etc but we have metric bolts too like 8mm and 10mm etc. Same for screws but I think nearly all nails are metric from what I see. I don't work in the trades so this is just hardware store observations. I'm old enough I still think of myself as 5'11" tall but I weight 80kgs, I drive a 3.0litre truck but still talk 0-60mph times. And a 2"x4" is always a 2"x4" and ply comes in a 8'x4' panel even though they don't measure that size anymore. Stupid world...
And I'm actually a New Zealander so all my ancestors went there by choice. Be careful who you call a convict!!! LOL!!!
eepwall:
HumphreyBear
Adventurer
That Blue Fellow said:
Heifer Boy said:
1793, baby. One of my ne'er-do-well antecedents was sentenced and transported to a life of sunshine and warmth for stealing a firkin of butter. He escaped custody and made his way to New Zealand, but after a few months surrendered himself back to the NSW authorities in a passing ship and asked to please be taken back back to Sydney as he couldn't endure another minute there. He set a trend, that continues to this day, of people stuck in New Zealand desperately seeking a better life and social security cheque in Australia.
Now, may we return to Jim's trailer?
Humphrey
jim65wagon
Well-known member
It didn't stick because we hate change, and now we're stuck with both systems! I'm old enough too, but I still weigh in pounds (230 FYI), and I long for the days when engines were in cubic inches.....to my ears it sounds better as a 350 than a 5.7! Hmmm, I wonder if I can find a 285 V8 emblem for the truck?The US gov started the conversion to metric in the early 70's but it didn't stick for some reason. I'm old enough I still think of myself as 5'11" tall but I weight 80kgs, I drive a 3.0litre truck but still talk 0-60mph times. And a 2"x4" is always a 2"x4" and ply comes in a 8'x4' panel even though they don't measure that size anymore. Stupid world...
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Are your 2x4s really 1-1/2 x 3-1/2 inches like ours? And our plywood is still 4 x 8 sheets, but the thickness is 23/64 and 11/32 inches instead of 3/4 and 1/2 inches......we traded standard inch measurements for different inch measurements!
OK, I read a lot, and remember a lot of unusual (to me) words, but I had to look up firkin in the dictionary!HumpreyBear said:
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trailer soon! fun conversation amongst old men first!
Heifer Boy
Adventurer
To tell the truth my all of my family are born in Ireland and I'm the only true Kiwi of the bunch so not a lot of NZ ancestory from me. I came over to Oz in the mid-80's chasing the dollar and got stuck here (on and off) for 27 years. But I still support the All Blacks in the important stuff!!! NZ may be doing it tougher than Oz at the moment but it's still a great place to live. I was back there to live about 10 years back and had forgotten how nice it is.
Our 2x4's are 90x45mm instead of 100x50mm but ply is 2400x1220mm which is 8x4. Thicknesses are like 18mm and 12mm which I think is the same as your 23/64 and 11/32. Who knows with those kinds of fractions?!?!
It all makes a difference when you are trying to design a trailer and then find that the 'name' of a piece of wood isn't actually it's real size. Luckily I'm not that accurate anyway...
HumphreyBear
Adventurer
I thought the anecdote served twin purposes: it furthered the conversation of obscure English weights and measurements, and it set up a joke about New Zealand, which is always fun! :victory:jim65wagon said:
Dad showed me the copies of the sentencing records a few years ago and I had to look it up, and I'm well versed in obscure words as well. Imagine my dismay when I discovered many-times-great grandfather was a thief who stole 55lbs/25kg of butter. Imagine how many sandwiches he must have eaten to use that all up! No wonder weight issues have echoed down the generations - he must have passed on incredibly clogged arteries...
1 firkin = a wooden bucket of 40l of liquid (ale) or 25kg of solids (butter)
2 firkins = a kilderken
4 firkins = a barrel
6 firkins = a hogshead
If storing wine then a firkin was classed as 1/3rd of a tun.
Can someone explain to me why on earth anyone ever thought following the English system was a good idea?
Heifer Boy
Adventurer
After all that I think I'd better sit down with a firkin of ale and rest my head a bit :friday:
tassie tiger
New member
Well we're doing okay now. 'Ne'er-do-wells' ...... cheeky bugger!
old_man
Adventurer
I've enjoyed watching the craftsmanship. I'm building a severe offroad teardrop. I'm doing it a bit different with a steel upper framework. I noticed in an early pix, a door you plan to use. Did you get it from the guy on ebay or did you find the actual manufacturer. I plan on building about a dozen trailers in my "spare" time and don't really like paying retail. .
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jim65wagon
Well-known member
I've enjoyed watching the craftsmanship. I'm building a severe offroad teardrop. I'm doing it a bit different with a steel upper framework. I noticed in an early pix, a door you plan to use. Did you get it from the guy on ebay or did you find the actual manufacturer. I plan on building about a dozen trailers in my "spare" time and don't really like paying retail.
We got the doors from Ebay. The seller is Vintek1958 which is the ebay store for Frank Bear Vintage Technologies, supplier of tons of teardrop parts, and of answers to just about any teardrop question you can think of.......
Haggis
Appalachian Ridgerunner
While waiting for further updates, getting bored with the merits of Metric or English measurements and realizing that updates might be awhile as James and Elizabeth are in a hyper trailer building mode trying to get the Crowswing in a "campable" state for a trip next week (?), I was checking out Elizabeth's build thread over on the T&TTT site. It is interesting to see the different perspective and writing style that Beth has and the different response that those folks have that over there. It's an entertaining thread for sure and Elizabeth has a way cooler avatar than Jim's. Though if I were you James, I'd be keepin' an eye on that guy Captain Monkeyshines guy on the T&TTT board. I think he's a bit smitten with your wife. :littlefriend:
jim65wagon
Well-known member
Hyper building mode, indeed. We spent the last bit of time in a frantic go-to-work-all-day, come home, work-on-the-trailer-til-10PM-eat supper-sleep-repeat cycle. My last real update was on the 5th and we've been running ever since.....I have snuck in a few hopefully witty replies to the metrical vs american english weights and measures portion of the show.
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We did manage campabilty, but I won't let you see that yet. Suffice it to say, the trailer is mostly waterproof, it tows well, and it survived the 1300 mile shakedown (to Indiana and back) with only minor issues......and we have no pictures to prove it. Whitney K over on the T&TTT board managed one cell phone pic of it, and we're trying to get him to post it for us, hopefully he will......otherwise no one will believe us!
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.....of course Elizabeth has a cooler avatar......she rocks!
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as for the Captain....I have no worries of some phony internet psycho who uses some lame stuffed sock monkey for an avatar......he probably lives in his parents basement and plays Everquest Online when he's not dreaming of building a teardrop with a beautiful blonde!
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The build had to get the outside of the hatch skinned with flashing, and diamond plate
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then skinned with some mill finished aluminum, and the insert trim molding riveted on
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The hatch got flipped and the inside sheathed
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Vinyl trim was installed on each side of the channel of the hatch wall......this was originally supposed to be aluminum trim, but we ran across some measurement issues with the wall thickness and channel gap. The vinyl solved that issue
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We bought this winged D molding to fill the gap in the wall and seal to the hatch
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Pressed in and filling the void
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The Z channel for the basement doors was sealed with black goo (3M 4200) and screwed to the opening to form a door frame
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The doorstep installed in the kitchen
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The hatch got re-re-installed
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and some 120lb gas struts installed. Our measurements turned out to be not so accurate, and these didn't hold up the door......we're currently refiguring and modifying the struts and mounting locations......
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Beth worked on the countertop, making some nice oak rails with a layer of plywood and hardibacker board
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Hardibacker board? Isn't that for tile? Why, yes. Yes it is for tile. Specifically, some Verde Butterfly Granite tile
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.....sorry, you'll have to wait for complete pictures of one of the few granite tiled kitchens in a teardrop, we haven't taken thise yet. Will it be durable? I do not know, but it survived some really rough (I was worried for the truck and trailer both!) portions of I64 in Kentucky, and some rough backroads in Indiana, so it should be.....
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The cat has been spending her time watching bird feeder videos on youtube....
Mark Harley
Expedition Leader
Great build! You should be proud.