The lost art of meaurement wording.

[Petrol Pete]

"Murder tight" is one I have heard quite a lot..." The last bas7ard who did this up did it murder tight.." Implying that if the last bas7tard is ever found he would be murdered.

On one machine system I work on we have a bolt called the 'Jesus' bolt, when asked why my answer is "if you ever leave this bolt loose and start this machine up the first word that you utter when you see the damage caused by your negligence will be..JESUS !"

I believe the nut that holds a helicopters rotor on is called the F**K ME bolt for similar reasons ! .

 

[D-18]

Is it true the first Merlins were built from drawings with no tolerances as we know them today, and that was left to the builders to decide...?

I don't know if this is urban myth or not. I think early engines were hand-built and during assembly the 'best-fit' components were selected. I believe that when the Americans (GM's Packard division) started building Merlins, they produced their own drawings and with their high quality machine tools, they were able to make all parts to very close tolerances and eliminate the requirement for 'best-fit' assembly.

 

[grober]

Interesting American thread on this very subject.
Rolls Royce Merlin engines built at Packard, 1941

 

[D-18]

Good find Graeme - interesting read!

 

[brucemillar]

Graeme

Once again you come up trumps (no pun intended). What a great and interesting article. Thank you.

 

[st13phil]

My work is in the field of high speed, high precision special purpose machinery. Precision hand fitting of components is still commonplace.


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[Flyinspanner]

...and people find it hard to pass me the correct thingumybob when I wave my hand in the general direction.

That goes the same for the doodah, and the whatsit.....

 

[Trickythemerc]

I can recall trying to explain to a particularly stupid apprentice what feeler gauges where for and how to use them. When asked how many thou did he think would be in an inch, he replied with a blank expression on his face "F*ck me there must be hundreds of them"

 

[BTB 500]

Good find Graeme - interesting read!

Were RR Merlins really based on metric rather than imperial dimensions though ??

 

[grober]

Were RR Merlins really based on metric rather than imperial dimensions though ??

Highly unlikely I would have thought.

The American Air Force guy in the second picture I posted was the legendary aviator Jimmy Doolittle who led the B-52 Mitchell Bomber Doolittle Raid on Tokyo shortly after Pearl Harbour

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[brucemillar]

Fr anybody who jas not heard of the 'Doolittle Raid' Please look it up and read about it. Remind yourself it happened and was not in a comic book.

 

[neilrr]

The smallest unit of measurement practically possible:

Urban Dictionary: rch

 

[ss201]

In the music biz, "turn the vocals up a notch" would suffice for most experienced sound engineers to get the idea. Not something you'd ever say to a guitar player, though!

 

[grober]

In the music biz, "turn the vocals up a notch" would suffice for most experienced sound engineers to get the idea. Not something you'd ever say to a guitar player, though!

REMINDS ME OF--------

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[Stratman]

Eleven? Pffft! Mine goes to twelve

 

[Benzowner]

When torquing up bolts, the old imperial measurement was foot pounds, well, one foot pound was called a poundal, so, are there 2440 poundals in a tunnel, never did get the answer at college

 

[Yugguy]

There's the Jesus clips as well, as that's what you say when it pings into the bowels of the engine bay

 

[st13phil]

Not something you'd ever say to a guitar player, though!

Brings to mind an interview with a certain Mr Gilmour in which he said words to the effect that others in the band would often ask him to lower his level, but that he never did because he "liked to be able to lean back into the sound"

 

[Mactech]

What cracking thread! Thanks guys!
Having a Scottish father, being a sound engineer in my younger days and then spending the last 40 years in motorsport I can honestly say I understand all the terms mentioned.
With the advent of metrication in motorsport I have also become bi-lingual and can estimate a 'smidge' in either 'thou' or mm.
Estimation is a vital skill in prototyping and to be able to convey a sense of proportion and measurement vocally is vital.
It really is a language worth keeping.

I'll bet somewhere you can take university course in it....

 

[WDB124066]

Everybody should watch this for the organisational qualities alone let alone the engineering side of things....

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