The lost art of meaurement wording.

[Flyinspanner]

'Kin tight?.... need no explanation. (Very very very)

Fart tight..... one has to exert such force, that one passes wind to generate the correct torque.

 

[tommytucker]

I've enjoyed reading this thread and I completely understand such precision measurements as a smidgen and a Knat's **** etc but my experiences whilst serving in the army are a bit wide of the accurate measurements quoted here and here's why. We'd sometimes have to dig holes in the ground in which to hide from the enemy, having dug said hole I asked the sargent if it was big enough? To which he replied "We're not making watches here son" it could do with being a bit bigger. FFS

 

[Druk]

And the standard units of volume are multiples of "Olympic-sized swimming pools".

Yup. Water leaking from underground pipes on Thames Water’s patch is described this morning by the cliche ridden Beeb as totalling “12 Olympic-sized swimming pools”.


Sigh.
.

 

[brucemillar]

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....

My old Company (that I worked for, not owned) were big sponsors of the Mclaren F1 team. Luckily for me this would include several trips a year to visit the F1 team, who's drivers at this particular time were Davd Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen. The sheer volume of microscopic engineering measurements that went into these cars was mind blowing and would hold us all spellbound for hours. This until one trip when somebody asked David Coulthard how he was able to drink. In the middle of of all this technology emerged, a windscreen washer motor some wires and large bottle of Robinsons Barley Water, with a length of clear plastic, fish tank tubing, all connected to an On/Off button on his steering wheel. What could possibly go wrong? Well the button jammed at Spa and DC almost drowned in his own Barley Water (he was actually sick) as he was force fed drinks until they ran out.

I always loved that, simply because it showed that despite all the engineering skill and genius on show? We still had a bloke with some wires and plastic bottle.

 

[Petrol Pete]

My old Company (that I worked for, not owned) were big sponsors of the Mclaren F1 team. Luckily for me this would include several trips a year to visit the F1 team, who's drivers at this particular time were Davd Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen. The sheer volume of microscopic engineering measurements that went into these cars was mind blowing and would hold us all spellbound for hours. This until one trip when somebody asked David Coulthard how he was able to drink. In the middle of of all this technology emerged, a windscreen washer motor some wires and large bottle of Robinsons Barley Water, with a length of clear plastic, fish tank tubing, all connected to an On/Off button on his steering wheel. What could possibly go wrong? Well the button jammed at Spa and DC almost drowned in his own Barley Water (he was actually sick) as he was force fed drinks until they ran out.

I always loved that, simply because it showed that despite all the engineering skill and genius on show? We still had a bloke with some wires and plastic bottle.

BARLEY WATER !!? what a lightweight ! Call your self a Scot Coulthard ? Should have been Irn Bru..."Its made from Girders"

 

[WDB124066]

This guy on the Packard 12 is interesting.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[grober]

White metal bearings,convection cooling? [ no waterpump] , side valves reminds me how much engine technology has moved on.
Thanks for posting.

 

[Stratman]

The Register Standards Converter

 

[gaz_l]

The Register Standards Converter

I like that the unit of force is the "Norris". LOL.

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[WDB124066]

I wonder what units of measurement these guys use in their search for perfection, somehow this is far more convincing from an engineering perspective than the equivalent AMG propaganda.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

I also wonder if F1 did a job on Toyota to stop them ruling supreme like Nissan did in Australia. I just don't buy the fact that Toyota ran in F1 for 10 years without a single win, that is nonsense - pretty sure it wasn't due to Toyota's shortcomings either!

 

[Ted]

I think a loat of these so called 'measurements' need to be taken with a pinch of salt.

 

[WDB124066]

Do you mean 10-4 N of sodium chloride Ted...?.

 

[PXW]

Back in my trumpet playing days, when tuning up - lots of calls of "bit flat", "bit sharp", "take it out a smidge" (referring to the slides you move for tuning purposes), "up a touch" etc etc - the discussion usually closed out by someone announcing it was "near enough for jazz"

 

[grober]

I wonder what units of measurement these guys use in their search for perfection, somehow this is far more convincing from an engineering perspective than the equivalent AMG propaganda.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

I also wonder if F1 did a job on Toyota to stop them ruling supreme like Nissan did in Australia. I just don't buy the fact that Toyota ran in F1 for 10 years without a single win, that is nonsense - pretty sure it wasn't due to Toyota's shortcomings either!

For those curious enough to want experience driving a Yamaha V8 you need to buy a V8 engined Volvo S80 or XC90 of a certain vintage.
Volvo B8444S engine - Wikipedia
A highly tweaked and bored out version of this engine was used in the Australian supercar series 2014-2016 Here it is in action.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[WDB124066]

So that's where that came from grober! A kiwi bloke used to drive that quite well from memory, reminds me of the BTC with the Volvo Station Wagon!

 

[w124nut]

The most interesting thread on this Forum. Some posts had me in stitches. Going to have my tea now, be back in a jiffy hopefully to read some more postings .

 

[grober]

450,000,000 samolians = 1 Leonardo Da Vinci