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271376 Christian Gagneraud <chgans@g...> 2020‑07‑04 Re: Hand forged auger bit, how old?
On Sun, 5 Jul 2020, Cheeky Ed Minch said:
> is the metric system left-handed?  It's so sinister and gauche.

:)

I think back in that day, they were not metric. France had its own
inch (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_inch), which of course was
not the same as its English counterpart
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Units_of_measurement_in_France_before_th
e_French_Revolution">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Units_of_measurement_in_Franc
e_before_the_French_Revolution)

I don't know about other European countries, but i wouldn't be
surprised if everyone had their own measurement systems.

Regarding left/right, I was surprised like yourself. I'm actually not
sure if it was specific to continental Europe and i still can't find
this PDF i'm looking for.

Given i'm in New Zealand right now, it's more likely this bit came
from the UK or US, but if it's really that old, then more likely the
UK.

Let me take my vernier caliper ... (/me going to the shed with a torch
lamp, as there's no electricity there)
Tada! This bit is 0.5225 imperial inch at its widest, so looks like an
1/2". Or 13.27mm, which doesn't look close to a plausible common
metric size.

Chris

Recent Bios FAQ