I do the Imperial version of that all day long Larry. I've been a Carpenter
and Cabinetmaker for almost twenty years now, and that sort of calculation
ie equal spacing for 3, 4, 5 or x design elements is where feet and inches
worka best.

You can use just the feet for a rough approximation, you can use  the inches
to get closer and you can use the fractions or the decimals that they
represent to make a perfect spacing. It is the flexibility of the system
that makes it so good to use, and any (I mean ANY!) knuckle-dragging helper
will be able to use it in short order.

I know Larry isn't a carpenter by the brand new apron in his van when
volunteering in Louisiana!

Hands up how many carpenters on the list?  How many prefer metric?
I don't mean to be provocative, I'm just asking.    :-)

On 2/1/06, Larry Alofs <lalofs@rcn.com> wrote:
>
> John Bange wrote:
>
> >The other thing about most people's mundane lives is that we don't
> generally
> >deal with  things that vary by orders of magnitude. Physics calculations,
> >sure. Dividing 16 feet into three equal bits, not so much. It's much
> quicker
> >to get to 5'4" from 16' than it is to get to 166cm from 5m. It's just the
> >way the systems are constructed. Decimal systems like metric are
> optimized
> >for science and engineering, but feet and inches are optimized for
> figuring
> >out if two chairs and a sofa will fit against the wall.
> >
> >--
> >John Bange
> >'90 Vanagon - "Geldsauger"
> >
> >
> >
> Even tho you seem to have chosen an example that happens to come out to
> a whole number of inches, it is still a more complex process than simply
> dividing 500 by 3.
>   How about doubling:  2' 9 5/8"  vs. doubling 85.4 cm ?
> Or find the area of squares with edges of those sizes?
> The metric version is very easily done with a calculator.
>
> Larry A.
>

--
Jake
1984 Vanagon GL
1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
www.crescentbeachguitar.com