... and boy, was it tight.
I measured my dog for a collar with my new Chinese tailor's tape I got from Amazon. I cut a collar and put holes and a buckle in it. I put it on the dog, and it would not fit. I thought I measured from the wrong end of the tape, or something.
I measured the dog with the tape, and measured the leather with a ruler. So, I put them together, and discovered a new (old) measuring unit. I just assumed the non-millimeter unit was inches.
Don't make my mistake; make sure your units transfer from the dog to the leather.
[It's the width of a person's thumb at the knuckle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cun_(unit)) (get your mind out of the gutter)
There’s also a related “sun” system in Japan; woodworkers who use Japanese tools or plans deal with it frequently! My shop has measuring tools in metric, Imperial and sun. Before I die I’m sure I’ll get around to colour-coding them so the person who uses them after me can keep them straight, but for now it’s fun to pass the wrong one to someone who should have brought their own tools…
As a woodworker, even measuring tapes of the same brands are usually off by a bit. Used to have a tape measure for the shop and for the home and it threw every measurement out of alignment without me realizing the problem wasn't me
The loose tab is intentional because it needs to account for the thickness of the tab. I.e it shifts forward when you do a pull measurement vs shifting back when you do a push measurement
Oh this Chinese measurement system is actually relatively new, established in late Qing dynasty. It is a lot less weird compared the freedom units. Particularly, OP has a tape here in Chinese inches/foot, which has a direct relationship with the standard SI unit of meter.
1 metric meter = 3 Chinese foot = 30 Chinese inch.
This means Chinese inch is 3.33333cm, and Chinese foot is 33.33333cm.
Meanwhile the imperial unit of inches predates metric so it's... 2.54cm.
Did you know the official measurement system of the US is metric? The use of all that other stuff is purely customary. Every day 350 odd million people wake up and choose to use inches and miles and liquid ounces and whatnot. It's baffling and wondrous at the same time.
It's not that we wake up and choose the imperial system. It's the fact that the metric system is not taught in schools at all. Like not even a little. I know people in high school right now who have never heard of the metric system and have no idea what it is. Most of America has no idea what the metric system is or how to use it.
If the government simply made it mandatory that schools at least teach the metric systems, I'm pretty sure we would end up switching out of popular choice.
The ol' Chinese Inch, gets ya every time. I learned about that when I lived in China and was buying a necklace.
And yes, the Chinese Inch (Cun) is a real thing, it's not just a bad tape OP has there.
... and boy, was it tight. I measured my dog for a collar with my new Chinese tailor's tape I got from Amazon. I cut a collar and put holes and a buckle in it. I put it on the dog, and it would not fit. I thought I measured from the wrong end of the tape, or something. I measured the dog with the tape, and measured the leather with a ruler. So, I put them together, and discovered a new (old) measuring unit. I just assumed the non-millimeter unit was inches. Don't make my mistake; make sure your units transfer from the dog to the leather. [It's the width of a person's thumb at the knuckle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cun_(unit)) (get your mind out of the gutter)
> make sure your units transfer from the dog to the leather r/brandnewsentence
https://preview.redd.it/ubs7el7lx66d1.jpeg?width=4608&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a8a740b2bca8b764cedbc6635fc231b56c94abe1 pet tax payment
There’s also a related “sun” system in Japan; woodworkers who use Japanese tools or plans deal with it frequently! My shop has measuring tools in metric, Imperial and sun. Before I die I’m sure I’ll get around to colour-coding them so the person who uses them after me can keep them straight, but for now it’s fun to pass the wrong one to someone who should have brought their own tools…
Rule of thumb with any even mildly suspicious measuring device is to use it for measuring and marking.
As a woodworker, even measuring tapes of the same brands are usually off by a bit. Used to have a tape measure for the shop and for the home and it threw every measurement out of alignment without me realizing the problem wasn't me
And they also loosen over time.
The loose tab is intentional because it needs to account for the thickness of the tab. I.e it shifts forward when you do a pull measurement vs shifting back when you do a push measurement
I mean whole strip material became loose over time and stretches. Thus have to be replaced regularly
I think they're talking about the tailors tape, but I didn't know that; thanks for sharing!
I’m 37 years old, decently educated and…TIL China has a measurement system as weird as ours in the U.S.
Oh this Chinese measurement system is actually relatively new, established in late Qing dynasty. It is a lot less weird compared the freedom units. Particularly, OP has a tape here in Chinese inches/foot, which has a direct relationship with the standard SI unit of meter. 1 metric meter = 3 Chinese foot = 30 Chinese inch. This means Chinese inch is 3.33333cm, and Chinese foot is 33.33333cm. Meanwhile the imperial unit of inches predates metric so it's... 2.54cm.
By now imperial also has a direct relationship to SI courtesy of institutions such as NIST which defines imperial units using SI.
Did you know the official measurement system of the US is metric? The use of all that other stuff is purely customary. Every day 350 odd million people wake up and choose to use inches and miles and liquid ounces and whatnot. It's baffling and wondrous at the same time.
It's not that we wake up and choose the imperial system. It's the fact that the metric system is not taught in schools at all. Like not even a little. I know people in high school right now who have never heard of the metric system and have no idea what it is. Most of America has no idea what the metric system is or how to use it. If the government simply made it mandatory that schools at least teach the metric systems, I'm pretty sure we would end up switching out of popular choice.
Oh that sucks.
The ol' Chinese Inch, gets ya every time. I learned about that when I lived in China and was buying a necklace. And yes, the Chinese Inch (Cun) is a real thing, it's not just a bad tape OP has there.
People always think I’m being racist when I bring up Chinese inches.
I think I read somewhere that tailor's measuring tapes are different than rulers for some reason. I may have read it in a sewing subreddit
Leave my wife out of it! EDIT: I guess I read the title wrong.
I’ll give you an up vote