When starting a project of any kind, one of the questions that pops up is whether you should use metric or imperial fasteners. While it is essentially just a matter of preference, there are some consequences to your decision. It all boils down to the way in which the dimensions are measured – using the metric or imperial system. Read on to find out the differenve betweeing using metric and imperial fasteners.
Metric spans globally
If you’re going to be working on a larger-scale project, it’s important to keep one thing in mind. Collaboration and communication will be much easier as you will have a single unit of measurement. Furthermore, you won’t have any complications with conversions. Having this in mind, metric fasteners are the better option if you’re going to be working internationally.
Imperial is not that universal
You may not be aware of it, but an inch is not the same everywhere. For example, one inch in the United States will differ from one inch in Australia. If you want to use a set of tools across different countries, this can turn out to be a problem. Metric, on the other hand, stays the same wherever you go. One centimeter is the same worldwide.
Metric and Imperial Fasteners – Subdivision can be a hassle
If you are familiar with metric measurements at all, you know how they function. For example, one centimeter consists of ten millimeters. One meter consists of 100 centimeters, and so on. Not only is this logical, it also makes subdividing units really easy. On the other hand, inches are not so easy. This is especially true if you’re working with someone who’s not used to imperial measurements. For example, it may seem intuitive to you that half of a 16/32 bolt is 16/64, but this is not true for someone who hasn’t been using imperial for most of their life.
In the end, imperial fasteners are a good choice if you’re located in the USA and working with people from the USA. However, if your project spans globally, metric fasteners are the better and more logical choice. If you’re looking for fasteners of any type, contact us at MM Distribution. We have quality metric and imperial fasteners for the heavy truck and trailer industry and we supply them across the USA and Mexico.
