Hi Art,

What is this my turn stuff?
Your the commander of the board, I am just a wingman. Sometimes its more wing than the man,(:-)

I will take a crack at it though.

The idea of the threads began with the Dutch!

Actually, its the idea of the Helix!
They invented it in order to build pumps to drain their land along with their "for sure original idea" of the windmills!

Today the idea of the Helix has literally "screwed" itself to many other facets of our daily lives it got lost!
Their pump is more what we call today and auger! Distort that into variations of pumps for pellets in wood stoves to pushing concrete up to skyscrapers! Well maybe not that high! (:-) or at least not in one push!

Threads were first made in wood like shoes! This was not in anyway a step in fashion towards product standardization. There are some ugly feet out there in this world! (:-0)

A rounded thread form was abandon as other materials had evolved so defining the thread form became evident as a necessity.

Metric was the first way of determining "a length" of which we trace back to Egyptians and Romans.


From there, This is where everyone's "brothers uncle" got into the game!

The actual thread form is more likely the invention of the British craftsmen. With that endeavor they established some standardization.
It took Eli Whitney to foster interchangeable for this country due to a government weapons contract and cotton gins driven by steam engines. I believe I have read that they made him the "Father of interchangeability."
IMO that term means working with "tolerances." Parts inspection instead of custom hand fitting came in to play!
I joked in my classes that he probably was a "tolerate" man and was known to "scrap" things he made too! Sometimes you got to say things to keep your class awake! (:-)

Just like in the church its the music that makes it worth going to but it turns gospel.
I probably got students repeating that as factual! Whoops! (:-)



England looked at the Metric system and decided "we" should be different than the rest of Europe, so our stuff, fits only what we make! That was their thinking, to have "You" to keep buying parts from them!
USA followed their lead too! Plumbing has got to be in the number one place of the business and trades!


Here is where the "inch" raised it ugly little head!

This idea runs rampant for that main purpose of monetary reasons and of course the other idea.
Its called WARS and WEAPONRY! You don't want to be shot by your own bullets!

I know of two threading systems being used along the "V" sharp form idea irregardless of helix pitch inch or metric systems!


The British uses a 55 degree angle form with radiuses at the root and crest of their form. The Inch pitch measurement was also all theirs. Just o be separate from Europe, I think?

Who was first true I do not know for sure.

But, I think metrics was more a Southern Thing (south of England anyway) at the time!

There was always the threat of the Roman Empire let alone those other large hat Czar's floating about!
Similar to the 1800's in this country. We had and still have some of the North versus the South mind set!

The English isles were small and not trusting of many people. Especially of the possessions of Kings and rightfully so!
The Germans and the French are always up to something. Even today but on a lesser, in your face, scale, or its hidden with the globalization of economics thus, intertwined with Asia. Europe as a whole, now the EU, needs her allies!

Good ole' USA got into the same mind set too! Breaking away and not being a colony any longer!

We stole their inch system but changed the thread form to 60 degrees with flats in the root and on the crests!
That is why the British Standard Whitworth thread will engage ours but turns and strips its way together.

This was a real hassle here in the USA. All throughout the sixties to seventies with British imports!

With the rest of the world went on going metric, Britain and USA has paid a price of the lower exports of today or its make metric parts! I did both!

We still use "both" but its being chipped away, along with our fractional system, thank goodness!

With computers being digital and base ten numerics used, our fractional system is doomed, except in verbiage or in ones minds! Easier to say half a liter or cup please, than point five!

Remember the big push to go metric on the highways! What a big political boon dongle that was!

Anyway, here we are with cars made from all over the world and we think we buy American to save jobs!

To tie this, who makes what story up:
Anybody noticed the past 120 oz. marked gallons (a gallon was128) Well is now its going to .9! That's 12 oz. less now for you non-mathematical types. First its been my ice cream, now look out!

Inflation? What, I don't see inflated! Those cans aren't looking any bigger too me! (:-)
Testor's paint bottles will be marketed on the shelves with the quarts here soon!
Hello, what's imperial mean to Canada Art?
Bigger or smaller?
English or is it metric liters.
It all spells a scam to me!

Ok? Your turn Art! As Jim Reeves would say, "What you say there, good ole buddy, ole pal!"

(:-) I was and still am a '90's Perot man!
I heard that giant sucking for a many more years later now! Swish!
Good thing I changed careers back in the eighties.
I still have my skills with a nice retirement by me watching over the horizons in front and behind me when possible!
History is a good behavioral measuring stick when looking at the human animal species!

Thanks again Art, I bet nobody but you read this!
Phil