1st Shapeways parts too big?

[PJPickard]

So I got my parts today and they are too big!
By like 2.54 times...I checked the "inch" box when uploading.
SO why did they get made at what seems to be the metric to inch conversion factor?

Anyone have this problem?  My model had no scale factor and measured correctly when I uploaded it.

Paul

[Scottl]

Now don't you wish you had converted to metric? 

[PJPickard]

No not really, I just want to know what happened and how to avoid it.
Metric has its advantages, but I do most all of my work in inches.  I'm a machinist and just think in "thous"

Paul

[Dave Schneider]

I suspect that only Shapeways will have the answer to this question. Have you tried asking them directly? 
They will probably reprint it if there was a glitch somewhere.

Best wishes, Dave

[Ed Kapuscinski]

[ljudice]

My advice is to do all your measurements in metric and you will save yourself any surprises...

[up1950s]

Did you use the phrase " actual inches " under each measurement ?

[Dave V]

[bbussey]

No not really, I just want to know what happened and how to avoid it.
Metric has its advantages, but I do most all of my work in inches.  I'm a machinist and just think in "thous"

Metric has every advantage, not just some.  You should output your STLs in millimeters when using contractors that aren't in the States.  We are one of three countries still fully on the Imperial system, and the other two are not in Europe or the Americas or eastern Asia.

I output all of my STLs in millimeters regardless of where the contractor is located that I'm sending it to.

[Burlington Bob]

By bbusey;

Metric has every advantage, not just some.

 I agree 100%.  I spent ten and a half  years as a machinist and I prefer the simplicity and accuracy of the metric system.  If you have an opportunity to use it, you will love it in short order.

[jdcolombo]

By bbusey;

 I agree 100%.  I spent ten and a half  years as a machinist and I prefer the simplicity and accuracy of the metric system.  If you have an opportunity to use it, you will love it in short order.

When I started working on sound installations in my N scale steam locos, I started working exclusively in mm; it was just a whole lot easier, particularly since decoder dimensions are often given in mm and decimal inches.  Decimal inches are inscrutable: I sort of know that .125 inches is 1/8, but when a decoder dimension is .172 or something like that, it's really a lot easier to think 5mm (or whatever).   Rulers usually have mm, but almost never decimal inches.  Now I've gotten to the point where my brain automatically "eyeballs" small dimensions in mm.  I was doing an install for a friend in an HO diesel locomotive (wow - the empty space!), and after lifting the shell, I said something like "yeah, there's at least 10mm in height for a speaker enclosure."   My friend looked at me a little strangely, but . . . 

John C.

[Scottl]

Metric, a brave new world 

[DKS]

I straddle both measurement systems, mostly because supply materials such as styrene are still manufactured/specified in inches. Fortunately most digital calipers have a handy little button that switches between in/mm.

[Dave Schneider]

Metric, a brave new world 

Makes me glad that I am a scientist and not an engineer (in the US).

Best wishes, Dave

[Scottl]

OT When I started work in Alaska, it was surprising how much official data is still imperial units.  USGS still puts out hydrological data in CFS and NOAA temperatures in F...  

I still remember the Air Canada flight that ran out of fuel in the early days of metric-  an infamous and thankfully safe landing.  Here is the link to the National Geographic film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRBVFcwxb7A