One imposter remains

@hillexed

he/him

i try to make the world more interesting

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@hillexed5/13/2023, 5:21 AM

@hillexed

@hillexed5/10/2023, 6:39 PM

I'M MAD AT AMERICAN PIPES

I have a 1/2" diameter hole. I want to put a pipe inside the hole. What size PVC pipe fits into a 1/2" hole?

Did you guess 1/2" pipe? WRONG. "1/2 inch pipe" isn't half an inch big on the outside. It's closer to 7/8". You might think "ah so the 1/2" refers to the inner diameter". Wrong. The inner diameter of 1/2" PVC pipe is legally required to be 0.602 inches, according to the Schedule 40 standard. Want a pipe with outer diameter 1/2"? The closest size of PVC pipe is of course 1/4" PVC pipe. But even that won't quite work, because, 1/4" pipe has outer diameter 0.54", which is more than 0.5" and way more than the 0.25" in the name of the pipe. PIPE SIZES ARE ALL LIES

Guess how I found out? I'm building a telescope, and as part of that I'm building a mount. I bought a cheap collection of 3 pipes off the internet, but I needed a fourth, so I went to the hardware store to buy some pipe. Guess who learned a $6.99 lesson in nonsensical standards...

#The Cohost Global Feed #longpost #hillescopebuilding

@hillexed5/12/2023, 8:12 PM

Update I'm going back armed with a tape measure

@hillexed5/12/2023, 11:16 PM

Check out this tube, which claims to be 3/4" but is actually a LIAR. At least the dowels are the sizes they say they are.

Friendship ended with pipes, now dowels are my best friend

#The Cohost Global Feed #css crimes

@hillexed5/13/2023, 5:21 AM

One imposter remains

this entire journey started because I could only find 3-packs of aluminum pipes and needed a fourth. What a story this frame has

#astronomy

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in reply to @hillexed's post:

Chamomile🐑@chamomile5/10/2023, 8:07 PM

Wow, this is way more infuriating than 2x4's actually being 1.5x3.5 inches.

cassie @porglezomp5/13/2023, 2:02 AM

You inspired me to go post about this. Your comment made me think "oh well i know why 2x4s are like that at least that makes sense" and then I realized that there was probably a reason for this one too, so I went and figured that out: https://cohost.org/porglezomp/post/1490293-my-pipe-standard-inv

Chamomile🐑@chamomile5/13/2023, 2:21 AM

Hey, thanks for letting me know! Cool post.

@hillexed5/13/2023, 5:16 AM

I'm so mad the nominal names were originally named after the inner diameter but now refer to a fixed outer diameter. Every single paragraph in this post made me go AAAAARGH, especially the last one. Thank you and curse you for your research.