[Elecraft] K3 Broken AF knob and bad service to get a replacement.

[Don Wilhelm]

Metric hardware in the US is slooowly becoming available, but it will 
take at least another two generations IMHO.
The automotive industry is now almost fully converted to metric parts, 
but small machine screws are lagging way behind.
In the meantime, we here in the US have to keep two sets of tools, and 
yes for international trade, must send along a tool for things like knob 
setscrews.
There have been several efforts to switch to metric over my lifetime, 
but the machine tool industry has always resisted because  re-tooling is 
expensive.
I believe our math education system is partly to blame too.  Children 
are taught fractions earlier than decimals, and by the time they get to 
decimal math the inch/foot/yard units of measure have already been used 
extensively as a tool for teaching fractions, so thinking gets stuck in 
fractional units and there is no mental concept of meters/cm/mm.  I am 
watching my grandchildren struggle with the concept of measurements in 
an easy decimal based system, but they know fractional measurement.

But I digress...

73,
Don W3FPR

AD6XY wrote:
> The problem with the wrench - or hex key is a real one. It also applies to
> all the nuts and bolts used in the K3. For unknown reasons of patriotism the
> USA is non-metric so these are all in imperial sizes. Getting these outside
> of the USA is getting harder and harder. 
>   
>