One of the force multipliers of the OSE paradigm is being able to not only build things out of stock, but manufacture our own stock. That means we can make things whatever dimensions we want. 

Another force multiplier is that we're designing EVERYTHING to work together. There's little need to worry about stock flat coming with inconvenient dimensions, because we can just design the mini-mill to produce stock in dimensions that work with our system. But that follows on to everything else. People DON'T NEED to worry about calculating dimensions when they build a GVCS machine. The dimensions are already calculated. It doesn't matter what measurements we use to design the thing because all the parts will automatically work with that measurement system. All a builder has to do is just line up the holes. Whether the holes are an inch apart or a meter doesn't matter. 

For example: if we settle on some sort of regular grid spacing for fasteners, but we also assume a combination of flat and shaped stock material, the combination will be flexible. Take Grid Beam, but instead of bolting the beams right to each other, include a flat sheet between them. The sheet would normally be used to stiffen the connection (triangular brace) but, if a brace isn't needed, the flat would just be a small spacer. 

Now, continue that idea through to the whole machine. No one would ever be allowed to drill an off-dimension hole in a part. Everything that didn't fit the pre-existing hole spacing (maybe a motor from another manufacturer) would use an adapter plate. If the system, and by extension the machines, were designed with that in mind it wouldn't be cumbersome. 

With that in mind, I suggest OSE plan on using Metric dimensions wherever possible. 

Also, I suggest that (when it eventually happens) OSE make it a policy to mark the stock parts. For example, push a piece of flat stock through a metal roller that will stamp dimensions onto it. That way we don't need to pre-cut any holes because the end-user won't have any doubt about where the holes need to go. They won't care what dimensions we used because they won't have to do any measuring themselves; the part is already measured. The worst thing they'd have to do is count down the part until they counted off the right number of marks. A system like that would be dimension-agnostic. We could even make up our own dimensions and no one would care.

 I think that's an interesting idea but it seems to add extra steps and would require a significant amount of modification and extra skill to produce parts with dimensions already on them (and of course building the components that accurately can stamp those dimensions).

 Also, I think in the foreseeable future most GVCS implementations will be hacked together components from what people already have around them and simply use the GVCS blue prints as guidelines.

 I think people are more likely to be building the LifeTrac and other immediately useful tools using off the shelf components. I think wider adoption of the induction furnace and steel roller will come after the more pressing tools would have been adopted.

 It's kind of a chicken and egg problem but I think reality, finances and pragmatism will cause most people to put the induction furnace and steel roller towards the bottom of their todo list, some may not even bother putting it on their list.

 - lex

For example, if you have some stock from one foundry and some stock from another foundry and while they each produce consistent marks, they could be off between each other. A story stick doesn't care.

If I purchased some stock and it had marks in it, I simply wouldn't trust it and end up measuring everything myself. Am I the only one?