A study investigated the direction United States lumber industries are moving concerning the implementation of the metric system and what implications this has concerning wood consuming industrial education courses. The procedure included a literature review and investigating the major producers of softwood dimensional lumber by a detailed survey letter requesting both a past and future analysis of individual company's positions concerning the conversion to the metric system of measurement. The results showed that the United States lumber industries generally favor a soft conversion of the present inch lumber sizes to metric dimensions. The reasoning behind this trend of thinking to soft conversion is based on the following facts: Product waste considerations, strength of materials, consumer demand, and preservation of the current lumber dimensions standard adopted in 1970. Implications for industrial education teachers are discussed, and conversion tables for thickness, length, and width of softwood lumber are included. (Author/LAS)