MACHINING TOLERENCES

A GUIDE TO GENERAL
MACHINING TOLERANCES & GD&T

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GD&T (Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing) is an international, concise and precise

symbolic language developed for the express purpose of documenting Design Intent, to detail
the functional requirements of a manufactured assembly part and to ensure the compatibility and
interchangeability of those parts.

GD&T provides the links between theoretical 3D models, CAD (Computer GD&T is the tool for
precisely and clearly defining functional specifications for size, form, orientation Aided Design),
CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) and CAI (Computer Aided Inspection) and the real world;
and location of the elements of a manufactured part.

GD&T Uses:

Improves the quality of the design, production and control processes and preserves the
organization’s knowledge base.

Reduces costs by shortening the production-cycle duration and by contracting hidden

costs.

Improves communication between organizational divisions (Design, Production, Control)

by leveraging a uniform and agreed-upon common language; uniform understanding
of all organizational functions and those of suppliers and manufacturers reduces, by 50
percent, the need of formal meetings to explain Design Intent.

Allows the manufacturer to focus on functional constraints in the design and the
elimination of tolerance specifications where they are unneeded, , thus streamlining the
production and control processes).

Allows the functional inspection of a single item (the geometric requirements reflect the
functional interfaces and constraints).

Can reduce the number of changes in the drawings due to a good tolerance analysis, the
production of compatible drawings and an understanding of setting tolerance values.

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GENERAL TOLERANCES

DIN ISO 2768

The latest DIN standard sheet version applies to all parts made to DIN standards. Variations on
dimensions without tolerance values are according to “DIN ISO 2768- mk”.

GENERAL TOLERANCES FOR LINEAR AND ANGULAR DIMENSIONS (DIN ISO 2768 T1)

LINEAR DIMENSIONS

EXTERNAL RADIUS AND CHAMFER

EXTERNAL RADIUS AND CHAMFER

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GENERAL TOLERANCES FOR FORM AND POSITION (DIN ISO 2768 T2)

STRAIGHTNESS AND FLATNESS

PERPENDICULARITY

SYMMETRY

RUN-OUT

Sharp edges will be broken and deburred by default. Critical edges that must be left sharp
should be noted or specified on a print.

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BASIC TOLERANCES: BILARTERAL, UNILATERAL, AND LIMIT

BILATERAL

A Bilateral Tolerance exists if the variation from a target

dimension is shown occuring in both the positive and
negative directions.

1.500±0.002

UNILATERAL

A Unilateral Tolerance exists when a target dimension

is given along with a tolerance that allows variation to
occure in only one direction.

1.500 +0.005
- 0.000

LIMIT

Limit dimensions are two dimensional values stacked on

top of each other. The dimensions show the largest and
smallest allowed. Anything in between these values is
acceptable.

1.5005
1.5000

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CLEARANCE & INTERFERANCE FITS

CLEARANCE

Clearance fits need to be toleranced so: Any condition of

A is LESS than any condition of B.

This should NOT require tools to install - (Loose to Tight)

INTERFERANCE

Interferance fits need to be toleranced so: Any condition

of A is MORE than any condition of B.

This should require tools to install - (Press fit, Shrink Fits, ...)

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GEOMETRIC DIMENSIONING & TOLERANCES EXPLAINED

DATUMS

GD&T: A symbol based system of communication feature-based tolerances. Uses sets “DATUMS”
as refference for defining feature tolerances.

DATUMS are typically:

- Planes
- Axes
- Cyliners

DATUMS are a “universal reference” between designers, machinists and QA.

HOW DATUM FEATURES ARE SHOWN ON A DRAWING

Datum features are denoted with a series of capital letters. These letters are in boxes and tied to
the datum feature with a black triangle.

Datum feature “A”

This letter will also show up in any feature control frame that uses this datum feature as a
reference. A feature control frame can reference multiple datums at once and each one can be
referenced as needed.

Feature control frame referencing Datum “A”

TRUE POSITION

True position denoted by the symbol above is typically used for hole locations. It determines how
much variance a feature can have from its corresponding CAD file before it is out-of-spec by
referencing datums. True Position is usually used for sets of holes. Measureing true position usually
requires equipment like CMM machines and comparators.

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FLATNESS - PARALLELISM - PERPENDICULARITY -CONCENTRICITY - PROFILE

Flatness: non-datum call out for the acceptable

variation on a plane.

Can be measured with hand tools & gauges

Parallelism: Call out to refference the acceptable

variation of a surface from a parallel datum plane.

Can be measured with hand tools & gauges

Perpendicularity: Call out to reference the acceptable

variation of a surface from a perpendicular datum
plane.

Can be measured with hand tools & gauges

Concentricity: Call out the acceptable deviation from

a datum axis (coaxiality)

CMM or comparators typically required

Profile: Call out the acceptable deviation from a

datum axis (coaxiality)

CMM or comparators typically required

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Use title block to cover general tolerances

Call out tighter tolerances or GD&T on critical features only

GD&T and very tight tolerances may require CMM, Comparators or

non-manual tools.

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CAD BEST PRACTICES

Model the part to the nominal tolerance. This avoids machine operators
mistakenly cutting out-of-tolerance on the first pass.

Use hole wizard and other templates to reduce guesswork on nominal

dimensions.

DRAWING BEST PRACTICES

Use title Block tolerances to reduce clutter.

Only call out critical tolerances, tight tolerances, GD&T and unilateral
tolerances.

MAKE SURE DRAWINGS AND CAD MATCH

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