Tapping sizes and clearance holes

 

Drill size and clearance hole recommendations. 

All dimensions are recommendations only and are shown in mm.

 

Metric threads


Thread Drill size for tapping standard metric threads Drill size for tapping fine metric threads Clearance hole
M1 0.75 - 1.2
M1.2 0.95 - 1.4
M1.4 1.1 - 1.6
M1.6 1.5 - 1.8
M1.8 1.4 - 2
M2 1.6 - 2.4
M2.2 1.7 - 2.8
M2.5 2 - 2.9
M3 2.5 - 3.4
M3.5 2.9 - 3.9
M4 3.3 - 4.5
M5 4.2 - 5.5
M6 5 - 6.6
M8 6.8 7 9
M10 8.5 8.8 11
M12 10.2 10.8 13.5
M14 12 12.5 15.5
M16 14 14.5 17.5
M18 15.5 16.5 20
M20 17.5 18.5 22
M22 19.5 20.5 24
M24 21 22 26
M27 24 25 30
M30 26.5 28 33
 

 

Unified threads


Screw Size Threads per Inch Tapping Hole Clearance Hole
Aluminum, Brass, Plastic Ferrous Materials All Materials
Close Fit Free Fit
Drill Size Drill Size Drill Size Drill Size
0 80 3/64 55 52 50
1 64 53 1/16 48 46
72 53 52
2 56 50 49 43 41
64 50 48
3 48 47 44 37 35
56 45 43
4 40 43 41 32 30
48 42 40
5 40 38 7/64 30 29
44 37 35
6 32 36 32 27 25
40 33 31
8 32 29 27 18 16
36 29 26
10 24 25 20 9 7
32 21 18
12 24 16 12 2 1
28 14 10
32 13 9
1/4 20 7 7/32 F H
28 3 1
32 7/32 1
5/16 18 F J P Q
24 I 9/32
32 9/32 L
3/8 16 5/16 Q W X
24 Q S
32 11/32 T
7/16 14 U 25/64 29/64 15/32
20 25/64 13/32
28 Y Z
1/2 13 27/64 29/64 33/64 17/32
20 29/64 15/32
28 15/32 15/32
9/16 12 31/64 33/64 37/64 19/32
18 33/64 17/32
24 33/64 17/32
5/8 11 17/32 9/16 41/64 21/32
18 37/64 19/32
24 37/64 19/32
11/16 24 41/64 21/32 45/64 23/32
3/4 10 21/32 11/16 49/64 25/32
16 11/16 45/64
20 45/64 23/32
13/16 20 49/64 25/32 53/64 27/32
7/8 9 49/64 51/64 57/64 29/32
14 13/16 53/64
20 53/64 27/32
15/16 20 57/64 29/32 61/64 31/32
1 8 7/8 59/64 1-1/64 1-1/32
12 15/16 61/64
20 61/64 31/32
1-1/16 18 1.000 1-1/64 1-5/64 1-3/32
1-1/8 7 63/64 1-1/32 1-9/64 1-5/32
12 1-3/64 1-5/64
18 1-1/16 1-5/64
1-3/16 18 1-1/8 1-9/64 1-13/64 1-7/32
1-1/4 7 1-7/64 1-5/32 1-17/64 1-9/32
12 1-11/64 1-13/64
18 1-3/16 1-13/64
1-5/16 18 1-1/4 1-17/64 1-21/64 1-11/32
1-3/8 6 1-7/32 1-17/64 1-25/64 1-13/32
12 1-19/64 1-21/64
18 1-5/16 1-21/64
1-7/16 18 1-3/8 1-25/64 1-29/64 1-15/32
1-1/2 6 1-11/32 1-25/64 1-33/64 1-17/32
12 1-27/64 1-7/16
18 1-7/16 1-29/64
1-9/16 18 1-1/2 1-33/64 1-37/64 1-19/32
1-5/8 18 1-9/16 1-37/64 1-41/64 1-21/32
1-11/16 18 1-5/8 1-41/64 1-45/64 1-23/32
1-3/4 5 1-9/16 1-5/8 1-49/64 1-25/32