# How to determine a drill size for a thread.



## Brento (Nov 9, 2018)

I need to tap a 1.035-40 thread in a square piece of aluminum. Is there a formula to figure out the prebore size


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## P. Waller (Nov 9, 2018)

The simple method.
Major Diameter - the lead. This will get you in the ball park.
In this case 1.035 - .025 = 1.010


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## Cooter Brown (Nov 9, 2018)

I just had to do this the other day... This website is very helpful...

http://www.guhring.com/Tech/tapdrill

edit:
site is down..... lol


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## P. Waller (Nov 9, 2018)

Guhrings calculator does not calculate the thread dimensions just brings up a list of standard ANSI threads.
The 1.039-40 thread is not listed in the standards and appears to be proprietary to an optics manufacturer, it is likely that this company is not keen on publishing the thread data.


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## Cooter Brown (Nov 9, 2018)

...


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## Cooter Brown (Nov 9, 2018)

LULZ!
https://www.thorlabs.com/NewGroupPage9_PF.cfm?ObjectGroup_ID=3307


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## JimDawson (Nov 9, 2018)

Here is a calculator.  http://theoreticalmachinist.com/TapDrillSizeCalculators

There is a formula, but I'm too lazy to look it up


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## Brento (Nov 9, 2018)

Thats what i used as well to get a size. Funny thing is the thor labs is what the part is for lol


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## Web Machinist (Nov 9, 2018)

1.0106 for 75% Thread Percent


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## P. Waller (Nov 9, 2018)

Exactly, I used the easy method and it yielded a minor diameter of 1.010 for a 75% thread fit, well within Thor's recommended sizes.
I have not used a tap drill chart in years, I just subtract the lead from the major diameter, this works for all 60° V threads.


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## P. Waller (Nov 9, 2018)

I am not a "Web Machinist" but I ignore the tenths unless it is a grinding operation (-:


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## pstemari (Nov 9, 2018)

For a UN thread, the v-height is (√3/2)÷TPI, the actual thread height is 5/8 of the v-height, and the nominal minor diameter is the major diameter - twice the thread height. That simplifies to:
Major diameter - 0.625×√3÷TPI

or
Major diameter - 1.0825÷TPI

which is just a tiny schooch smaller than the Md-1/TPI mentioned above. The factor of (√3/2) is just 1/2 of the tangent of 60°, which is the thread angle.

That gives you 100% of a UN thread form, which is pretty close to the "75%" thread you'll see referred to, which is 75% of the obsolete American National thread form. IIRC the American National thread form was replaced by the Unified National thread form during WWII.

The American National thread form had a thread height of 3/4 the v-height, and called for internal threads that were slightly sharper than UN threads. Compared to American National threads, UN threads have slightly blunter internal threads and UN external threads don't have to be as deep.

One other factor is the allowance for class 2A/B threads and tolerances for both class 2 & 3 A/B threads. That calculator from the Theoretical Machinist web site is the only one I'm aware of that provides a calculator for the tolerances and gives you actual minimum and maximum values for minor, pitch, and major diameters.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk


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