SAE Metric Conversion Chart

[ClimberDHexMods]

Greetings,

 

Spent the whole day outside in our first Texas heat of the season, volunteering for setting up a big rugby event, so I am now sunburned and completely brain dead. Somehow--always been like this--I can run numbers with almost zero brain power applied.

 

Tool acquisition has been on my mind lately, as I want every kind of tool I will need for anything even loosely related to transmission servicing and modifying. Yet I do not have the budget (or lack of respect for money) to blindly buy large sets of Snap-on / Mac / Matco, most of which would probably never be used.

 

I found and significantly enhanced this chart (see attached), which shows the following:

SAE Metric Chart, Version 1 Full:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9JDgH3oFl7gZ0NRQUJ2VTNLaWs/edit?usp=sharing

SAE Metric Chart, Prepped for Print:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9JDgH3oFl7gc0RSRjFlb2hrc0U/edit?usp=sharing

SAE Metric Chart, Uncleaned:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9JDgH3oFl7gdWZuVGVROHhXOW8/edit?usp=sharing

 

 

 

1) Increasing size order of tool (socket or wrench) comprising both common (and less common) SAE and Metric sizes.

2) Percentage difference between the size listed, and the size immediately above, as a percentage, in two formats.

3) Percentage difference between the size listed, and the size TWO above, as a percentage, in two formats.

4) Same as #2 & #3, but without removing the values of large variation.

5) Popular metric tool sizes highlighted in tan.

6) Very close pairings between SAE and Metric are outlined with a thicker black border.

 

Observations:

-Several Metric sizes I commonly use have a nearly identical-sized SAE counterpart. I vaguely knew this to be the case, but now I can see exactly.

-Most major sizes larger than 19mm almost certainly produces a nice counterpart.

-If I threw out all my non-Allen SAE wrenches and sockets except 3/16, 1/4 and 3/8, I would probably never have a problem in my lifetime, though testing and some amount of luck will come into play.

 

Some ideas on how to apply this:

-I will post it on my tool chest for easy reference.

-I will not buy now-redundant SAE tools that get used rarely, but instead use a very close counterpart from an existing Metric set, if they are indeed close counterparts.

-I will passively observe the % variance around which bolt heads and allen heads start to strip from the wrong size.

-If a metric socket is fitting loose, I can quickly see if there is a slightly tighter-fitting SAE alternative.

-If you need to put a same-size wrench on both ends of a fastener, you may have an easier time making the tool selections.

-I'm sure there are other ways to apply this, but I am too tired at the time of writing this to think