156 Manual of Engineering Drawing
Shaft basis (Fig. 19.13) Here the hole size is
varied to produce the required class of fit with a basic-
size shaft. A series of drills and reamers is required for
this system, therefore it tends to be costly. It may,
however, be necessary to use it where different fits are
required along a long shaft. This BSI data sheet 4500A
gives a selection of ISO fits on the hole basis, and data
sheet 4500B gives a selection of shaft-basis fits extracted
from BS 45000, the current standard on limits and fits.
The ISO system contained in BS 4500 gives an
extensive selection of hole and shaft tolerances to
cover a wide range of applications. It has been found,
however, that in the manufacture of many standard
engineering components a limited selection of tolerances
is adequate. These are provided on the data sheets
referred to above. Obviously, by using only a selected
range of fits, economic advantages are obtained from
the reduced tooling and gauging facilities involved.
Table 19.1 shows a range of fits derived from these
selected hole and shaft tolerances. As will be seen, it
covers fits from loose clearance to heavy interference,
and it may therefore be found to be suitable for most
normal requirements. Many users may in fact find
that their needs are met by a further selection within
this selected range.
It should be noted, however, that this table is offered
only as an example of how a restricted selection of fits
can be made. It is clearly impossible to recommend
selections of fits which are appropriate to all sections
of industry, but it must be emphasised that a user who
decides upon a selected range will always enjoy the
economic advantages this conveys. Once he has installed
the necessary tooling and gauging facilities, he can
combine his selected hole and shaft tolerances in
different ways without any additional investment in
tools and equipment.
For example, if it is assumed that the range of fits
shown in the table has been adopted but that, for a
particular application the fit H8-f7 is appropriate but
provides rather too much variation, the hole tolerance
H7 could equally well be associated with the shaft f7
and may provide exactly what is required without
necessitating any additional tooling.
For most general applications, it is usual to
recommend hole-basis fits, as, except in the realm of
very large sizes where the effects of temperature play
a large part, it is usually considered easier to manufacture
and measure the male member of a fit, and it is thus
desirable to be able to allocate the larger part of the
tolerance available to the hole and adjust the shaft to
suit.
In some circumstances, however, it may in fact be
preferable to employ a shaft basis. For example, in the
case of driving shafts where a single shaft may have to
accommodate a variety of accessories such as couplings,
bearings, collars, etc., it is preferable to maintain a
constant diameter for the permanent member, which is
the shaft, and vary the bore of the accessories. For use
in applications of this kind, a selection of shaft basis
fits is provided in data sheet BS 4500B.
Note. Data Sheet 4500A (p. 157) refers to hole basis
fits.
Data Sheet 4500B (p. 158) refers to shaft basis fits.
Interpretations of limits of
size in relation to form
There are two ways of interpreting the limits of size of
an individual feature, which are known by;
1 The Principle of Independency, where the limits
of size apply to local two point measurements of a
feature regardless of form.
2 The Envelope Requirement, also known as The
Taylor Principle, where the limits of size of an
individual feature are intended to have a mutual
dependency of size and form.
Fig. 19.12 Hole-basis fits: – clearance T – transition I – interference
Basic size
C
T
I
Fig. 19.13 Shaft-basis fits: C-clearance T – transition I – interference
I
T
C
Selected ISO fits—hole
basis (extracted from
BS 4500)
The ISO system provides a great many hole and shaft
tolerances so as to cater for a very wide range of
conditions. However, experience shows that the majority
of fit conditions required for normal engineering
products can be provided by a quite limited selection
of tolerances. The following selected hole and shaft
tolerances have been found to be commonly applied:
selected hole tolerances: H7 H8 H9 H11;
selected shaft tolerances: c11 d10 e9 f7 g6 h6 k6 n6
p6 s6.