Chapter 27
Dimensioning and Tolerancing
Dimensioning and tolerancing is an art form as much as a science. People become very passionate when discussing the right way to perform these tasks. In truth, the techniques are not so black and white, but are highly dependent on the industry, the means of manufacture, and the purpose of the drawing. Drawings might be used for quotes, manufacturing, inspection, assembly, testing, and so on; and the drawings, as well as the dimensioning and tolerancing used, for each purpose might need to be somewhat different in each circumstance.
Although it's important to follow standards and use drawing conventions properly, I have never seen any company follow an ANSI standard 100 percent—and this is not an argument that I want to reignite here. In this chapter, I focus on how the available tools work. You need to decide for yourself how to apply them in each situation.
