choosing the correct SCREW size (METRIC vs IMPERIAL) UK

Рет қаралды 36,226

4 жыл бұрын

Screw sizing can be a confusing area of diy and ordering the correct size screw is essential to the job in hand, in this video you will see screw sizing and how it correlated to the screws themselves. you will see what screw sizing is for both the length of the screw and the width of the screw, you will see both the metric screw measurements into imperial screw measurements and imperial into metric. it is important to use the correct size screw for fixings and determining the correct screw size to use can be hard especially with screw gauge thickness measurements, so hopefully this will show you what screw sizes mean and the difference between inche screw sizes and mm screw sizes. this is a short intro to screw selection and importantly screw sizing and what it all means.
other videos of interest :
plasterboard fixings video : • PLASTERBOARD FIXINGS w...
what drill bit to use video : • Video
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Пікірлер: 81

@RustyDIY 4 жыл бұрын

let me know if this has helped you to understand this area of screw sizing. Like, comment and subscribe to help the channel grow and deliver more content for you to see and enjoy.

@bramblebop1904 3 жыл бұрын

Yes and no. You explained one very confusing element, that some screws (and bolts, btw.) are described as some bullshit number for diameter + the regular length in inches. The bs number is NOT inches. What would be good if you added is _what the hell_ is this bs number. Also, calling diameter "thickness" is imprecise. Also, unless I'm mistaken, these "gage" numbers are used only for small diameters; everything above quarter inch _is_ given in inches, no?

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

@@bramblebop1904 you are right i should have used the term diameter. Was just trying to use words easy to understand, maybe not the best idea.

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

@@bramblebop1904 in regards to the BS number you are talking about i am unsure i just grabbed a box of screws and the only bs number I can think it is, is BS (British standards) number ?

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

And finally the gauge numbers only used for small diameters, in general screws I am not sure i have seen a screw bigger than a G14 (about 6.5/7mm) so your could be correct there i would assume after this size the fixing would move more towards a bolt. Sorry I can't give a better answer.

@bramblebop1904 3 жыл бұрын

BS I meant bullshit, LOL. It seems to be a code of some sort? Screws.bolts ¼" and up are given as diameter in inches (including fractions) so that's understandable say, ¼-20 x ¾. Quarter inch diameter, 20 threads per inch, three quarters of an inch long,_alls good. But below ¼" real diameters get dropped and some strange numbers are used, like 6 or 8. It isn't inches or mm, it is god only knows what. For example a bolt that is 8-30x3 is actually about 5/32" in diameter, 30 threads per inch, three inches long. So this "8" stands for nothing intelligible. There's also 6 and 10, and maybe other numbers. I was curious about them: what do they mean, and why not continue using real measurements. If there's bolts ¼" in diameter, why not 5/32"?

@stephentrinder1875 3 жыл бұрын

I understand imperial but have never fathomed metric until now. This was the only place I could find this easy explanation. Thanks and well done

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much for your comment and for watching

@noor.3385 3 жыл бұрын

I work in a hardware shop and I am aware of metric size format only but we have imperial size format in shop. I always face problem to deal with it while attending the customer. Thank to you sir i understood it and now I have an idea how to calculate it. Your way of explanation is simple, easy to understand and quick. Thanks a lot sir. God bless you.

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your comment 👍

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

There are a lot of different dimensions and measurements always hard to get your head around somtimes

@deancyrus1 42 минут бұрын

What's the m8 and m10 for screw measurements? Also thickness, is that total or not including the twerlly bit

@Alex-fd6gz 4 жыл бұрын

Great work again Rusty!

@RustyDIY 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks 👍

@sammie6657 3 жыл бұрын

Just watched this from work. Very helpful

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much 👍

@mikecoots7003 3 жыл бұрын

Cracking stuff wish I found this video several hours ago. Cheers fella

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks

@kingshearer2 Күн бұрын

What about screw width to drill bit width?

@guckfoogle1096 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this.

@RustyDIY 2 жыл бұрын

No problem 😊

@JamesJernigan 4 жыл бұрын

Here from your Facebook post, keep up the good work!

@RustyDIY 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks very much 😁

@RICKYBAJWA1 3 жыл бұрын

Very helpful thanks

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks 😊 and thank you for watching RustyDIY 🙏

@siriosstar4789 Жыл бұрын

i'm even more confused now . in germany where i live , the length comes in mm or cm , so that's obvious ,but the diameter / gauge of the screws still makes no sense . i have become visually acclimated to the thickness so i have a good idea which screw to order .

@TheDeb295 Жыл бұрын

RustyDIY I have a very confusing calculation to do! The instructions suggest 8g 5/16ths so it's a bit of a nightmare. I've seen measurements relating to 8g would be 4.5mm so it gets more confusing for me. I'm fitting a ring doorbell into brick, the screws that come with the pack are for wood 🙄 so like you showed on your video technically I'd be looking for a 7g which doesn't exist. So should I go for 6g to fit the hole on the doorbell? I'm also worried about drilling into brick. I have masonary drill bits, but it's so narrow will it not snap the bit? Flippin nightmare. I should also say that those measurements (8g 5/16th) are US too

@RustyDIY Жыл бұрын

hi, to my knowledge 8g is about a 4mm thick screw, for me if i was using a 8g/4mm thick screw i would use a red wall plug and depending on brand of the plug between a 5.5 and 6mm drill bit. im in the UK. im not sure what the 5/16s bit is about or the 7g bit sorry, but always best to get a trades person in to do the job if not sure.

@syedbukhari2689 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

You are welcome 😊

@Falco45able 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks 😉

@RustyDIY 2 жыл бұрын

You are welcome

@Aesir5 2 жыл бұрын

Ahhh thanks

@RustyDIY 2 жыл бұрын

you are welcome

@nicodavies9124 2 жыл бұрын

I'm completely different i ask for the length of screw in imperial and ill ask for the diameter in mm so an example would be if I was on site and I needed some wood screws id ask about for some 2inch 5s lol. Feels weird asking for 50mm 5s.

@RustyDIY 2 жыл бұрын

Haha tbh I'm in the UK obviously but where I grew up working with my dad as a kid I still ask for imperial, just feels strange saying I need 75mm 5s or 100mm 6s ha 😅

@marvinc9994 Жыл бұрын

Well done, Nico: like me - and thousands of others - you have helped to create a new, and _much_ more versatile system from the existing two: 'Imperial Metric' !! Sometimes the one, sometimes the other, sometimes both together ;-)

@davekerzner 3 жыл бұрын

It's helpful but what about the second number, the threading or TPI? That's the confusing part. For instance, I'm trying to find something smaller in diameter to a #6 (such as a #5) but with what I think is a 32 tpi for the threading. I can see #6-32 screws at 3/8 length. But, are there no #5-32 screws??? If not then WTF??!!! That's the part that I find VERY confusing and annoying tbh.

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

TPI threads per inch is commonly used for bolts its not normally on a screw box or description as they are normally sold as corse or fine threaded for example. I will have a look see if I can find out

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

Im in the uk and we dont use tpi apparently thats the American fastener market we use thread pitch ( the measurement between each thread in mm ). But this is for bolts, looking at the screws from wholesalers around me that info is not on any screws I can see unless its more of a bolt style screw like a electrical m3.5 fixing screw. But for wood screws for example I cant find this info 😕? I'd guess that the tpi or thread pitch only matters if you are screwing into a pre threaded hole like a nut or nut sleave and if fixing into a material it is just corse or fine thread (double or single thread) depending on what your fixing to and i go by the manufacturers description of the screw to determine whats suitable for each material

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

We are mainly metric so when ordering bolts normally just width and length to worry about as a metric thread would be the same i think, id guess that's the same for imperial like in America if 32tpi is standard imperial tpi. But im not sure as I say not something we deal with much hear so don't quote me im not certain about this area of measurements (tpi and thread pitch) sorry I couldn't help 😅 much if any. There must be lots of videos on tpi and thread pitch on KZfaq from people with the knowledge 🤔 in those areas to answer your question.

@davekerzner 3 жыл бұрын

@@RustyDIY thanks. I found out the screw I'm looking for (which is still rare) is 5-40. I guess 5-32 just doesn't exist. But, our local hardware store jumps from 6-32 to 4-40 and doesn't even have a 5 because it's not popular. The quest I've been on for this odd screw... anyway, I gotta say, for some reason it's pretty confusing! Between the two systems and matching up the specs of the TPI or thread pitch on some old equipment is a challenge. Anyway, keep up the good work Rusty and thanks!

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

Ya it definitely is especially on classic engines. Glad you found what you needed. Thanks for watching

@JT-dn1id 3 жыл бұрын

So, how do you measure the thickness?

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

The main thickness is across the whole diameter so a 6mm should be 6mm across the threads outside to outside edges (for metric)

@JT-dn1id 3 жыл бұрын

@@RustyDIY THANKS.

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

You are welcome there is a major and minor width measurement probably be easy to see a picture online if you search it, some things are hard to explain in txt and the video would be far to long to try explain everything ha 😀

@RonniesPokerRants 3 жыл бұрын

@@RustyDIY naaah, really? we mean how do you go about it? we don't mean we manage to do the practical thing of finding the thickness by means need and not yet described, and then saying, what does that number mean? If we find out it is 5.0 mm across, we don't then say, duh is that the time we get up in the morning. How stupid can u get, rusty? "so a 6mm should be 6mm across the threads" really, not a 6am rise?

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

@@RonniesPokerRants how do you go about measuring out side of a screw thread to outside thread across the diameter of a screw ? Just put it against a ruler, tape measure or use a set of digital caliper for an exact size. I thought that was in the video me showing measuring the thickness on a tape measure at the end maybe it got edited out I will check and revert to original upload if that's happened during upload and I didn't notice.

@abinley 3 жыл бұрын

It's a shame this video isn't in 8K.

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

I don't think youtube supports 8k yet dose it ?

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

Also editing and storing 8k vids takes lots of power and space I don't have the pc for it unfortunately

@terrancelandwehr9173 2 жыл бұрын

You still haven’t clarified the thickness- is it the head or thread?

@RustyDIY 2 жыл бұрын

the main/major diameter is the outside to outside of the threads, the minor or root diameter is the solid part inside the threads. if it was a 6mm screw it should be 6mm wide from outside of thread to outside of thread (on a basic screw) it might change on a screw that has split threads and funny shaped shanks and flutes ect..

@bramblebop1904 3 жыл бұрын

"Thickness" is diameter. That's the term I would use. Also, what is "gauge"? Screw that's 8x2 is _what_ by 2-inches long? 8 is "gauge": tf does that mean? Gauge is a measuring device; there are many kinds... what is " gauge 8"?

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

Yes diameter is a better word to use im not sure why i was saying thickness i think because I was trying to explain it in as simply words as possible.

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

Gauge is an imperial measurement for the major diameter of the screw. So a 2 inch 8 screw should be 2 inches long and a Gauge 8 in diameter (roughly 4mm)

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

There is a formula to work out the gauge measurement of a screw i belive its to do with measuring the diameter of the head in 16th of an inch and X it by a number and then subtract a number. Unfortunately I'm not knowledgeable enough to explain this. Maybe online there will be a good example of this 🤔 👍

@bramblebop1904 3 жыл бұрын

Oh I see, so it _is_ something from the real world only indirect. Thanks!

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

You are welcome 😀

@Coast2CoastTuber 3 жыл бұрын

Why so many thumbs down?

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

I think people maybe thought there would be a lot more explained but the video would be to long

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

Also seem to get people asking about bolt measurements or what we call bolts in the UK maybe screws in USA include some bolts? I don't know 😕

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

If you read some of the comments you'll see what I mean

@Fkk580 3 жыл бұрын

I came to see what drill bit i need to use for number 12 but didnt get any help at all. Bad title

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

There isn't any mention of drill bit sizing in the title. Also there is no simple answer to your question really lots of variables. As I explained a 12 is a 6mm so its 6mm wide shank. Meaning now you can cross reference to your fixings youd like to use to see the minimum and maximum screw width.

@Fkk580 3 жыл бұрын

RustyDIY maybe i didn’t fully listen to the video. My apologies for the ignorance

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

For example if you wanted to pilot a hole for a 12g screw so the screw pushed threw and into a fixing on a wall like a wall plate then you'd wand a drill bit to match the thickness ie a 6mm drill bit. However if you was looking at putting the screw into a wall plug like a rawlplug then the drill size is not in direct correspondence to the screw but instead the plug ie a red rawlplug is a 6mm drill and the maximum screw size you can use on a red plug without checking I think is a 10g so you would then need to go to the next size up blue and have to use a 7mm drill. But each fixing will be different between brands so you see I couldn't tell people what drill bit to use because if the variables

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

I am sorry if you thought the video was about that. But the video was intended for people to learn the dimensions of screws from imperial to metric so that they then can use that information for example a 12g is 6mm wide so now people can go right so if I want to use a 12g I need a plug that will take a 6mm screw and then see what drill they want in relation to what the plug says takes a 6mm screw (brand will be differnt in colour and size) as I explained.

@Fkk580 3 жыл бұрын

RustyDIY Im actually using half inch regular plywood sheet to screw into the stud behind the wall. And then mount two heavy tvs on that sheet

@RonniesPokerRants 3 жыл бұрын

why is measuring the width of a screw difficult when you say the length is easy? we simply want to know how to measure said thickness with accuracy as we can easily get 3.5mm mixed up with 4.0 mm. That should be your video, not the rest which is all a red bloody herring

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

I say it is difficult because of the fact if you take a imperial or metric length you can easily measure the length with a tape and see the conversion ie.. 4inch being 100mm however for thickness (diameter) you can't just take a metric diameter and measure the thickness and see the imperial gauge number as it's not a measurement unit more a chart number ie.. take a 6mm metric screw and look on a tape to see 6mm is around 1/4 inch and then go order 2inch long 1/4inch thick screw as that's not how there sold in the UK it would be a 2inch 12 that's why I say it can be confusing. thickness is the diameter of the screw major diameter usually measured out side of thread to outside of thread the rout diameter is the solid bit in the middle. To get a precise measurement you can use calipers

@RustyDIY 3 жыл бұрын

I apologise if you didn't get the info you was expecting, it was not my intentions to have a misleading title I don't use clickbate titles and pictures just for views The video is more about matching imperial and metric screws mainly. As in the UK we sell both in some stores and the thickness on imperial screws being a 8 is not a 8mm like a metric size 8 screw it's a gauge 8 around 4mm in metric size and that's what I explained in the video.