Machinists rarely call out an arbitrary decimal — work is dimensioned in halves, quarters, eighths, sixteenths, 32nds and 64ths, and 1/64 in (about 0.4 mm) is the finest fraction in common shop use. To round a measured decimal to the nearest fraction, multiply it by 64, round to the nearest whole number to get the count of 64ths, then divide that count by its greatest common factor with 64 to reduce. For example 0.123 × 64 = 7.87 → 8, giving 8/64 = 1/8 in.
| Fraction (in) | Decimal (in) | mm |
|---|---|---|
| 1/64 | 0.0156 | 0.3969 |
| 1/32 | 0.0313 | 0.7937 |
| 3/64 | 0.0469 | 1.1906 |
| 1/16 | 0.0625 | 1.5875 |
| 5/64 | 0.0781 | 1.9844 |
| 3/32 | 0.0938 | 2.3812 |
| 7/64 | 0.1094 | 2.7781 |
| 1/8 | 0.1250 | 3.1750 |
| 9/64 | 0.1406 | 3.5719 |
| 5/32 | 0.1563 | 3.9688 |
| 11/64 | 0.1719 | 4.3656 |
| 3/16 | 0.1875 | 4.7625 |
| 13/64 | 0.2031 | 5.1594 |
| 7/32 | 0.2188 | 5.5562 |
| 15/64 | 0.2344 | 5.9531 |
| 1/4 | 0.2500 | 6.3500 |
| 17/64 | 0.2656 | 6.7469 |
| 9/32 | 0.2813 | 7.1437 |
| 19/64 | 0.2969 | 7.5406 |
| 5/16 | 0.3125 | 7.9375 |
| 21/64 | 0.3281 | 8.3344 |
| 11/32 | 0.3438 | 8.7312 |
| 23/64 | 0.3594 | 9.1281 |
| 3/8 | 0.3750 | 9.5250 |
| 25/64 | 0.3906 | 9.9219 |
| 13/32 | 0.4063 | 10.3187 |
| 27/64 | 0.4219 | 10.7156 |
| 7/16 | 0.4375 | 11.1125 |
| 29/64 | 0.4531 | 11.5094 |
| 15/32 | 0.4688 | 11.9063 |
| 31/64 | 0.4844 | 12.3031 |
| 1/2 | 0.5000 | 12.7000 |
| 33/64 | 0.5156 | 13.0969 |
| 17/32 | 0.5313 | 13.4937 |
| 35/64 | 0.5469 | 13.8906 |
| 9/16 | 0.5625 | 14.2875 |
| 37/64 | 0.5781 | 14.6844 |
| 19/32 | 0.5938 | 15.0812 |
| 39/64 | 0.6094 | 15.4781 |
| 5/8 | 0.6250 | 15.8750 |
| 41/64 | 0.6406 | 16.2719 |
| 21/32 | 0.6563 | 16.6687 |
| 43/64 | 0.6719 | 17.0656 |
| 11/16 | 0.6875 | 17.4625 |
| 45/64 | 0.7031 | 17.8594 |
| 23/32 | 0.7188 | 18.2562 |
| 47/64 | 0.7344 | 18.6531 |
| 3/4 | 0.7500 | 19.0500 |
| 49/64 | 0.7656 | 19.4469 |
| 25/32 | 0.7813 | 19.8438 |
| 51/64 | 0.7969 | 20.2406 |
| 13/16 | 0.8125 | 20.6375 |
| 53/64 | 0.8281 | 21.0344 |
| 27/32 | 0.8438 | 21.4312 |
| 55/64 | 0.8594 | 21.8281 |
| 7/8 | 0.8750 | 22.2250 |
| 57/64 | 0.8906 | 22.6219 |
| 29/32 | 0.9063 | 23.0187 |
| 59/64 | 0.9219 | 23.4156 |
| 15/16 | 0.9375 | 23.8125 |
| 61/64 | 0.9531 | 24.2094 |
| 31/32 | 0.9688 | 24.6062 |
| 63/64 | 0.9844 | 25.0031 |
| 1" | 1.0000 | 25.4000 |
Source: Exact conversion: 1 inch = 25.4 mm (international inch).
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