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ISO 286 · clearance fit · hole basis

H8/f7 Clearance Fit — Hole and Shaft Limits by Size

A 25 mm H8/f7 fit gives +20 to +74 µm of clearance — a 25.00025.033 mm hole on a 24.95924.980 mm shaft. Close running. The general-purpose lubricated journal fit. The hole is always larger than the shaft — the parts always assemble with a gap. All values apply at 20 °C.

Type
clearance
Hole
H8
Shaft
f7
Sizes
13
Standard
ISO 286-1:2010

H8/f7 at Ø25 mm · clearance, µm

+20 … +74

Hole
25.000–25.033mm
Shaft
24.959–24.980mm

Clearance at Ø25 mm, at 20 °C. Every other verified size is in the table below.

H8/f7 Fit — Hole and Shaft Limits with Clearance, by Nominal Size

Both parts' limits in millimetres and the resulting clearance in micrometres. Negative clearance is interference: the shaft is larger than the hole and the joint needs force, heat or cold to assemble.

H8/f7 fit — hole limits, shaft limits and clearance by nominal size
PropertyHole, mmShaft, mmClearance, µmProperty
Nominal ØMinMaxMinMaxMinMaxAt this size
5 mm5.0005.0184.9784.990+10+40clearance
6 mm6.0006.0185.9785.990+10+40clearance
8 mm8.0008.0227.9727.987+13+50clearance
10 mm10.00010.0229.9729.987+13+50clearance
12 mm12.00012.02711.96611.984+16+61clearance
16 mm16.00016.02715.96615.984+16+61clearance
20 mm20.00020.03319.95919.980+20+74clearance
25 mm25.00025.03324.95924.980+20+74clearance
30 mm30.00030.03329.95929.980+20+74clearance
40 mm40.00040.03939.95039.975+25+89clearance
50 mm50.00050.03949.95049.975+25+89clearance
80 mm80.00080.04679.94079.970+30+106clearance
100 mm100.000100.05499.92999.964+36+125clearance

Minimum clearance is the largest shaft in the smallest hole; maximum clearance is the smallest shaft in the largest hole. Values apply at the ISO 286 reference temperature of 20 °C.

The Hole and Shaft Tolerances That Make the H8/f7 Fit

H8/f7 is H8 on the hole and f7 on the shaft. It is a hole-basis fit: the hole is held to one standard tolerance and the shaft is varied to change the fit — which is what you want when the hole is reamed or bored to a standard size.

  • Hole

    H8

    Basic hole where a close running fit is wanted but H7 is more precision than the job needs.

  • Shaft

    f7

    Close running shaft — the standard choice for lubricated journals at moderate speed.

Sources and Method for the H8/f7 Fit Data

H8/f7 limitscomputed

computed from the compiled ISO 286 tables: ISO 286-1 IT grades and ISO 286-2 fundamental deviations, compiled from saucecode/ISO286 (LGPL-2.1) and parkergreene/isofits (MIT), cross-checked cell-for-cell

Verified against parkergreene/isofits ISO 286-2 limit tables (MIT); ISO 286-1 formula harness — 2067 checks passed

Computed from the standard's formulas, then checked against published tables.

Formula

Clearance from the two tolerance bands

max clearance  =  hole max − shaft min
min clearance  =  hole min − shaft max

A negative result is interference. Both are computed from the compiled ISO 286-2 deviations, not from the ISO 286-1 formula, which deviates from the published table by up to 13%.

Assumptions
  • Values apply at the ISO 286 reference temperature of 20 °C. A joint assembled hot or cold, or running hot, is not at these limits.
  • The tolerances cover size only. Form, roundness, cylindricity and surface finish all affect how a fit behaves and need their own callouts.
  • Dataset scope: COMPILED not computed: the ISO 286-1 formula deviates up to 13.26% from the table and is used only as a harness (warn >5%, fail >15%). EXCLUDED: shaft/hole letters s, t, u and the fits H7/s6, H7/t6, H7/u6 — no free source and an undetermined step constant in the formula.
Data last verified
August 1, 2026
How this data is built and checked →

How to Cite This H8/f7 Fit Reference

Citation

ShopMath. "H8/f7 Clearance Fit — Hole and Shaft Limits by Size." ShopMath, verified August 1, 2026, https://shopmath.org/fits/h8-f7

BibTeX

@misc{shopmath-fits-h8-f7,
  title        = {H8/f7 Clearance Fit — Hole and Shaft Limits by Size},
  author       = {{ShopMath}},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://shopmath.org/fits/h8-f7}},
  note         = {Data verified 2026-08-01}
}

Permanent URL

https://shopmath.org/fits/h8-f7

Common Questions About the H8/f7 Fit

What is the clearance of a 25 mm H8/f7 fit?

A 25 mm H8/f7 fit has +20 to +74 µm of clearance: the hole runs 25.000 to 25.033 mm and the shaft 24.959 to 24.980 mm.

Is H8/f7 a clearance, transition or interference fit?

H8/f7 is a clearance fit. The hole is always larger than the shaft — the parts always assemble with a gap. Close running. The general-purpose lubricated journal fit.

What is H8/f7 used for?

Close running. The general-purpose lubricated journal fit. It is a hole-basis fit, so the hole is held to one standard tolerance and the shaft is machined to suit.

How does the H8/f7 fit change with size?

Across the 13 verified nominal sizes the clearance runs from +10 µm at 5 mm to +125 µm at 100 mm, because both tolerance bands widen with nominal size.

Every ISO 286 designation and fit · ISO 286 tolerance chart