What we do
Workshop questions are usually lookups: which drill for a 1/4-20 tap, how thick 14 gauge steel is, how many board feet are in a stack of oak, what the small marks on a tape measure mean. The answers are spread across old charts, catalogs and handbooks, and many of the charts online disagree with each other.
WorkbenchPilot puts those answers in one place, as charts you can read, finders and calculators that do the math for your job, and drawings to scale. We start with drilling and tapping, measuring, wood and sheet metal, and we are adding fasteners, joinery, finishing and shop setup.
Where the numbers come from
From primary sources: the makers’ own tables (such as Starrett’s tap drill chart), university machine shop references, U.S. law and standards (the 1893 U.S. Standard Gauge for sheet iron and steel), industry bodies such as the galvanizing industry’s GalvInfo Center, and the USDA Forest Products Laboratory’s Wood Handbook. Where a size follows from a formula, we calculate it and check it against the published tables. How we check our numbers explains the method.
What we are not
We aren’t affiliated with any tool, fastener or materials maker. Sizes and tolerances vary by brand and material, so check the instructions that come with your tools and materials, and drill a test hole or make a test cut in scrap first.
Found a mistake?
If a number doesn’t match your chart or your part, tell us. We check it against the source and fix the page.