How to Calculate MIL Thickness
Derived from the Latin "mille" (one thousand), the measurement unit "mil" is defined as "one-thousandth of an inch." Due to this minuscule size, mils have become popular units for measuring the thicknesses of film, plastic sheets, foil, and paper. Similarly, automotive engineers have adopted mils to describe the tolerances of head gaskets and other engine parts. Fortunately, calculating the millimeter or inch thickness of an object measured in mils requires only simple arithmetic.
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Instructions
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1
Decide whether you want to calculate mil thickness in Imperial units (U.S.) or S.I. units (metric).
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2
To calculate Imperial unit thickness, divide the measurement (in mils) by 1,000. This will convert the units to inches.
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To convert to other Imperial units, simply divide the result from step 2 by the number of inches in that unit. For example, to convert to feet, divide the Imperial thickness by 12 because there are 12 inches in a single foot. Similarly, you convert to yards by dividing the Imperial thickness by 36 (36 inches = 1 yard).
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To calculate the S.I. unit thickness, multiply the original measurement (in mils) by 0.0245. This will convert its units to millimeters (mm).
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To convert from millimeters to other metric units, divide the thickness by the number of millimeters in the target unit. For example, because 10 millimeters are in a single centimeter, you would divide by 10 to convert the thickness to centimeters.
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References
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