and ANSI/ASME B89.1.9M, which defines both absolute deviations from nominal dimensions and parallelism limits as criteria for grade determination. Generally, grades are equivalent to former U.S. Federal grades as follows:
00 — generally equivalent to grade 1 (most exacting flatness and accuracy requirements)
0 — generally equivalent to grade 2
AS-1 — generally equivalent to grade 3 (reportedly stands for American Standard - 1)
AS-2 — generally less accurate than grade 3
K — generally equivalent to grade 00 flatness (parallelism) with grade AS-1 accuracy
The ANSI/ASME standard follows a similar philosophy as set forth in ISO 3650. See the NIST reference below for more detailed information on tolerances for each grade and block size. Also consult page 2 of: Commercial Gauge Block Tolerances (Length refers to the calibrated thickness)