Standard wire gauge: Difference between revisions

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'''[[Great Britain|British]] Standard Wire Gauge''' is a set of wire sizes given by [[British_Standards|BS]] 3737:1964, and is generally abbreviated to SWG. Use of SWG sizes has fallen greatly in popularity, but is still used as a measure of thickness in guitar strings. Cross sectional area in square millimetres is now a more popular size measurement.
'''British Standard Wire Gauge''' ('''SWG''') is a set of wire sizes given by British_Standards 3737:1964 (now withdrawn). It is also known as: Imperial Wire Gauge or British Standard Gauge. Use of SWG sizes has fallen greatly in popularity, but is still used as a measure of thickness in guitar strings and some electrical wire. Cross sectional area in square millimetres is now a more popular size measurement. The current British Standard for metallic materials such as wire and sheet is BS 6722:1986, which is a solely metric standard. [[American wire gauge]] (AWG) is a similar but not quite equivalent numbering scheme.


The basis of the system is the ''[[thou]]'' or ''mil'' in US English which is 0.001 inch and is different to the millimetre (mm). No. 7/0, the largest size, is 0.50 inch, 500 thou or 12.7 mm in diameter, and the smallest, No. 50, is 0.001 inch, 1 thou or about 25 µm in diameter.
Also known as: Imperial wire gauge, British Standard Gauge.


== Table of British Standard Wire Gauges and diameters ==
SWG was fixed by [[Order of Council]] [[August 23]] [[1883]]. It was constructed by improving the [[Birmingham Wire Gauge]]. Made legal standard [[March 1]] [[1884]] by the [[British Board of Trade]].
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

The basis of the system is the [[mil]], or 0.001[[inch|in]]. No. 7/0, the largest size, is 0.50 in. (500 mils or 12.7 mm) in diameter, and the smallest, No. 50, is 0.001 in. (1 mil or about 25 µm) in diameter. Between each gauge, the weight diminishes by 20%. Because the weight per unit length is related to the area, and therefore the square of the diameter, the diameter diminishes by 10.557%:

:<math>\mbox{Diameter Ratio} = 1-(1-0.2)^{\frac{1}{2}} \approx 10.557%</math>
----

A table of wire gauges and diameters is shown below <ref>[[LewcoS]] Wire Tables 1962</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! SWG
! SWG
! in
! in
! mm
! mm
! step
|-
|-
|7/0
|7/0
|0.5
|0.500
|12.700
|12.700
|0.036"/gauge
|-
|-
|6/0
|6/0
|0.464
|0.464
|11.786
|11.786
|rowspan=2| 0.032"/gauge
|-
|-
|5/0
|5/0
Line 31: Line 25:
|-
|-
|4/0
|4/0
|0.4
|0.400
|10.160
|10.160
|0.028"/gauge
|-
|-
|3/0
|3/0
|0.372
|0.372
|9.449
|9.449
|rowspan=5| 0.024"/gauge
|-
|-
|2/0
|2/0
Line 47: Line 43:
|-
|-
|1
|1
|0.3
|0.300
|7.620
|7.620
|-
|-
Line 57: Line 53:
|0.252
|0.252
|6.401
|6.401
|rowspan=3| 0.020"/gauge
|-
|-
|4
|4
Line 69: Line 66:
|0.192
|0.192
|4.877
|4.877
|rowspan=4| 0.016"/gauge
|-
|-
|7
|7
Line 75: Line 73:
|-
|-
|8
|8
|0.16
|0.160
|4.064
|4.064
|-
|-
Line 85: Line 83:
|0.128
|0.128
|3.251
|3.251
|rowspan=4| 0.012"/gauge
|-
|-
|11
|11
Line 99: Line 98:
|-
|-
|14
|14
|0.08
|0.080
|2.032
|2.032
|rowspan=5| 0.008"/gauge
|-
|-
|15
|15
Line 119: Line 119:
|-
|-
|19
|19
|0.04
|0.040
|1.016
|1.016
|rowspan=4| 0.004"/gauge
|-
|-
|20
|20
Line 137: Line 138:
|0.024
|0.024
|0.610
|0.610
|rowspan=3| 0.002"/gauge
|-
|-
|24
|24
Line 143: Line 145:
|-
|-
|25
|25
|0.02
|0.020
|0.5080
|0.5080
|-
|-
Line 149: Line 151:
|0.018
|0.018
|0.4572
|0.4572
|rowspan=2| 0.0016"/gauge
|-
|-
|27
|27
Line 157: Line 160:
|0.0148
|0.0148
|0.3759
|0.3759
|rowspan=2| 0.0012"/gauge
|-
|-
|29
|29
Line 165: Line 169:
|0.0124
|0.0124
|0.3150
|0.3150
|rowspan=9| 0.0008"/gauge
|-
|-
|31
|31
Line 175: Line 180:
|-
|-
|33
|33
|0.01
|0.0100
|0.2540
|0.2540
|-
|-
Line 195: Line 200:
|-
|-
|38
|38
|0.006
|0.0060
|0.1524
|0.1524
|-
|-
Line 201: Line 206:
|0.0052
|0.0052
|0.1321
|0.1321
|rowspan=10| 0.0004"/gauge
|-
|-
|40
|40
Line 231: Line 237:
|-
|-
|47
|47
|0.002
|0.0020
|0.0508
|0.0508
|-
|-
Line 241: Line 247:
|0.0012
|0.0012
|0.0305
|0.0305
|rowspan=2| 0.0002"/gauge
|-
|-
|50
|50
|0.001
|0.0010
|0.0254
|0.0254
|}<ref>[http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/scales/wiregauge.html Wire gauge table (U.S./U.K.)] by Russ Rowlett, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2008</ref>
|}


==See also==
== See also ==
{{From Wikipedia|American_wire_gauge}}
*[[American wire gauge]]
*[[Stubs Iron Wire Gauge]]
* [[American wire gauge]]


==References==
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


[[Category:Wire gauges]]
[[Category:Wiring]]

Latest revision as of 20:21, 20 October 2019

British Standard Wire Gauge (SWG) is a set of wire sizes given by British_Standards 3737:1964 (now withdrawn). It is also known as: Imperial Wire Gauge or British Standard Gauge. Use of SWG sizes has fallen greatly in popularity, but is still used as a measure of thickness in guitar strings and some electrical wire. Cross sectional area in square millimetres is now a more popular size measurement. The current British Standard for metallic materials such as wire and sheet is BS 6722:1986, which is a solely metric standard. American wire gauge (AWG) is a similar but not quite equivalent numbering scheme.

The basis of the system is the thou or mil in US English which is 0.001 inch and is different to the millimetre (mm). No. 7/0, the largest size, is 0.50 inch, 500 thou or 12.7 mm in diameter, and the smallest, No. 50, is 0.001 inch, 1 thou or about 25 µm in diameter.

Table of British Standard Wire Gauges and diameters

SWG in mm step
7/0 0.500 12.700 0.036"/gauge
6/0 0.464 11.786 0.032"/gauge
5/0 0.432 10.973
4/0 0.400 10.160 0.028"/gauge
3/0 0.372 9.449 0.024"/gauge
2/0 0.348 8.839
0 0.324 8.230
1 0.300 7.620
2 0.276 7.010
3 0.252 6.401 0.020"/gauge
4 0.232 5.893
5 0.212 5.385
6 0.192 4.877 0.016"/gauge
7 0.176 4.470
8 0.160 4.064
9 0.144 3.658
10 0.128 3.251 0.012"/gauge
11 0.116 2.946
12 0.104 2.642
13 0.092 2.337
14 0.080 2.032 0.008"/gauge
15 0.072 1.829
16 0.064 1.626
17 0.056 1.422
18 0.048 1.219
19 0.040 1.016 0.004"/gauge
20 0.036 0.914
21 0.032 0.813
22 0.028 0.711
23 0.024 0.610 0.002"/gauge
24 0.022 0.559
25 0.020 0.5080
26 0.018 0.4572 0.0016"/gauge
27 0.0164 0.4166
28 0.0148 0.3759 0.0012"/gauge
29 0.0136 0.3454
30 0.0124 0.3150 0.0008"/gauge
31 0.0116 0.2946
32 0.0108 0.2743
33 0.0100 0.2540
34 0.0092 0.2337
35 0.0084 0.2134
36 0.0076 0.1930
37 0.0068 0.1727
38 0.0060 0.1524
39 0.0052 0.1321 0.0004"/gauge
40 0.0048 0.1219
41 0.0044 0.1118
42 0.004 0.1016
43 0.0036 0.0914
44 0.0032 0.0813
45 0.0028 0.0711
46 0.0024 0.0610
47 0.0020 0.0508
48 0.0016 0.0406
49 0.0012 0.0305 0.0002"/gauge
50 0.0010 0.0254

[1]

See also

This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia:American_wire_gauge (view authors).

References

  1. ^ Wire gauge table (U.S./U.K.) by Russ Rowlett, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2008