Wire gage

I may have a new twist on the never ending question of what size wire to use. Looking in the archives (the infamous orange button), I read several posts for wiring a goose. Suggestions for legs on a standing goose seem to be around 8 ga. Now for the twist. I have some wire and I was wondering what size it was. Do a internet search and lo and behold, there are numerous equivalent diameters for a particular gage. Check out this site http://shopswarf.orcon.net.nz/wiregage.html. Another site I looked at referenced two of them for 8 ga. The american wire (brown and sharp) ga at .1285 and the US steel wire gage at .162. That's quite a range. Anyone have any insight on this?

Thanks, Kirk

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apples and oranges

Brown & Sharp make wire gauges, not wire. A wire gauge is a steel pin that is ground to a specific size and used for measuring the internal dimensions of holes, also called gauge pins. Totally different from the size of wire rod that you are talking about.
Tell me this, 16 gauge copper wire, 16 gauge steel rod/wire, 16 penny nail, and 16 gauge shot guns are all different sizes. Why is this? That is just how they are classified. Dont mix them up.

this might help

http://www.sizes.com/materls/wire.htm

History of how wire and steel measurements got started and how they are used today.

Guess I'm more dense than I thought

Mr. T, All I can say is Hmmmmmm. And, that the website you referenced might of helped a bit. We won't get into the 16 penny nail or 16 ga shotgun. However, when it comes to wire, the gage HAS to correspond to a diameter. The way I read your first post would seem to indicate that there is no relationship. On the website you posted, the narrative seems to clear it up a bit. What I get is that for anything other than steel, you use the Brown & Sharp/American wire gage where 8 ga equals .1285". For steel wire you use the Washborn & Moen/American Steel & Wire gage where 8 ga. equals .162". Guess this would also answer your question as to why copper and steel are different diameters.

Thanks for your help.

Kirk

look in your catalog

look at wire in your catalog
the black dots are the sizes

Kirk, look at this site

http://www.calfinewire.com/wirech.htm

You will see, depending on who is measuring, that the low size is the English Imperial size (.1285) and the others are all within .003 of each other .162 to .165 that would not make a kill of beans to a taxidermist, but in a metel shop .003 is a huge difference. So I would say that the 8 gauge size is .162/.165

Thanks for the help

Mr. T, I appreciate your help and I think I might be on the same wavelength as you (almost).

Rich B, You are the man. Sometimes I get so wrapped up that I overlook the simple things. Like looking in a catalogue.

Thanks to both, Kirk

WASCO catalog...

...also has a to scale picture of all the wire gauge diameters. At least I believe it's WASCO. Personally, I never pay much attention to gauge sizes when wiring fish for pedestal mounts. I just grab what I think I need and use it...