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Daily Wire Tip April 18: Figuring Amount of Wire Left on Spool

By on April 18, 2010
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Daily Wire Jewelry Making Tip
April 18, 2010

Question:

When you have a partially used spool of wire, and don’t know how much is left on the spool, what do you do?  I really don’t want to unroll the spool to find out how many feet are remaining. Is there a chart or calculator that would tell me the length based on the weight-gauge-metal?  I have empty spools that can be weighted for the tare. I’m working in copper and aluminum.

Answer:

I cannot help you with the aluminum yet, but this link will take you to our Wire Footage charts, that include one for copper. Wire Footage Charts

Answer contributed by Dale “Cougar” Armstrong

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8 Comments

  1. avatar

    Teri

    April 18, 2010 at 11:05 am

    Write how much you use each time with a sharpie and subtract, then it is written on the spool?

  2. avatar

    Emma Guy

    April 18, 2010 at 11:15 am

    Here is an easy way to determine the footage of wire left on a coil that elevtricians use. Measure the distance across the coil(diameter)….say it is 3 inches, count the number of coils,…. say 7 coils…multiply these two numbers…..3×7 =21….multiply this by pi…3.14…or 22 over 7…
    3×7=21 x 3.14 = 64.94 inches. this is handy for determining amounts left on spools…hoses, ropes, electrical wire…etc.

  3. avatar

    Norm Rosenberg

    April 18, 2010 at 11:44 am

    Information on aluminum wire weight can be found at

    http://www.interfacebus.com/Aluminum_Wire_AWG_Size.html

    The table has loads of information, mostly of interest to electricians.

    Norm

  4. avatar

    Gina

    April 18, 2010 at 5:18 pm

    This is a wonderful resource. Thanks so much!

  5. avatar

    Linda B

    April 18, 2010 at 5:39 pm

    I have been putting my spools into a zip lock bags and mark on the outside how much I started with then subtract how much was used for the current project giving me the remaining amount (helps to keep them from tarnishing too).

  6. avatar

    Alex Netherton

    April 19, 2010 at 12:15 am

    Er, um, why bother? If it were silver or gold filled, you may be sure I would worry about how much is left. But copper or aluminum? Aluminum is pennies a pound. Copper is a few dollars a pound. Silver is almost $20.00 per *ounce*, and gold filled is higher still.

    Odd question…

  7. avatar

    Mary

    April 19, 2010 at 8:45 am

    Have to agree with both replies on this one. Copper in small gauges is just pennies when copper is going for around $3.00 per pound at the scrap yards. Aluminum is just as inexpensive. And we all know how much wire can be used up when doing coiled pieces so you are better off to come up with a price per foot or something and wing it.

  8. avatar

    Vic

    April 19, 2010 at 10:16 am

    I am curious, why do you care how much is left on the spool? Like Alex, I don’t know why you’d bother with aluminum or copper. Is it for inventory tax purposes, determining if you need to reorder some wire soon or what?