Quick Jump: Precious Metal | Copper & Brass | Convert Wire Gauge to Inches and MM
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Precious Metal wire (gold filled, sterling silver, and Argentium silver) is measured by length in feet, but can also be measured in weight, using the troy ounce (ozt). Here is a table to help you see how many feet are in a troy ounce of that metal by gauge and shape.
Gauge (Size) | Gold Filled Round | Gold Filled Square | Gold Filled 1/2 Round | Sterling Round | Sterling Square | Sterling 1/2 Round |
14 | 5.45 | 4.29 | 11.08 | 4.72 | 3.71 | 9.83 |
16 | 8.65 | 6.81 | 16.83 | 7.52 | 5.91 | 13.50 |
18 | 13.97 | 11.00 | 27.33 | 11.90 | 9.35 | 24.66 |
20 | 21.82 | 17.18 | 38.50 | 18.98 | 14.91 | 41.00 |
21 | 27.59 | 21.72 | 51.00 | 23.92 | 18.79 | 54.00 |
22 | 34.75 | 27.72 | 70.75 | 30.21 | 23.73 | 60.75 |
24 | 55.87 | 44.00 | ------- | 47.85 | 37.58 | 91.00 |
26 | 87.33 | 68.79 | ------- | 76.34 | 59.96 | ------- |
28 | 140.77 | 110.84 | ------- | 121.21 | 95.20 | ------- |
30 | 223.71 | 176.15 | ------- | 193.05 | 151.62 | ------- |
32 | 349.65 | 275.31 | ------- | 306.75 | 240.92 | ------- |
Gauge (Size) | Argentium® Round | Argentium® Square | Argentium® 1/2 Round |
14 | 4.7 | 3.575 | 9.4 |
16 | 7.5 | 5.5 | 15 |
18 | 12 | 9.3 | 24 |
20 | 19 | 15 | 34 |
21 | 24 | 20 | 50 |
22 | 30.5 | 25.6 | 59 |
24 | 48 | 38.5 | ------- |
26 | 77 | ------- | ------- |
28 | 125 | ------- | ------- |
Gauge (Size) | Sterling SIlver Filled DS Round | Sterling SIlver Filled DS Square | Sterling SIlver Filled DS 1/2 Round | Sterling SIlver Filled HH Round | Sterling SIlver Filled HH Square | Sterling SIlver Filled HH 1/2 Round |
12 | ------- | ------- | 7 | ------- | ------- | ------- |
14 | 5.38 | ------- | 10.5 | 5.26 | ------- | 10.5 |
16 | 8.5 | ------- | 16.5 | 8.5 | ------- | 16.5 |
18 | 14.25 | 12 | 25 | 14 | 11.5 | 27 |
20 | 23.25 | 18 | ------- | 21.75 | 18 | 33.5 |
21 | ------- | 25 | ------- | ------- | 25 | ------- |
22 | 37 | 30 | ------- | 33.5 | 30 | ------- |
24 | 59 | ------- | ------- | ------- | ------- | ------- |
Copper and Brass jewelry wire can be measured in length or weight (using the standard pound). Copper and brass weigh about the same. Here's a table to tell you how many feet are in a pound of that gauge of brass or copper wire.
Gauge |
Copper/Brass Round Wire |
Copper/Brass Square Wire |
10 | 31.82 | 25.05 |
12 | 50.59 | 39.63 |
14 | 80.44 | 63.33 |
16 | 127.90 | 100.71 |
18 | 203.40 | 160.16 |
20 | 323.40 | 254.65 |
21 | 407.80 | 321.10 |
22 | 514.20 | 404.88 |
24 | 817.70 | 643.86 |
26 | 1300.00 | 1023.62 |
28 | 2067.00 | 1627.56 |
30 | 3287.00 | 2588.19 |
32 | 5277.00 | 4118.75 |
34 | 8310.00 | 6543.31 |
Most wire is sold by the gauge, according to AWG standards. However, bead holes and other useful measurements are usually given in inches or millimeters. Here's a handy table to help you convert the gauge of a wire to its diameter (width across) in inches and millimeters.
Gauge Size | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 24 | 26 | 28 | 30 |
Diameter in inches | 0.1019 | 0.0808 | 0.0641 | 0.0508 | 0.0403 | 0.0320 | 0.0285 | 0.0253 | 0.0201 | 0.0159 | 0.0125 | 0.0100 |
Diameter in mm | 2.588 | 2.05 | 1.63 | 1.29 | 1.02 | 0.813 | 0.723 | 0.643 | 0.511 | 0.404 | 0.320 | 0.254 |