[Steppes] OT - Question - converting Gauge to ??

[Michael Smith]

According to the U.S. Standard Sheet Metal Gauges for Steel :

12 ga is .1046 inch or 2.6568 mm
14 ga is .0747 inch or 1.8973 mm
16 ga is .0598 inch or 1.5189 mm
18 ga is .0478 inch or 1.2141 mm
20 ga is .0359 inch or .9118 mm

To do your own conversions from metric to inches:

multiply millimeters times .03937 to get inches (in decimal form), then you
can convert it to the appropriate gauge.

For converting inches to metric, multiply inches times 25.4 to get
millimeters.

As a note of interest, the SCA requires that 16 gauge equal .0625 inches.
However, this measurement dates from the turn of the 20th century, when
steel milling equipment was rather imprecise and the 'range' that was
considered 16 gauge was .0598 - .0625 inches.  Modern equipment (beginning
roughly WWII) is much more precise and manufacturers found that if they
rolled steel to the lowest level of the allowed gauge (.0598 inches) that
they could produce an extra sheet every 22 sheets or so.  That may not seem
like much, but multiplied by millions of sheets, it adds up.  NOBODY in the
U.S. makes or imports cold rolled (what is commonly called 'mild steel' in
the SCA) in .0625 inches on a routine basis.  Aprofessional sheet metal
worker I know has checked with steel manufacturers across the country for
the past 25 plus years, and you can only get it if you have it custom rolled
in truckload or larger sized lots.  The SCA should take a look at industry
standards for the past sixty years and update their requirements to match.
The difference in thickness (.0027 or less than 3/100's of an inch) is
virtually unnoticeable by eye or even with a metal gauge, and requires a
micrometer to know for sure.
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Ruff" <davidsbox01 at yahoo.com>
To: <steppes at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2005 11:33 PM
Subject: [Steppes] OT - Question - converting Gauge to ??


> Am curious how to convert to guage thickness in metal... say i have metal
thats .035 or .15 how to convert that to guage. Have done some searches but
not finding information that i need. ANyone have the low down?
>
>
> Thanks
>
> Ulrich
>
>
>
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