Wire Gauges

The common US wire gauges - AWG gauges

Sponsored Links

The AWG - American Wire Gauge - is used as a standard method of denoting wire diameter,
measuring the diameter of the conductor (the bare wire) with the insulation removed. AWG is
sometimes also known as Brown and Sharpe (B&S) Wire Gauge.
The AWG table below is for a single, solid, round conductor. Because of the small gaps
between the strands in a stranded wire, a stranded wire with the same current-carrying capacity
and electrical resistance as a solid wire, always have a slightly larger overall diameter.
The higher the number - the thinner the wire. Typical household wiring is AWG number 12 or
14. For telephone wires there are common with AWG 22, 24, or 26.

AWG

Diameter
(mm)

Diameter
(in)

Square
(mm2)

Resistance
(ohm/1000m)

40

0.08

0.0050

3420

39

0.09

0.0064

2700

38

0.10

0.0040

0.0078

2190

37

0.11

0.0045

0.0095

1810

36

0.13

0.005

0.013

1300

35

0.14

0.0056

0.015

1120

34

0.16

0.0063

0.020

844

33

0.18

0.0071

0.026

676

32

0.20

0.008

0.031

547

30

0.25

0.01

0.049

351

28

0.33

0.013

0.08

232.0

AWG

Diameter
(mm)

Diameter
(in)

Square
(mm2)

Resistance
(ohm/1000m)

27

0.36

0.014

0.096

178

26

0.41

0.016

0.13

137

25

0.45

0.018

0.16

108

24

0.51

0.02

0.20

87.5

22

0.64

0.025

0.33

51.7

20

0.81

0.032

0.50

34.1

18

1.02

0.04

0.82

21.9

16

1.29

0.051

1.3

13.0

14

1.63

0.064

2.0

8.54

13

1.80

0.072

2.6

6.76

12

2.05

0.081

3.3

5.4

10

2.59

0.10

5.26

3.4

3.25

0.13

8.30

2.2

4.115

0.17

13.30

1.5

5.189

0.20

21.15

0.8

6.543

0.26

33.62

0.5

7.348

0.29

42.41

0.4

AWG

Diameter
(mm)

Diameter
(in)

Square
(mm2)

Resistance
(ohm/1000m)

8.252

0.33

53.49

0.31

00 (2/0)

9.266

0.37

67.43

0.25

000 (3/0)

10.40

0.41

85.01

0.2

0000 (4/0)

11.684

0.46

107.22

0.16

The higher the gauge number, the smaller the diameter, and the thinner the wire.
Because of less electrical resistance a thick wire will carry more current with less voltage drop
than a thin wire. For a long distance it may be necessary to increase the wire diameter reducing the gauge - to limit the voltage drop.

Wire - Gauge to mm Conversion Chart

Gauge

mm (approx.)

34

0.16

32

0.20

30

0.25

28

0.32

26

0.40

24

0.51

22

0.64

20

0.81

18

1.02

16

1.29

14

1.62

12

2.05

The most popular sizes for crochet are 34 gauge/ 0.16mm good to start with but its not very
strong.
28 gauge/ 0.32mm (usually printed 0.3mm) is the most popular. Comes in lots of colours. This
gauge is nice to work with and produces a firmer finished work. Good with lightweight beads
too.
20 gauge/ 0.81 (usually printed 0.8mm) is good for pendants, charms, items with heavy beads
(crystal, glass). Be careful of your fingers with this size it can cut into them.
16 + gauge/ 1.29mm (usually printed 1.3mm) not used to crochet with but for making supports
and shapes to crochet on. Also for making findings (earring wires, clasps)

Gauge to Inches to Millimeters Conversion Table

B&S
Inch
Millimeter
Inch
Gauge (Decimal)
(mm)
(Fraction)

B&S
Inch
Millimeter
Inch
Gauge (Decimal)
(mm)
(Fraction)

0.289

7.348

17

0.045

1.149

0.258

6.543

18

0.040

1.024

0.250

6.350

1/4

19

0.036

0.912

0.234

5.953

15/64

20

0.032

0.812

0.229

5.827

0.031

0.795

1/32

0.219

5.556

7/32

21

0.028

0.723

0.204

5.189

22

0.025

0.644

0.203

5.154

11/64

23

0.023

0.573

0.188

4.762

3/16

24

0.020

0.511

0.182

4.621

25

0.018

0.455

0.172

4.366

11/64

26

0.016

0.405

0.162

4.115

0.016

0.396

1/64

0.156

3.969

5/32

27

0.014

0.360

0.144

3.664

28

0.013

0.321

0.141

3.572

9/64

29

0.011

0.286

0.128

3.263

30

0.010

0.255

0.125

3.175

1/8

31

0.0089

0.226

0.114

2.906

32

0.0080

0.200

0.109

2.778

7/64

33

0.0071

0.180

10

0.102

2.588

34

0.0063

0.160

0.094

2.381

3/32

35

0.0056

0.142

11

0.091

2.304

36

0.0050

0.130

12

0.081

2.052

37

0.0045

0.114

0.078

1.984

5/64

38

0.0040

0.100

13

0.072

1.828

14

0.064

1.628

0.063

1.588

1/16

15

0.057

1.449

16

0.051

1.291

0.047

1.191

3/64

Seed beads sizes are stated in aughts, (not millimeters) ~ as strung beads per 20 mm or 3/4 inch length.

The higher the number, the smaller the bead.

We've converted aughts to millimeters, large to small:
1 /0= 6.5mm
2 /0= 6.0mm
3 /0= 5.5mm (pony beads, crow, roller)
4 /0= 5.0mm
5 /0= 4.5mm
6 /0= 4.0mm (popular "e" bead)
7 /0= 3.4mm
8 /0= 3.1mm
9 /0= 2.7mm
10 /0= 2.3mm
11 /0= 2.1mm
12 /0= 1.9mm
13 /0= 1.7mm
14 /0= 1.6mm
15 /0= 1.5mm
16 /0= 1.3mm
17 /0= 1.2mm
18 /0=1.1mm
20 /0=1.0mm
3/0 beads would be 4 per inch,
about 1/4 inch thick each.
(Crow rollers, pony beads)
6/0 beads would be about 8 per inch,
or 1/8 inch thick each.
(The popular "e" bead)
15/0 beads would be 18 per inch,
1/18 inch thick each. (Tiny)
Just remember, the higher the number, the smaller the bead!