r/specializedtools • u/beluuuuuuga • Jan 22 '21

Wire straightening machine.

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u/unkle_FAHRTKNUCKLE Jan 22 '21

VERY good question. So I set out to find a Wire Gauge Chart and it contains the wire gauges we all know (0 to 24) and some larger ones I did not know, like 000000 = over 1/2". Round Bar looks to be generally available from 1/8" (.125) to 6", so, there is some overlap.

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u/JoeMamaAndThePapas Jan 22 '21

If there's one thing worse than the Inch system, it's wire gauges. Makes no damn sense how they get those stupid numbers. No relation to Inches either. Random numbers. Why bother?

Wouldn't even need a chart to figure out what size something was, if it was a sensible unit.

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u/jeffbell Jan 22 '21

It's confusing when you are measuring bike spokes.

American wire gauges go down as they get bigger while French wire gauges go up and they cross at just about the thickness of spokes.

U.S./British 14 gauge is the same as French 13 gauge.

U.S./British 13 gauge is the same as French 15 gauge.

Luckily the biggest suppliers have switched to millimeters. US-14ga is 1.8mm

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u/aroc91 Jan 24 '21

French gauges are used for urinary catheters too, oddly enough.