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BlowjobPete t1_iujkpil wrote

Wires used to be made (maybe still are?) by heating up metal and stretching it over and over.

The more times it was stretched, the thinner it got. They used dies for this (to shape the wire). The wire was pulled through a set number of dies to get a set size. To get a thin wire, one had to pull the metal through a larger number of dies. Hence the number going up as the wires get thinner.

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Target880 t1_iujlebi wrote

Should is subjective. The origin of the system is from how the wires are made.

You can make a wire but draw to conical holes that rescue the wire size it is called,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wire_drawing The wire gets thinner and longer in each step.

The AWG system is based on the number of times you draw it through a die to get the wire.

Each time you draw it in the system the diameter reduces to 92% of the previous.

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I am not sure why the system starts with a Nr. 0000 at 0.46 inches in diameter and end with Nr. 36 awg at 0.005 inches in 40 steps and not 1 to 40 but that is the way it was done

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explainlikeimfive-ModTeam t1_iujo06j wrote

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[deleted] t1_iujkzym wrote

[deleted]

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SapperBomb t1_iujlm4f wrote

Gauge for sheet metal is different. It's based on weight believe it or not

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Target880 t1_iujlyoy wrote

It is not a fraction of an inch, it is a logarithmic scale based on the number of time you draw it through the die that reduces the diameter with the same percentage in each step

The dimater will be 0.005 * 92 ^((36-n)/39)

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