Basic Lengths and Measurements Wire Gauges Wire Gauges – with gauges as well as with seed beads, the larger the number, the smaller the diameter of the wire or the size of the bead. Information here refers to silver of copper based wire. 26g or 0.4mm - used for very small and delicate projects and can be crocheted with care. Wire has no strength and can break easily. 24g or 0.5mm – use for pearls & most gemstones - easy to work with and used for crochet work and wire wrapping. 22g or 0.6mm used for glass beads, gemstones and some pearls, wire wrapping. Use for beads will depend on the hole size. Note that most glass beads have holes no larger than 0.8mm. If a bead hole is indicated as 0.8mm, use a wire of a smaller diameter, not the same diameter! 20g or 0.8mm – can be used to make earwires, clasps or larger beads, wire wrapping, and jig work. 18g or 1.0mm good for making your own jump rings, or jig work (if the jig is metal not plastic) 16g or 1.3mm used as a base to wrap finer wires around, good starting size for wire shaping with a hammer. 14g or 1.6mm used as a base to wrap finer wire around, for wire shaping with a hammer. 12g or 2.0mm strong but also hard to work with, good for finger rings. Wire Size Chart B & S Gauge Decimal Millimeter 12 .0811 2.06 14 .0630 1.60 16 .0512 1.30 18 .0394 1.0 20 .0323 .82 22 .0252 .64 24 .0197 .50 26 .0157 .40 28 .0118 .30
Gold Filled Wire - Half ounce spools, round wire | | | | Approx | Approx | No. | Description | Grams / foot | Ft/ spool | Meter/spool | W40010DS05 (Half ounce Spool) | .010" (0.26mm) 30 Gauge DS 0.5 TO Spool | 0.1445 | 108 | 33.00 | W40013DS05 (Half ounce Spool) | .013" (0.33mm) 28 Gauge DS 0.5 TO Spool | 0.2443 | 64 | 19.50 | W40016DS05 (Half ounce Spool) | .016" (0.41mm) 26 Gauge DS 0.5 TO Spool | 0.3700 | 42 | 12.80 | W40020DS05 (Half ounce Spool) | .020" (0.51mm) 24 Gauge DS 0.5 TO Spool | 0.5781 | 27 | 8.22 | W40025DS05 (Half ounce Spool) | .025" (0.64mm) 22 Gauge DS 0.5 TO Spool | 0.9033 | 17 | 5.20 | W40032DS05 (Half ounce Spool) | .032" (0.81mm) 20 Gauge DS 0.5 TO Spool | 1.4800 | 11 | 3.40 | W40040DS05 (Half ounce Spool) | .040" (1.02mm) 18 Gauge DS 0.5 TO Spool | 2.3125 | 7 | 2.10 | Imperial to Metric Inches Millimeters 1/16 in. 1.5mm 1/8 in. 3mm 1/4 in 6mm 3/8 in 9mm 1/2 in 12mm 5/8 in 15mm 3/4 in 18.5mm 7/8 in 22mm 1 in 25mm 1 feet 0.30m 3 feet 0.91m 3.28 feet 1.0m 9.84 feet 3.0m Number of Beads per inch. Beads Per Inch Bead Size Per Inch 7" 16" 24" 32" 36" 3mm 8.25 57 132 200 265 288 4mm 6.25 43 100 150 200 225 5mm 5.00 35 82 124 160 180 6mm 4.25 28 67 100 132 153 7mm 3.50 24 57 85 114 126 8mm 3.25 22 50 75 100 112 10mm 2.50 18 40 60 80 90 12mm 2.00 15 33 50 66 72 14mm 1.75 13 29 43 56 63 Needle Size Bead Size Size 10 Matsumo and Delica Beads Size 11, Czech Seed Beads Size 11 Size 12 Matsumo and Delica Beads Size 11, Czech Seed Beads Size 11 Size 13 Toho Size 15, Czech Seed Beads Size 13 and larger Common Lengths for Jewelry Length in Inches Lengths in Centimeters Bracelet 7.5” 190mm Anklet 9” 230mm Choker 16” 400mm Princess 18” 450mm Matinee 20”-24” 500-600mm Opera 28”-32” 710mm Rope 40”-45” 101-114cm Lariat 48” 122cm Japanese Seed Beads per inch/2.5cm Japanese Seed beads- approximately size 11 = 16 beads per inch (2.54cm) size 8 = 12 beads per inch (2.54cm) size 6 = 8 beads per inch (2.54cm) Czech Seed Bead Sizing Bead Size Converted to mm 6/0 3.3mm 7/0 2.9mm 8/0 2.5mm 9/0 2.2mm 10/0 2.0mm 11/0 1.8mm 12/0 1.7mm 13/0 1.5mm 14/0 1.4mm 15/0 1.3mm 16/0 1.2mm 18/0 1.1mm 20/0 1.0mm Number of Beads Needed (measure width of bead only i.e. hole to hole) Bead Size 2mm 4mm 6mm 8mm 10mm 12mm 14mm 16mm 18mm 7.5” Bracelet 96 47 32 25 19 15 14 12 10 16” Choker 203 100 68 52 40 32 28 24 20 18” Princess 229 113 76 59 45 36 32 27 23 20” Matinee 254 125 85 65 50 40 35 30 25 28” Opera 356 175 119 91 70 56 49 42 35 40” Rope 508 250 170 130 100 80 70 60 50 48” Lariat 610 300 204 156 120 96 84 72 60 |