American Wire Gauge

The American Wire Gauge (AWG) is used in North America to specify copper wire sizes. The AWG scale is counterintuitive, because smaller gauges have large diameters. The reason is that AWG numbers specify the number of times wire has been drawn through a diameter reducing machine to reduce its diameter. For example, 14-gauge wire has been drawn through a reducing machine two more times than 12-guage wire. In other countries wire size is specified according to cross-sectional area in millimeters. ©2004 Martek International All rights reserved.

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