[Jewelry making - Article 00259] - Re: [Orchid] Drawing half-round wire from round

[Dave Arens]

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Hi Zen,

>     I guess I was hoping for some rules of thumb about what size of
>     round wire to start with to end up with a particular size in the
>     half round or square wire that you're drawing. I'm sort of limited,
>     budget wise, and I can't really afford to buy each and every gauge
>     of Argentium sterling and experiment if there's the possibility of
>     narrowing my choices down to fewer sizes. 

    Here's where you high school geometry class will come in handy. 

    To see what size round wire it takes to make a given size of 1/2
    round calculate the diameter of the 1/2 round. (It helps to have a
    calculator with a 'pi' key on it.) 

    The dimension of the flat side of 1/2 round wire is listed as the
    same dimension as the diameter of round wire e.g. 16 ga round is
    .051" in diameter, 16 ga 1/2 round is .051 across the flat. A line
    from any point on the outer edge to the center point of the flat
    side is .0255". 

    To find the area of 16 ga 1/2 round, find the area of a 16 ga round
    wire, then divide that number by 2 for 1/2 the area. 

    Area = pi r squared  (r = radius of the circle (wire)) 

    A =  pi (3.14) x .0255 squared  (.0255 x .0255=.00065025)  =
    .002042821 sq. in. 

    16 ga round wire has a cross sectional area of  .002042821 sq. in. 

    16 ga 1/2 round has a cross sectional area of  .002042821 sq. in.
    divided by 2 = .0010214105 sq. in (round to .001021410). 

    Now it's necessary to see what size round wire has a cross sectional
    are of  .001021410 sq. in. 

    To do this the same formulae are used. 

    A = pi r squared  (r = radius ) 

    .0010214105 sq. in = 3.14  x  r squared 

    Since we already have the Area, we need to divide the area by pi
    (.001021410 sq. in divided by 3.14 = .000325125) 

    r squared = .000325125 

    r = square root of .000325125 = .01803122 inches 

    diameter = 2r  ( 2 x. .01803122 inches)  = .03606244 inches 

    Now it's a matter of looking at the wire gauge or a table of wire
    gauge dimensions & finding  a wire that has a diameter of  .03606244
    inches or a little more. In this case, 18 ga which has a diameter of
    .040". 

    Soldering about 25 to 35 mm (1 -1 12/") of the end of  2, 18 ga 
    round wires together & drawing them through a drawplate with round
    holes will provide 2, 16 ga 1/2 round wires. 

    Using 2, 18 ga round wires drawn into 2, 16 ga  1/2 round wire will
    result in the 1/2 round wires being approximately 23% longer than
    the 18 ga wires drawn. 

    This can be found by dividing the area of the larger (18 round)
    diameter wire by the area of the smaller (16 1/2 round). 

    area of 18 ga round .040 (diameter of 18 ga) divide by 2 = .020 
    (radius of 18 ga) A = pi  x  r squared  (3.14 x  .0004) = .001256637
    sq. in. 

    .001256637  divide by .001021410 =  1.230296415 

    This same methodology can be applied when converting any shape &
    size wire to any other shape & size. Just use the mathematical
    formulae for calculating the area of geometric shape of a cross
    section of the wire. 

    Additionally, it can be used to determine how much of a larger wire
    to draw to produce a given length of smaller diameter wire. 

Dave

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