wrote in message
oups.com...
From: "Henry Kolesnik" on Thurs,Apr 7 2005 10:15 pm

Get a nice piece of smooth round rod and tightly wind a little over a
lineal
inch of wire closely spaced as possible. Count the turns in one inch
and
divide the number of turns into one inch and you'll have a very good
measurement without any cost.

73
Hank WD5JFR

Albert wrote in message
...
Does anyone know how to measure or determine the wire size. I have
tons of motors, solenoids, and similar items. I need some #24 wire
and
some #30 for a coil, but have to be sure regarding the wire
diameter
as it's a critical ap and the author of the article says 'don't
substitute'.

I know I can weigh it, provided it's not on a spool or motor
winding
already.

My local electrical shop has a wire gauge, but it stops at 18
gauge.

A microscope might work, but ones that have calibrated distance
measuring on the eyepiece are expensive.

Perhaps a milliohm meter might be able to measure the difference in
resistance of a foot of it or so, but that's hardly a standard item
either.

Any suggestions?

A non-destructive measurement is best. Along about
1946 my middle school (we called it "junior high" back
then) electric shop instructor demonstrated how to use
a mechanical caliper and how NOT to squeeze too hard in
doing so. Soft-drawn copper common to wire is fairly
easy to squash when using a caliper. Using one requires
a VERY light touch on the wire, just enough to be able
to pull it slightly through the caliper jaws. Even so,
pulling on soft-drawn copper wire is going to distort it
slightly so the measurement is going to be on the small
side. Snipping off ten or twenty short lengths, then
measuring the total width and dividing by the number of
lengths will be a bit better in accuracy.

HUH? What do you mean, Jellybean?

[snip]
Just some practical thoughts after doing a bit of
winding in my time...

Uh, yeah...