American Wire Gauge, AWG. Conversion Chart

This conversion page allows to find the closest wire gauge to the diameter or area section you need. If the closest one is not an exact match, the difference in the area is shown as a percentage. Try to see it in action!
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Wire diameter

American Wire Gauge, AWG to Diameter in inches (in)
American Wire Gauge, AWG to Diameter in mils
American Wire Gauge, AWG to Diameter in millimetres (mm)
American Wire Gauge, AWG to Diameter in micrometres (μm)
Units: Diameter in inches (in)  / Diameter in mils  / Diameter in millimetres (mm)  / Diameter in micrometres (μm)
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Wire section area

American Wire Gauge, AWG to Section area in square inches (in²)
American Wire Gauge, AWG to Section area in square mils
American Wire Gauge, AWG to Section area in circular mils
American Wire Gauge, AWG to Section area in thousands of circular mils (Kcmil)
American Wire Gauge, AWG to Section area in square millimetres (mm²)
American Wire Gauge, AWG to Section area in square micrometres (μm²)
Units: Section area in square inches (in²)  / Section area in square mils  / Section area in circular mils  / Section area in thousands of circular mils (Kcmil)  / Section area in square millimetres (mm²)  / Section area in square micrometres (μm²)
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Wire Gauges

American Wire Gauge is a standard used in the United States since 1857 for copper, aluminium, gold, silver, etc. It is also known as Brown & Sharpe wire gauge. The more is the gauge number, the smaller is the wire diameter. Wires thicker than gauge 0 are denoted as 00 (or 2/0), 000 (or 3/0), etc.

Washburn & Moen Steel Wire Gauge is used in the United States for steel. It is also known as US Steel Wire or Roebling Gauge.

British Standard Wire Gauge is no longer popular, but is still used for measuring guitar strings. It is also known as Imperial Wire Gauge or British Standard Gauge. SVG only defines gauges from 7/0 to 50.

Birmingham Wire Gauge is now obsolete. Its sizes are not geometrically or arithmetically progressive, and, consequently, bear no definite relation to each other. B.W.G defines gauges from 5/0 to 36.

IEC 60228 is an international standard that among other things defines a set of standard wires. Wire sizes in this standard are denoted by their cross-section area expressed in mm². GOST 22483-2012 is a slightly modified version of IEC 60228 that is used in Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. It adds several smaller wire sizes to the international standard.

If a section area or diameter of the wire does not match a gauge, the nearest one is used and the difference of the area is shown as a percentage.

American Wire Gauge, AWG to Washburn & Moen Steel Wire Gauge, W&M
American Wire Gauge, AWG to British Standard Wire Gauge, SWG
American Wire Gauge, AWG to Birmingham or Stubs' Iron Wire Gauge, B.W.G.
American Wire Gauge, AWG to Stubs' Steel Wire Gauge
American Wire Gauge, AWG to IEC 60228:2004 Standard Wire Cross-Section (mm²)
American Wire Gauge, AWG to GOST 22483-2012 Standard Wire Cross-Section (mm²)
Units:  / Washburn & Moen Steel Wire Gauge, W&M  / British Standard Wire Gauge, SWG  / Birmingham or Stubs' Iron Wire Gauge, B.W.G.  / Stubs' Steel Wire Gauge  / IEC 60228:2004 Standard Wire Cross-Section (mm²)  / GOST 22483-2012 Standard Wire Cross-Section (mm²)
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Music Wire Gauges

Contrariwise to usual wire, larger music wire gauges designate thicker strings.

If a section area or diameter of the wire does not match a gauge, the nearest one is used and the difference of the area is shown as a percentage.

American Wire Gauge, AWG to American Steel and Wire (ASW) Music Wire Gauge
American Wire Gauge, AWG to English Music Wire Gauge
Units: American Steel and Wire (ASW) Music Wire Gauge  / English Music Wire Gauge
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Medical Needle and Catheter Gauges

These gauges are for hypodermic or syringe needles, not sewing needles.

Needle Wire Gauge is derived from Birmingham Wire Gauge and has the same logic: the bigger is the gauge number, the smaller is the needle. French Catheter Scale also known as French Gauge was designed by a Parisian producer of surgical instruments Joseph-Frédéric-Benoît Charrière in 19th century. In Charrière's scale the gauge number divided by 3 gives the needle diameter in mm. That means, the bigger is the gauge number, the thicker is the needle.

Note that all needle scales define external diameter of the needle, not the internal drainage channel.

American Wire Gauge, AWG to Syringe Needle Gauge
American Wire Gauge, AWG to French Catheter Scale (FG or Ch)
Units: Syringe Needle Gauge  / French Catheter Scale (FG or Ch)
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Knitting Needle and Crochet Hook Sizes

In the UK knitting needles are marked with Standard Wire Gauge numbers. Old US needles produced up to 1950s were marked with American Wire Gauge numbers. Both UK and Old US needle numbers use bigger numbers for thinner needles. Contemporary US needle size system uses the opposite approach where thinner needles have smaller numbers.

US crochet hook sizes are marked with letters from B to S. The standard is not the same among all manufacturers, so it it always advisable to check crochet hook diameter in mm.

Craft Yarn Council of America states that hook and needle manufacturers have agreed to use metric sizing (mm) on all packages along with US numbers to minimize confusion.

American Wire Gauge, AWG to U.S. Needle Size
American Wire Gauge, AWG to Old U.S. Needle Size (AWG)
American Wire Gauge, AWG to U.K. Needle Size (SWG)
American Wire Gauge, AWG to U.S. Crochet Hook Size
American Wire Gauge, AWG to Metric Needle Size (mm)
Units: U.S. Needle Size  / Old U.S. Needle Size (AWG)  / U.K. Needle Size (SWG)  / U.S. Crochet Hook Size  / Metric Needle Size (mm)

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Did you know?
Standard Wire Gauges were officially settled in the Great Britain in 1883. The new standard was based on Birmingham Wire Gauge. Historically the gauge designated the number of drawing operations (passing the wire through a draw palate to make in thinner) that were required to produce the wire of desired thickness. Before the standard system was introduces, wire manufactures used their own proprietary standards.
? Not a valid AWG number. ? Not a valid English Music Wire Gauge. Gauges are from 2 to 30. ? Crochet hook sizes may be B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, P, Q, or S. ? Not a valid U.S. needle number. Sizes are from 6/0 to 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 35 or 50. ? Not a valid B.W.G. number. Gauges are from 5/0 to 36. ? Not a valid old U.S. needle number. ? Not a valid ASW music gauge. Gauges are from 6/0 to 45. ? Not a valid French Gauge. Gauges are 1 and up. ? Please enter wire cross-section area and optional percentage difference. ? Wire diameter or section area should be more than zero ? Not a valid U.K. needle number. Sizes are from 7/0 to 50. ? Not a valid Stubs' Steel Wire Gauge. Gauges are from 1 to 80. ? Not a valid SWG number. Gauges are from 7/0 to 50. ? Not a valid W&M gauge. Gauges are from 7/0 to 50. ? Not a valid Needle Gauge. Gauges are from 6 to 34.

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