Gauge Sheet Metal Definition

This is known as the manufacturers standard gage for sheet steel.

Gauge sheet metal definition.

As the gauge number increases the material thickness decreases. Unit of thickness of a metal sheet or wire. 1 for sheet metal a retrogressive scale higher numbers mean lower thickness that starts with 10 gauge representing a thickness of 3 416 millimeters or 0 1345 inches. Monroe nor any of its employees shall be held liable for any improper or incorrect use of the information described and or contained herein and assumes no responsibility for anyone s use of the information.

When working with sheet metal the term gauge is often used. Gauge or gage sizes are numbers that indicate the thickness of a piece of sheet metal with a higher number referring to a thinner sheet. Usually a bigger number means there s more of something but 18 gauge steel is thinner than 16ga not thicker. Commonly used steel sheet metal ranges from 30 gauge to about 7 gauge.

Sheet metal thickness gauges for steel are based on a weight of 41 82 pounds per square foot per inch of thickness. Gauge is a dimensionless number sometimes spelled gage and confusingly it works backwards. Gague ga is a length measurement unit for diameters originating in north america and belongs to the browne sharpe metering system. Gauge differs between ferrous iron based metals and nonferrous metals such as aluminum or copper.

The larger the gauge number the thinner the metal. As the gauge number increases the thickness drops by 10 percent. The manufacturers standard gage provides the thicknesses for standard steel galvanized steel and stainless steel. A sheet metal gauge sometimes spelled gage indicates the standard thickness of sheet metal for a specific material.

Sheet metal gauges the below table summarizes sheet metal gauge and tolerances. Sheet metal is specified in gauge so rather than design in fractions of an inch you should really be specifying ga on part prints.