Art Metalwork Chapter 5

METAL GAGES

The thickness of sheet metals is measured by a small instrument called a gage. It is a flat circular disk of hardened steel with slots in the edge, Fig. 1.

The slots are numbered, the smallest one into which the edge of the sheet metal slips easily is said to be the gage of the metal in thickness.
In the United States we have unfortunately adopted a system of using different gages for different metals, or for various groups of metals. We even go so far in some cases as to use different gages for the same metal in different trades, which sometimes causes annoying complications. For example, plumbers and coppersmiths measure their copper, brass, zinc, etc., with the Stubs gage, while silversmiths, goldsmiths, and art metalworkers measure the same metals with the Brown and Sharpe gage (so called after the famous machine manufacturers of Providence, Rhode Island). Art metalworkers when measuring or when ordering metals should always use and specify the Brown and Sharpe gage.

Table I shows the differences between the various gages used in this country. (USA)

Table II shows the weights per square foot of copper and brass of the most common gages of metals as measured by the Brown and Sharpe gage.

Table III shows the weights of the same metals as measured by the Stubs gage.

Table IV shows the weights per lineal foot of solid, round, and square brass and copper rods.

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