Fuel Lines, Brake Lines, Braided Lines, Oh My

[white97ex]

ok. i've picked up some craft wire from wal mart. hoping it works for some detail. here is my question what size/guage detail wire is used for what? Race and Street applications

Braided line?

Hard Line?
Fuel lines
brake lines

[JTRACING]

Hey, for fuel lines, fire lines, and brake lines etc.. i use this stuff called floral wire.

i pick it up at the dollar store. you get a ton of it!



for braided line, i recommend using mini blind cord. its more realistic than even DM braided line.

[white97ex]

sweet.any idea what guage that floral wire is? i've got some i got at wal mart some time ago....i knew i've been needing to trim these blinds for a reason lol

[mike@af]

Detail master makes some stuff. Its about $3 a for some 5' lengths. I'm going to be getting that for my Camaro.

[white97ex]

yeah. I've seen the DM stuff. i was just wondering what guage all of that stuff translates into. you can get 30 yard spools of 18 20 and 24 guage craft wire at wal mart

[mn80228]

According to my numbers....

18ga wire = .0403" = .96" at 1/24

20ga wire = .0320" = .77" at 1/24

24ga wire = .0201" = .48" at 1/24

So it looks like you have 1", 3/4", and 1/2" diameter respectively.

Not sure what diameters most fuellines, brake lines, and all that are, but hopefully this will help out.

-matt

[klutz_100]

Matt,

Wanna give me those in centimeters and millimeters?

What the heck's a "gauge" anyway? I'm a

stevenski

PS telephones have been my best sorce of plugw ires and brakline brass wire so far plus my old guitar strings are usefull too

[white97ex]

matt's post plus this link should prove quite useful around here.....

http://detailmaster.com/wire.htm

[mn80228]

Stevenski....

Good point.

18ga wire = 1.024mm = 24.5mm @ 1/24 scale
20ga wire = 0.813mm = 19.5mm @ 1/24 scale
24ga wire = 0.510mm = 12.25mm @ 1/24 scale

Again, hope that helps.

As far as a gauge, it is a measure of the thickness in some way or other.
Not sure exactly where it comes from.
But I just looked up the sizes for the gauges, and then scaled them.

-matt

[klutz_100]

Originally Posted by mn80228

As far as a gauge, it is a measure of the thickness in some way or other.
Not sure exactly where it comes from.
-matt

OK Matt - you scratch my gauge, i'll scratch yours.....

"American Wire Gauge (AWG) is a U.S. standard set of non-ferrous wire conductor sizes. The "gauge" means the diameter. Non-ferrous includes copper and also aluminum and other materials, but is most frequently applied to copper household electrical wiring and telephone wiring. Typical household wiring is AWG number 12 or 14. Telephone wire is usually 22, 24, or 26. The higher the gauge number, the smaller the diameter and the thinner the wire. Since thicker wire carries more current because it has less electrical resistance over a given length, thicker wire is better for longer distances. For this reason, where extended distance is critical, a company installing a network might prefer telephone wire with the lower-gauge, thicker wire of AWG 24 to AWG 26.
AWG is sometimes known as Brown and Sharpe (B&S) Wire Gauge. "

also webster's:

" Wire gauge or gage.
(a) A gauge for measuring the diameter of wire, thickness
of sheet metal, etc., often consisting of a metal
plate with a series of notches of various widths in
its edge.
(b) A standard series of sizes arbitrarily indicated, as
by numbers, to which the diameter of wire or the
thickness of sheet metal in usually made, and which is
used in describing the size or thickness. There are
many different standards for wire gauges, as in
different countries, or for different kinds of metal,
the Birmingham wire gauges and the American wire gauge
being often used and designated by the abbreviations
B. W. G. and A. W. G. respectively."


Thanks for giving me the decimal numbers - I am embarassed to be so lazy Sooooooooo publicly

best regards

stevenski