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Handcraft

Wire Length Calculator

Work out the wire needed for wrapped loops, coils, chain links or rings, from the dimensions and the wire gauge, with a waste allowance.

Jewelry Making
Wire is the one material where running short means stopping halfway through an order, and guessing it wrong is expensive in both metal and time. This calculator works out the wire a design needs from its actual geometry, whether that is a row of wrapped loops, a coil on a mandrel, a run of chain links or a stack of soldered rings, and it converts the gauge you are using into millimetres and an estimated weight so you can check the cost as well.

At a glance

What you enter
What are you making, Wire gauge, Metal, How many, Bead, mandrel or link diameter, Wire price per metre, Waste allowance
What you get
Total wire needed, Total wire needed in inches, Estimated wire weight, Wire cost
Formula shown
Yes, every step, right below your results.
Cost and privacy
Free, no account needed, and nothing you type is stored.

See worked examples ↓ Read the FAQ ↓ Share this calculator ↓

What are you making

Each shape uses a different amount of wire for the same size.

Wire gauge

The diameter is what the arithmetic uses, so the chart above gives it in millimetres.

Metal

Used for the weight estimate only. Prices move with the metal market, so cost is worked out from the price you enter.

Loops, coils, links or rings, depending on what you are making.

The mandrel diameter for a coil, the loop diameter for a loop or a ring, the link size for a chain.

Optional. Divide the price of your coil by its length to get this figure.

Covers filing, ruined loops and work hardened wire that cannot be reused.

Reset

Results are estimates for general information only, always verify with a professional or official source before acting on them.

How to use the Wire Length Calculator

  1. 1 Enter What are you making, Each shape uses a different amount of wire for the same size.
  2. 2 Enter Wire gauge, The diameter is what the arithmetic uses, so the chart above gives it in millimetres.
  3. 3 Enter Metal, Used for the weight estimate only. Prices move with the metal market, so cost is worked out from the price you enter.
  4. 4 Enter How many (pieces), Loops, coils, links or rings, depending on what you are making.
  5. 5 Enter Bead, mandrel or link diameter (mm), The mandrel diameter for a coil, the loop diameter for a loop or a ring, the link size for a chain.
  6. 6 Enter Wire price per metre (USD/m), Optional. Divide the price of your coil by its length to get this figure.
  7. 7 Enter Waste allowance (%), Covers filing, ruined loops and work hardened wire that cannot be reused.
  8. 8 Press Calculate. You get Total wire needed, Total wire needed in inches, Estimated wire weight, Wire cost, and every intermediate step stays visible under "How is this calculated?"
  9. 9 Change one number at a time to see what moves the result, that is usually the most useful thing a calculator can tell you.

Worked examples

Real numbers run through this calculator. Open any example to load it into the form above and change it.

Beaded chain of wrapped loops

Twenty wrapped loops on 6 millimetre beads in 20 gauge sterling silver.

You enter

What are you making
1
Wire gauge
20
Metal
1
How many
20
Bead, mandrel or link diameter
6 mm
Wire price per metre
$0.90
Waste allowance
15%

You get

Total wire needed
1,044
Total wire needed in inches
41.11 in
Estimated wire weight
5.57 g
Wire cost
$0.94

About 1,040 millimetres with waste, a little over a metre of wire, which weighs roughly 5.6 grams.

Open this example in the calculator →

Coil on a 5 millimetre mandrel

Thirty turns of 24 gauge copper wire for a coiled bead cap.

You enter

What are you making
2
Wire gauge
24
Metal
3
How many
30
Bead, mandrel or link diameter
5 mm
Wire price per metre
$0.15
Waste allowance
10%

You get

Total wire needed
835
Total wire needed in inches
32.88 in
Estimated wire weight
1.53 g
Wire cost
$0.13

Copper is cheap, so the coil is a good place to practise the winding.

Open this example in the calculator →

Chain of soldered rings

Forty 10 millimetre rings in 16 gauge sterling silver.

You enter

What are you making
4
Wire gauge
16
Metal
1
How many
40
Bead, mandrel or link diameter
10 mm
Wire price per metre
$1.80
Waste allowance
10%

You get

Total wire needed
1,781
Total wire needed in inches
70.10 in
Estimated wire weight
24.11 g
Wire cost
$3.21

A 16 gauge ring of that size is strong enough for a bracelet on its own.

Open this example in the calculator →

Guides that go with it

How to Measure Beads and Jewelry Materials Correctly

You bought a strand of beads online, they arrived, and they are nothing like the photo. Too small, too big, or worse, the holes are so tight your wire will not pass through. The listing said "6mm" and...

How Much Yarn Do You Need for a Blanket?

Yarn math is the part of blanket making nobody warns you about. Run out at row 180 of 200 and you have a problem: dye lots rarely match perfectly, and a substitute yarn can change how the whole thing...

How to Avoid Wasting Materials When Making Crafts

Most craft waste is not caused by clumsy hands. It is caused by decisions made before you pick up a tool: buying too much, cutting before measuring, or starting a project with no plan for the offcuts....

Frequently asked questions

How much wire does a wrapped loop use?
About 30 millimetres for a 6 millimetre loop in 20 gauge wire: roughly 20 millimetres for the loop and neck, and another 10 for the tail you wrap and trim. A classic beaded chain of twenty loops therefore uses about 600 millimetres, or 24 inches, before any waste. Loop diameter and wire gauge both change the figure, so measure one finished loop if the exact number matters.
What is 20 gauge wire in millimetres?
0.81 millimetres. For the sizes most makers use: 18 gauge is 1.02 millimetres, 20 gauge is 0.81, 22 gauge is 0.64, 24 gauge is 0.51, 26 gauge is 0.41 and 28 gauge is 0.32. Roughly, every two gauge steps is a quarter of a millimetre either way, and a jump of four gauges changes the stiffness of the wire noticeably.
How do I work out the wire for a coil?
Multiply the circumference of the mandrel plus the wire diameter by the number of coils, then add about 8 millimetres for the tails you hold while winding. A 5 millimetre mandrel with 20 gauge wire is about 18.3 millimetres per turn, so 30 turns is around 550 millimetres. Remember the finished coil springs back a little wider than the mandrel.
How much wire should I add for waste?
Fifteen percent is a fair working figure for a design with a lot of measuring and cutting, because every loop has a tail and every mistake is metal. For a run of soldered rings where almost every millimetre ends up in the piece, five to ten percent is closer. If you are making a batch, keep the offcuts and weigh them at the end so you know your own real allowance.

More money questions answered →

Terms used here

Short, plain-language definitions of the words this calculator uses.

Troy ounce The unit precious metals are priced in, equal to about 31.1 grams. Wire gauge The thickness of jewellery wire, quoted in the American Wire Gauge system where a HIGHER number means a THINNER wire.

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