Updated November 2, 2026 · Indumor
Gauge 16 is not a thickness.
It is a number that changes depending on who you ask: 1.6 mm at an Argentine sales counter, 1.52 mm on the US steel sheet chart, 1.61 mm on the galvanized one and 1.65 mm on BWG. This page brings the four together and adds the weight of a full sheet in the most common thicknesses and commercial sizes.
| Gauge | Argentina mm | Argentina kg/m² | BWG mm | BWG in | Steel MSG mm | Steel MSG in | Galvanized mm | Galvanized in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | – | – | 4.57 | 0.180 | 4.55 | 0.1793 | – | – |
| 8 | – | – | 4.19 | 0.165 | 4.18 | 0.1644 | 4.27 | 0.1681 |
| 9 | – | – | 3.76 | 0.148 | 3.80 | 0.1495 | 3.89 | 0.1532 |
| 10 | – | – | 3.40 | 0.134 | 3.42 | 0.1345 | 3.51 | 0.1382 |
| 11 | – | – | 3.05 | 0.120 | 3.04 | 0.1196 | 3.13 | 0.1233 |
| 12 | – | – | 2.77 | 0.109 | 2.66 | 0.1046 | 2.75 | 0.1084 |
| 13 | – | – | 2.41 | 0.095 | 2.28 | 0.0897 | 2.37 | 0.0934 |
| 14 | 2.00 | 15.70 | 2.11 | 0.083 | 1.90 | 0.0747 | 1.99 | 0.0785 |
| 15 | – | – | 1.83 | 0.072 | 1.71 | 0.0673 | 1.80 | 0.0710 |
| 16 | 1.60 | 12.56 | 1.65 | 0.065 | 1.52 | 0.0598 | 1.61 | 0.0635 |
| 17 | – | – | 1.47 | 0.058 | 1.37 | 0.0538 | 1.46 | 0.0575 |
| 18 | 1.25 | 9.81 | 1.24 | 0.049 | 1.21 | 0.0478 | 1.31 | 0.0516 |
| 19 | – | – | 1.07 | 0.042 | 1.06 | 0.0418 | 1.16 | 0.0456 |
| 20 | 0.90 | 7.07 | 0.89 | 0.035 | 0.91 | 0.0359 | 1.01 | 0.0396 |
| 21 | – | – | 0.81 | 0.032 | 0.84 | 0.0329 | 0.93 | 0.0366 |
| 22 | 0.70 | 5.50 | 0.71 | 0.028 | 0.76 | 0.0299 | 0.85 | 0.0336 |
| 23 | – | – | 0.64 | 0.025 | 0.68 | 0.0269 | 0.78 | 0.0306 |
| 24 | 0.55 | 4.32 | 0.56 | 0.022 | 0.61 | 0.0239 | 0.70 | 0.0276 |
| 25 | 0.50 | 3.93 | 0.51 | 0.020 | 0.53 | 0.0209 | 0.63 | 0.0247 |
| 26 | 0.45 | 3.53 | 0.46 | 0.018 | 0.45 | 0.0179 | 0.55 | 0.0217 |
| 27 | 0.40 | 3.14 | 0.41 | 0.016 | 0.42 | 0.0164 | 0.51 | 0.0202 |
| 28 | – | – | 0.36 | 0.014 | 0.38 | 0.0149 | 0.47 | 0.0187 |
| Thickness mm | Weight kg/m² | 1000 × 2000 kg/sheet | 1220 × 2440 kg/sheet | 1500 × 3000 kg/sheet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 | 3.93 | 7.9 | 11.7 | 17.7 |
| 0.7 | 5.50 | 11.0 | 16.4 | 24.7 |
| 0.9 | 7.07 | 14.1 | 21.0 | 31.8 |
| 1.25 | 9.81 | 19.6 | 29.2 | 44.2 |
| 1.6 | 12.56 | 25.1 | 37.4 | 56.5 |
| 2 | 15.70 | 31.4 | 46.7 | 70.7 |
| 2.5 | 19.63 | 39.3 | 58.4 | 88.3 |
| 3.2 | 25.12 | 50.2 | 74.8 | 113.0 |
| 4 | 31.40 | 62.8 | 93.5 | 141.3 |
| 4.76 | 37.37 | 74.7 | 111.2 | 168.1 |
| 5 | 39.25 | 78.5 | 116.8 | 176.6 |
| 6 | 47.10 | 94.2 | 140.2 | 212.0 |
| 6.35 | 49.85 | 99.7 | 148.4 | 224.3 |
| 8 | 62.80 | 125.6 | 186.9 | 282.6 |
| 9.53 | 74.81 | 149.6 | 222.7 | 336.6 |
| 10 | 78.50 | 157.0 | 233.7 | 353.3 |
| 12 | 94.20 | 188.4 | 280.4 | 423.9 |
| 12.7 | 99.70 | 199.4 | 296.8 | 448.6 |
| 16 | 125.60 | 251.2 | 373.9 | 565.2 |
| 19.05 | 149.54 | 299.1 | 445.2 | 672.9 |
| 25.4 | 199.39 | 398.8 | 593.5 | 897.3 |
In gauges, a higher number means a thinner sheet, and the steps are not even. BWG was born in England in the early 19th century, for wire, and stayed on in tubing by custom. The US steel gauge comes from an 1893 law that set not thicknesses but weights, in ounces per square foot, and the galvanized gauge adds 2.5 ounces for the zinc. That is why the columns disagree: they are separate charts that happen to share numbers. The kilograms in the table come from multiplying thickness in millimeters by 7.85.
For a single part, the math is thickness times width times length, in millimeters, times 7.85 and divided by a million. A 500 × 800 piece in 3.2 mm weighs 10 kg. The same math tells you when you need a hoist: a 1220 × 2440 sheet in 3.2 mm weighs 74.8 kg and two people can move it with care; in 6.35 mm it weighs 148 kg, and that is no longer a job for hands.
In the Argentine trade, gauge means something else: a round number in millimeters, close to BWG. Gauge 14 is 2 mm; 16, 1.6; 18, 1.25; 20, 0.9; 22, 0.7 and 24, 0.55, although some distributors say 0.56. The trap shows up with foreign drawings or sheet: gauge 24 galvanized is 0.55 mm here and 0.70 mm on a US chart, 27 % more. The MSG and galvanized columns are for reading those papers, not for buying in Argentina.
One habit is worth breaking: writing “14 gauge” on a bending drawing. The estimator reads 1.9 mm from a chart, the buyer orders 2 mm because that is what is available, and the press brake programmer works out the flat pattern with either one. The part can come out off, and the error only shows when it will not fit. That flat pattern is covered in CNC bending tolerances.
On a drawing, a purchase order or a cutting program, thickness is written in millimeters. The gauge can go in parentheses, nothing more.
For heavier plate, you still hear fractions of an inch: 3/16, 1/4, 3/8, 1/2. Those are 4.76, 6.35, 9.53 and 12.7 mm, and they should not be confused with nearby metric sizes, because 6 mm and 6.35 mm do not weigh the same: on a 1220 × 2440 sheet that is 140 kg against 148.4 kg. Both cut the same on a laser and bend on the same press brake, and at Indumor we work to whatever thickness the drawing states.
So when someone says “gauge 16,” ask for millimeters. Gauge 16 is not a thickness: it is a nickname, and it gets translated before cutting.
Give us the thickness in millimeters and we will quote from your drawing.
© Indumor 2010–2026 — Industrial steel fabrication, Córdoba, Argentina
