Does anyone know why the bigger the needle the smaller the number used to size it?
E.g. a ‘30G’ needle has a smaller diameter than a ‘14G’? I can’t find the information on any websites so hoped you lot might be able to help
Cheers,
nar00
(frustrated medical student)
Lots of things are similar. Wire sizes are an example. A 20 gauge wire is smaller than a 10 gauge.
I think that needles are based on the same type of system that wire sizes use. The reason you have bigger numbers for smaller wires/needles is that you start with a large size hunk of metal, and repeatedly draw it out until you get it down to the size you want. More draws corresponds to a thinner wire, so a size of 14 would mean it was drawn 14 times, and would therefore be much thicker than a wire that was drawn 30 times.
I see that minor7flat5 not only types faster than I do, but even managed to post a link.
And just because it’s somewhat relevant: It’s similar to shotgun gauges which are also a larger number the smaller the diameter of the barrel. While the gauge of wire and needles are related to drawings, the gauge of a shotgun is related to the number of spherical lead balls the same size as the barrel you can make from a pound of lead.