How to use Aspect Ratio

Ring sizes and converting them can easily cause confusion.

Aspect ratio is the easy way out of the confusion. AR is aspect ratio.

It is the ratio of the ID divided by the wire diameter (AR=ID/wiredia)

Basically it tells you how fat the donut is. Some weaves require loose rings and some require tight (fat) rings.

The weave samplers page tells you recommended AR's for some weaves.

I'll explain how to use AR by giving an example: lets say you are looking for a ring for a certain project. You know a size that works but you want to use a ring in a different gauge. (We use standard wire gauge. A lot of other companies use American Wire gauge.)* I recommend bypassing the gauge confusion and looking at the size in decimal inches or mm. This info is listed for every ring and highlighted in the following listing for you. The actual inner diameter of the ring is also given in decimal inches or mm.

(For more information of reading the information provided on the site see the How to Read the Site page. )

Ok so now you've figured out what ring it is that you have and what its dimensions are in mm or inches. You've used this ring for a certain project and liked it but can't get 19g in brass and you'd like to try brass. You've decide 18g will be good.

Here's where you look at the AR.

The AR for the ring you liked is listed in green You can do one of 2 things next. You can go directly to the material you were interested in and the size you wanted and look for this AR. it will be listed as shown above (except not green).

Alternatively you can "Search by AR". This can be clicked on in the weaves samplers page. The range depends on the weave - you can always look again with a different range if too few rings pop up in your range.

What happens when the exact number doesn't come up? Typically it won't and this is normal. You have to decide will tighter be ok? Would looser be better? This depends on the weave and you. Tighter can be used but it depends on your experience with the weave - beginners tend to have more trouble closing rings in tight weaves. You can get a ring too tight. Most weaves work well enough in a range of about +/-0.3 on the AR. You can confirm by looking at the weaves samples page and seeing the recommended sizes. There are links at the top of that page as well for more resources on weaves and AR.

* If you need a ring that is their size 18g - this is 0.04" (1mm) - it is our 19g.