Originally Posted by
ghostrider
That's pretty close to the actual way it's figured. For needles, wire, thread, anything with a 'higher number is thinner' measurement, it's based on the number of them it takes to fill a tube of a certain diameter. Not confusing at all when you look at it that way.
That is how gauge size is determined, anything hardwaring and round. Stainless Steel has a gauge size too, like needles.