> In article
> <7df748ee-fd2d-4e24-9e36-a92e27654...@m44g2000hsc.googlegroups.com>,
>  Dee Dee shentel.net> wrote:
>

>> I do wonder if ss could be 18 gauge and it be made a thinner 18 gauge,
>> or is 18 gauge 'always' a certain thickness.  If so, this must've been
>> 20+ :-))

>
> As a machinist, I can speak with some level of so-called expertise on
> this one.  The Gauge of a metal is a measurement, and so cannot be
> thinned and retain said gauge.  The thickness of a given steel varies by
> which form of steel is being measured.  In the case of Stainless,
> 18-gauge measures .050, or "fifty thousandths," as a machinist or
> metallurgist would say it.
>
> Now this thickness is the thickness of the metal prior to pressing.  The
> punch press process will result in controlled distortions of the metal
> and that will in turn lead to portions of the metal getting thinner, but
> this is not in the way you were concerned with.  The flat, top surface
> of your table will retain its gauged thickness.  It is edges, holes and
> pressed forms that will result in stretching the material.  These
> extrusions will get thinner, but the forming will make these extrusions
> in certain ways structurally stronger.
>
> The concept of the thinning can be exhibited by taking a wide rubber
> band and holding it between your hands barely taught.  Looking at it, it
> is straight and smooth.  But as you pull it, the edges bow in towards
> each other, making the band appear thinner.
>
> Conversely, the form's shapes are used to make the overall metal
> structurally stronger.  Lay a piece of paper between to books of equal
> thickenss and the paper cannot even support its own weight.  But give
> the paper a fan fold, bending the paper every half inch in opposing
> directions until you have folded the piece of paper, and then lay it
> back between the two books, and you will find it can hold several ounces
> of weight.  Likewise, the formed edges and ridges of your table add to
> the table's strength.  Folds can get a bit thicker, but any stretching
> will cause the metal to get thinner.  
>
> Regardless the bending, forming and stretching, it is still considered
> the same gauge of metal.  As a matter of practical physics, it is not
> possible to thin the metal by pushing it thinner.  To thin sheet metal,
> it must be rolled, similar to a pizza parlour's dough roller.  Should
> this be done, the metal then will have a thinner gauge, and cannot
> legally be called the thicker gauge.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> If you have any further questions, or I didn't explain anything here
> quite clear, feel free to ask here or by e-mail.
>
> jt