Listed

below are the prices and part numbers (as of 27 July 2013) on McMaster.com for 1 pound spools of 4 types of metal wire. I
selected these four metals because they are the best suited for chainmaille rings.
It should be noted that this is a very small subset of the selection McMaster offers. For example, they offer smaller spools of small
diameter wire. You know, in case you don't want a couple kilometers of the stuff. McMaster also offers more metals, ie ~20 different
kinds of carbon steel, copper, tungsten, and titanium.
I also calculated how many rings of various sizes you could make from the spools. I removed the outright impossible combinations (ie
1/8" rings from .102" wire) by requiring the ring's inner diameter is at least twice of the wire's diameter. This is a necessary but
insufficient condition, so I'm sure there are still impossible combinations listed.

Stainless Steel alloy 302/304, matte finish, round, soft temper, 1 pound spool
AWG (appx) Diameter (inch) ft/spool
meters/spool Part #
36
0.005
14,890
4,538 9882K21
34
0.006
10,340
3,152 9882K23
33
0.007
7,595
2,315 9882K25
32
0.008
5,815
1,772 9882K27
30
0.01
3,720
1,134 9882K41
28
0.012
2,585
788 9882K45
27
0.014
1,895
578 9882K49
27
0.015
1,655
504 8860K18
24
0.02
930
283 8860K61
22
0.025
595
181 8860K62
20
0.032
360
110 8860K63
19
0.038
255
78 8860K73
18
0.041
220
67 8860K64
17
0.045
180
55 8860K77
16
0.051
140
43 8860K65
14
0.064
91
28 8860K19
12
0.081
57
17 8860K21
10
0.102
36
11 8860K22

Price
$55.67
$52.12
$49.74
$49.54
$46.54
$43.26
$42.64
$26.94
$20.52
$20.20
$13.29
$14.21
$14.88
$14.87
$15.38
$12.94
$11.98
$11.91

1/8" rings/spool 1/4" rings/spool 3/8" rings/spool 1/2" rings/spool

455734
227539
151911
113769
316473
158009
105491
79004
232458
116062
77486
58031
177978
88861
59326
44430
113857
56847
37952
28423
79118
39502
26373
19751
58000
28958
19333
14479
50654
25291
16885
12645
28464
14212
9488
7106
18211
9092
6070
4546
11018
5501
3673
2751
7805
3897
2602
1948
6733
3362
2244
1681
5509
2751
1836
1375
1428
1070
928
695
436
275

Brass alloy 260, matte finish, round, soft temper, 1 pound spool
AWG (appx) Diameter (inch) Ft./Spool
Meters/spool Part #
24
0.02
850
259 8864K71
22
0.025
535
163 8864K72
20
0.032
335
102 8864K73
18
0.04
210
64 8864K74
16
0.051
130
40 8864K75
14
0.064
83
25 8864K76

Price
$27.22
$25.67
$24.44
$23.57
$22.95
$21.98

1/8" rings/spool 1/4" rings/spool 3/8" rings/spool 1/2" rings/spool

26016
12989
8672
6495
16375
8176
5458
4088
10253
5119
3418
2560
6427
3209
2142
1605
1326
993
847
634

Aluminum alloy 1100, matte finish, round, soft temper, 1 pound spool
AWG (appx) Diameter
Ft./Spool
Meters/spool Part #
28
0.013
6,940
2115 8904K76
26
0.016
4,355
1327 8904K77
24
0.02
2,725
831 8904K78
22
0.025
1,720
524 8904K79
20
0.032
1,075
328 8904K81
18
0.04
675
206 8904K82
16
0.051
425
130 8904K83
14
0.064
265
81 8904K84
12
0.081
165
50 8904K85

Each
$44.40
$27.62
$23.84
$23.09
$23.01
$22.50
$22.32
$22.28
$20.81

1/8" rings/spool 1/4" rings/spool 3/8" rings/spool 1/2" rings/spool

212411
106052
70804
53026
133292
66550
44431
33275
83403
41642
27801
20821
52644
26284
17548
13142
32902
16427
10967
8214
20660
10315
6887
5157
4336
3247
2704
2025
1683
1261

Galvanized carbon steel type 1008, matte finish, round, soft temper, 1 pound spool
AWG (appx) Diameter (inch) Ft/spool
Meters/spool part #
27
0.014
1,910
582 8872K39
26
0.016
1,425
434 8872K38
25
0.018
1,140
347 8872K37
23
0.023
705
215 8872K36
21
0.029
455
139 8872K35
19
0.035
305
93 8872K34
18
0.041
220
67 8872K33
16
0.048
165
50 8872K32
14
0.063
96
29 8872K31
12
0.08
55
17 8872K49
10
0.106
33
10 8872K61

Price
$15.15
$14.40
$12.87
$12.03
$11.08
$11.39
$11.12
$11.29
$10.94
$10.58
$6.23

1/8" rings/spool 1/4" rings/spool 3/8" rings/spool 1/2" rings/spool

58459
29187
19486
14594
43615
21776
14538
10888
34892
17421
11631
8710
21578
10773
7193
5387
13926
6953
4642
3477
9335
4661
3112
2330
6733
3362
2244
1681
1683
1261
979
734
420
252