Woodworker's tool chest: wire gauge

This wire gauge was contained in a tool chest belonging to woodworker Jesse Bryson Stalcup. This handy oblong wire gauge was made for measuring wire circumference. Twenty-six slots are available for sizing, each stamped with a number. Four of the smallest notches are placed on the spacers between the biggest openings. "English Standard" is stamped on the reverse side. The English Standard was a sizing system developed in the mid-1850s. At some point it was adopted in the United States and renamed "American" wire gauge. Stalcup was a skilled carpenter, millwright, and woodworker who worked in and around Waynesville, N.C., Macon County, N.C., and Hiawassee, Ga., circa 1880s-1930. The chest contains a variety of woodworking tools typically used by craftsmen in the late 19th and early 20th centuries