What Is The Number On Linen Thread

[tonioo]

On the unwaxed linen thread like Fil Au Chinois, they have a number ex. 532 , 632 what is this number, Is it the size of the thread or the weight?

and some has like 60/3, so what is it exactly, very confuse

and if I want to buy how do I know the actually dimension like diameter of the thread, is this number mean in itself

thank yoou

[ChuckBurrows]

I can't answer for the 532, 632, etc. but anytime it is 60/3 or 18/3 - the first number before the slash is the gauge (i.e. thickness) of the individual strands and the second number is the number of strands - in this case three strands. Like metal the larger the gauge number the thinner the thread strands so a 25/3 thread and an 18/3 thread both have three strands but the 25/3 is overall thinner. Hope that helps

[tonioo]

thank you, that very helpful

for what I see, I think the slash number usually used in the waxed linen and another type use in the unwaxed one

however, if anybody know about the number of the Fil Au Chinois brand (French) , the Babour (Irish) or Campbell's (Irish)

they all use the number like 532 , 632 for the unwaxed linen thread. I know just higher number, the smaller of the thread

[ChuckBurrows]

Maybe those sizes such as 532 are metric since the French in particular have been using the metric system for a very long time? In so far as Barbour's unwaxed linen that is available here in the United States every box I've bought over the last 50 years lists the sizes with the slash such as 18/3

[seanafk]

Here are the Lin Cable thicknesses and corresponding numbers:

Very Thick 332- .77mm thread diameter

Thick 432- 0.63mm thread diameter

Medium, 532- 0.57mm thread diameter

Fine 632- 0.51mm thread diameter

Very Fine 832- 0.43mm thread diameter

If you're familiar with Crawford's Irish Linen thread, the 432 is about the thickness of the 3ply and the 532 for the 2 ply.

The Lin Cable is really dense though and I'd say you could go finer to the 532 and get the equivalent strength of the 3ply or the 4ply

PS- We currently carry 432 and 532 Lin Cable (corded linen).

[CustomDoug]

seanafk, That's a helpful bit of info, thanks. Just curious - why is there an extra $12 fee for the 532 size ?

[seanafk]

Sorry for the late reply, somehow notifications got disabled for me for this topic.

All of the smaller threads are more expensive; my guess is that they're harder to manufacture successfully. (smaller tolerance since it's thinner?) Also they're spooled by weight (50g) so a 432 spool is 133 meters vs 375 meters for a 832 spool so you get more thread per spool in the finer threads.