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tinplate

The thickness of the coating of tinplate was described by specifying the mass in pounds of tin per “base box” (or “basis box” in Great Britain).

Great Britain

In Britain, the basis box was a quantity of 112 sheets, each 14 inches by 10 inches.

Designation	No. of sheets per box	Size, inches	Net weight per box, pounds	Thickness, in Stub’s gauge	Thickness, S.W.G.	lbs/sq. ft
1C or 1 Com.	225	13¾ × 10	112	30	30	0.514
2C	225	13¼ × 9¾	105
3C	225	12¾ × 9½	98
HC	225	13¾ × 10	119
HX	225	13¾ × 10	147
IX (1X)	225	13¾ × 10	140	28	27	0.643
2 X	225	13¼ × 9¾	133	27	26	0.739
3 X	225	12¾ × 9½	126	26	25	0.836
1 XX	225	13¾ × 10	161
1 XXX	225	13¾ × 10	182
1 XXXX	225	13¾ × 10	203	25	23	0.932
1 XXXXX	225	13¾ × 10	224
1 XXXXXX	225	13¾ × 10	145
D C	100	16¾ × 12½	105*		27	0.664
D X	100	16¾ × 12½	126		24	0.854
D XX	100	16¾ × 12½	147		23	0.996
D XXX	100	16¾ × 12½	168		22	1.138
D XXXX	100	16¾ × 12½	189		21	1.281
S D C	200	15 × 11	168		26	0.733
S D X	200	15 × 11	189*		25	0.825
S D XX	200	15 × 11	210*		24	0.916
S D XXX	200	15 × 11	231*		23	1.008
S D XXXX	200	15 × 11	252*		22	1.100
SD XXXXX	200	15 × 11	272
SD XXXXXX	200	15 × 11	293
Leaded 1C	112	20 × 14	112
Leaded 1X	112	20 × 14	140
ICW	225	13¾ × 10	112
IXW	225	13¾ × 10	140
CSDW	200	15 × 11	168
CIIW	100	16¾ × 12½	105
XIIW	100	16¾ × 12½	126
Wasters	200	13¾ × 10	126
TT	450	13¾ × 10	112
X TT	450	13¾ × 10	126

John Thomas Hurst
A Handbook of Formulæ, Tables, and Memoranda for Architectural Surveyors and Others Engaged in Building.
London: E. and F. N. Spon, 1865.
Page 96.

*Compared with and augmented from Hall, Kimbark and Co's Illustrated Catalog, Chicago 1890, page 306. which gives in a few cases slightly different values for the net weight: for DC, 98 instead of 105, and for SDX through SDXXXX, 188, 209, 230 and 251 instead of the 189, 210, 231 and 252 shown.

United States

Tin plate was customarily supplied in 14 inch by 20 inch sheets, in boxes of 112 sheets. The thinnest sheets, called “taggers,” came in two thicknesses, 34 (150 sheets in a box) and 38 (225 sheets in a box). Kent (1916) describes the varieties of tin plate succinctly:

Tin Plates are made of soft sheet steel coated with tin, and are called in the trade “coke” or “charcoal” plates according to the weight of coating. These terms have survived from the time when the highest quality of plate was made from charcoal-iron, while the lower grades were made from coke-iron. Consequently, plates today [1916] with the lighter coatings are known as coke-plates, and are used for tin cans, etc. The various grades of charcoal-plates are designated by the letters A to AAAAA, the latter having the heaviest coating and the highest polish. There is one other brand made with a heavier coating than 5A, which is especially adapted for nickel-plating. The unit of value and measurement of tin plates is the “base-box, ” which will hold 112 sheets of 14 × 20 in. plate, or 31360 sq.in of any size. Plates lighter than 65 lb. per base box (No. 30 gage) are known as taggers tin.²

The following table presents all the American tin plate designations of which we are aware. It does not necessarily represent only designations in use at one particular time.

Trade term	Nearest wire gauge	Approx. thickness in inches	Weight per square foot in pounds	Weight of box of 112 14 × 20 inch sheets
55	38	0.0060	0.2525	55
60	37	0.0066	0.2756	60
65	36	0.0071	0.2987	65
70	35	0.0077	0.3212	75
75	34	0.0082	0.3444	75
80	33	0.0088	0.3675	80
85	32	0.0093	0.3900	85
90	31	0.0099	0.4131	90
95	31	0.0104	0.4362	95
100	30½		0.459	100
ICL	31	0.0110	0.4594	100
IC	30	0.0117	0.490	107
	30	0.0123	0.514	112
118	29	0.0130	0.542	118
	29	0.0135	0.565	123
IX	28	0.0148	0.620	135
IXL	28	0.0141	0.588	128
DC	28	0.0153	0.638	139
2X	27	0.0170	0.711	155
2XL	27	0.0163	0.679	148
3X	26	0.0192	0.804	175
3XL	26	0.0184	0.771	168
DX	25	0.0198	0.827	180
4X	25	0.0214	0.895	195
4XL	25	0.0206	0.863	188
D2X	24	0.0231	0.964	210
5X	24	0.0236	0.987	215
6XL	24	0.0250	1.047	228
6X	23	0.0258	1.079	235
D3X	23	0.0264	1.102	240
7XL	23	0.0272	1.139	248
7X	23	0.0280	1.171	255
8XL	22	0.0294	1.231	268
D4X	22	0.0296	1.239	270
8X	22	0.0302	1.263	275

1. W.E. Hoare, E.S. Hedges and B.T.K. Barry.
The Technology of Tinplate.
London: Edward Arnold, 1965.

2. William Kent.
The Mechanical Engineers' Pocket-Book. A Reference-Book of Rules, Tables, Data and Formulae. 9th ed.
New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1916.

Page 192.

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