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Post by Tony W on Sept 7, 2007 17:22:36 GMT -5
How in the world do ya'll get these @#$$#% wires to be straight!! I have these bananna shaped silver wires that just mock me and go in any direction they want. I've pulled them through a polish cloth, tried to bend them back against the curve, squeezed them in a book, said incantations, cussed, and soon I may cry Please help! I'm using 22 hh. Thanks!! T
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Post by akansan on Sept 7, 2007 17:44:18 GMT -5
LOL! The trick is to use a thingy-ma-bob when wrapping...and use tape and binding wires obsessively. Let me dig up the thread on the thingy-ma-bobs... forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/index.cgi?board=wwp&action=display&thread=1151288562I clamp one of these on both ends at first, until I get the wires bound where I like them. Then I release one end and slowly work with wire...and then, at the very end, I clamp the two ends together where they meet to make a nice tight bail.
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Post by Jurrasic Jonje on Sept 7, 2007 18:20:33 GMT -5
Another trick is to use dead soft wire. Half hard is a lil more difficult to straighten.
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Post by Tony W on Sept 7, 2007 22:51:38 GMT -5
Thanks, guys! It looks like the thingys with hemostats would go a long way to helping. And can't beat the price. T
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Post by Cher on Sept 8, 2007 14:09:19 GMT -5
I've got a roll of that blue painter's tape and use that to hold the wires together, it works good if you don't have the other one. I found that difficult for me to deal with.
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nancyf
has rocks in the head
Wired Cowgirl
Member since April 2007
Posts: 629
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Post by nancyf on Sept 12, 2007 11:22:40 GMT -5
soft wire is definitely easier...yet 22 gauge hh shouldn't be bad. I take one end and put my flat nose pliers on it to make sure the wires are laying flat...then tape it. I hold that end and pull the wires together more with a cloth...when I reach the other end and know the wires are together, I tape that end also. Lay the wires flat on the table and tape over the ends to stick em to the table...mark where I will bind...untape and start binding them together. Actually, I don't have to tape them to the table anymore, but it is easier when starting out. I don't mark my wires with the Sharpie (fine point) pen very often either...just know where I want to bind. The more you work with wire, the more precise and the faster you will get. Good luck and happy bending.
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Post by docone31 on Sept 13, 2007 19:35:41 GMT -5
Ok, campers. First, six the guage. To get straight wires, use the square, or round in a drawplate. I start with .032. Then pull it down to either .025, .030, or .020. I also make half round the same way. To soften the wire to make it bendable, I anneal it. I make a coil of the wire I pulled, then flame it cherry red on a piece of 2 X 12 framing lumber. Pickle it, and voila'! managable wire. This makes all the difference in the world on the finished product. Never get by guage, or buy by carat. Both get real expensive real quickly. The Handy/Harmon chart allows +- 12% over measured value going by guage. 20 guage must by .032. Get a mike and measure it sometime. You are buying 20 guage, but it has ended up at least with my orders, .031, .030. Food for thought. Yes, 14K20 can be pulled down. It is also sold by the thousandths, not guage.
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Post by Tony W on Sept 15, 2007 1:05:06 GMT -5
Thanks, Nancy, for the explaination! I think I can make it easier now that I have some hemostats to go with the tape. And I'll get some thingys too. Doc, I was wondering if I couldn't get straight wire. And I was wondering about trying to melt, or at least soften the wire. What are you pickling with, and what are you heating with? Can I use a plumbing torch on silver wire? Thanks, ya'll! Tony
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