What’s the best way to make parts from thread in card kits?

[GrandpaPhil]

In my card kit of the Solferino, the kit has you make some of the parts from thread.

 

 

My current plan involves sewing pins, styrofoam, saran wrap and heavily thinned down glued.

 

Is there a better way to do this?

[ccoyle]

I believe those parts are more correctly made from wire. I'm afraid such knowledge is above my pay grade. To get the sort of neatness shown in that template, you're probably looking at some kind of soldering.

[GrandpaPhil]

Okay!  I can do that!

Edited December 21, 2021 by GrandpaPhil

[wefalck]

Are you referring to the insert indicated with 1:1 ? This looks like a template for shaping something. I would make a copy and solder it up from a suitable wire size.

[GrandpaPhil]

Yes, after reflection, I am going to solder it up from some .020” anodized steel wire.

 

I have never tried soldering steel wire,  but I am pretty good at soldering electrical stuff.  So, we will see how this goes.

 

I need to learn how anyhow, because I have been enjoying the Solferino and developing the plans for the Magenta.  
 

There’s quite a lot of metalworking involved in anything built from the later half of the 19th century.

 

And, the French Ministry Of Defense’s website has many more mid to late 19th century warships on it.  We’ll see how this iteration goes, but…I may need to build more.

[wefalck]

What do you mean by 'anodised' steel wire ? Anodisation is normally a process that makes a metal corrosion resistant by kind of electroplating a dense layer of a defined oxide on it. It is mostly used on aluminium. In any case, an oxide layer is exactly what you don't want, when soldering, as you need the metal-metal contact.

 

(Soft)soldering steel is possible, but usually requires a pretty strong acidic flux. So you need to clean the parts in an alkaline solution to neutralise the flux afterwards. 

 

Instead of steel, I would rather go for hard brass. Much easier to solder.

[GrandpaPhil]

Eberhardt,

  Thank you very much for the advice.  
 

I got the steel wire from a hardware store a couple projects back.  It’s what I typically make my eyebolts and other metal fittings from.
 

I have a half pound spool of 26 gauge brass wire saved in my EBay cart.  I’ll buy that to try soldering.

Edited December 22, 2021 by GrandpaPhil

[wefalck]

This sounds like soft steel-wire, perhaps it is 'annealed', i.e. softened steel, rather than 'anodised' ? That would give you a better chance to solder. However, I still would rather go for brass in order to avoid rust problems.

[Bill Hudson]

I would recommend using brass beading wire or copper of the same gauge.  The iron wire rusts easily. The method I use to take the kinks out and harden both copper and brass wire is to cut a long length of wire and clamp one end in a vise. Grab the other end with pliers and pull to stretch the wire some. This will give you nice straight and hardened wire. 

 

Bill Hudson

[GrandpaPhil]

Yes, you are correct.  
 

It is annealed, not anodized.