In need of very thin steel wire (0.010 inch or less)

[Modeler12]

In an earlier thread Chuck and Ulises Victoria mentioned how to make very small eye bolts with very thin wire.

I have done some, need more wire and here is the story.

 

I have this spool of old steel (magnetic?) wire, but have no idea where it came from. It is getting smaller and I would like more, but don't know where to get it. It is 0.010 inch in diameter, very easy to twist and has been great to make some tiny eye bolts (as shown below).

I would use other than steel but (again) it has to be 0.010 inch or thinner. In Sweden there is a company that makes special tungsten wire, but I am afraid to go that far (or should I?).

 

Here is why:  

The little adapter to the pin vise was one idea that was mentioned in the earlier thread

and credit goes to Ulises Victoria for that great idea. Mucho gratias, mon amigo.

All you have to do is make a loop of the wire and start twisting. 

 

The second picture is part of the gun carriage I discussed earlier. I hope it shows why I am interested in tiny eye bolts and rings.

 

Does anyone know where I can get more metal wire that is .010 inch or less in diameter??

Edited March 29, 2014 by Modeler12

[allanyed]

McMaster Carr Item 9666K11 is 0.009 and 9666K12 is 0.010" diameter.  It is a coated wire so I do not now if you can blacken it as is or have to strip it clean first.  I have used 0.010 brass wire without problems. It of course can be blackened and no rust to worry about either as the years go by.  I found the brass wire at a few model RR supply sites.

 

Allan

[NMBROOK]

I buy enameled copper wire on spools from the electronics store Maplins in the uk.It is used for winding armatures.You can get in a multitude of diameters ranging down to far below what you are after.The beauty is it works out very cheap per m.Can't tell you how cheap as they are listed by weight.I should imagine there will be a similar store in your country.

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

Edited March 30, 2014 by NMBROOK

[Modeler12]

Thank you fellows. I will follow up on that.

 

The problem with the McMaster Carr Item 9666K11 wire is that it is very stiff. It is used for piano wire and does not bend easily. I could temper it, probably. But I will get some of the brass wire.

 

Looking further down the page of the McMaster catalogue I noticed tin coated copper wire down to .003 inch. That might be interesting.

Edited April 3, 2014 by Modeler12

[twintrow]

Jay

You might be able to find it where they sell Jewelery making supplies (Hobby Lobby, etc.)

I've seen the displays and they certainly have several thin wires there.

 

Tom

[old salt]

Jay,

You might try  www.modelexpo-online.com

They have a section of Brass wire in various gages.

I think 26 gauge would be getting close to your required diameter.

Good luck,

Ted

[Ulises Victoria]

Thank you for the credit

As a last resort, you may try steel electric guitar strings. They start at .008 if I'm not mistaken. This may be a more expensive solution, though, but the material is top notch. I think you can buy them in bulk in certain places.

 

http://www.juststrings.com/plainsteelguitarbulkstrings.html

Edited April 4, 2014 by Ulises Victoria

[Modeler12]

Thank you for the credit

As a last resort, you may try steel electric guitar strings. They start at .008 if I'm not mistaken. This may be a more expensive solution, though, but the material is top notch. I think you can buy them in bulk in certain places.

 

http://www.juststrings.com/plainsteelguitarbulkstrings.html

The problem with this wire is also that it is too stiff. As you know, Ulises, I have to be able to twist and bend it in order to make those tiny eyebolts.

I am going to order some of the copper wire from McMast Carr and give those a try. Again, I prefer steel because it should be stronger.

Thanks all of you for your suggestions.

[michaelmys]

Check out www.wires.co.uk  They have a huge range of wires in all sorts of materials, and sizes down to 0.1mm, which is approximately 0.004 inch. They have posted  to me in New Zealand, and the service was quick, and the shipping rates very reasonable (although I can't remember exactly what they were). It's sold by weight, so you get a ridiculous amount of the thinner wires. For example, a 125g reel of 0.1mm copper wire contains 1790 metres of wire! That should last for a few models!

Cheers!

Michael

[Guest EricD]

Another place to check is a craft shop where people who do floral work shop.  They use all kinds of wire and some is very thin. 

[Don9of11]

I have gotten small wire at Pat Catans or Michaels. I have sizes ranging from 18 gauge (.04 diameter) down to 34 gauge (.006 diameter), both brass and steel. I imagine Hobby Lobby has stuff like that too.

[GaryKap]

Here is another suggestion.  I used to be into fly tying (as in fly fishing).  Fly tying materials included some very thin (usually copper) wire.  I looked online and Cabelas carries what they all "ultra wire".  It comes in colors including black.   Here is a link:

http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=743795&destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fproduct.jsp%3FparentCategoryId%3D104793480%26categoryId%3D104721480%26subCategoryId%3D104340780%26indexId%3D103886280%26productId%3D741424%26type%3Dproduct%26destination%3D%252Fcatalog%252Fbrowse%252Fthread-beads-eyes%252F_%252FN-1100440%252FNo-48%252FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_103886280%253FWTz_l%253DSBC%25253BMMcat104793480%25253Bcat104721480%25253Bcat104340780%2526WTz_st%253DGuidedNav%2526WTz_stype%253DGNP%2526recordsPerPage%253D48%26WTz_l%3DSBC%253BMMcat104793480%253Bcat104721480%253Bcat104340780%253Bcat103886280&WTz_l=YMAL%3BIK-310670

(I hope this works). I don't know anything about it, but it might be worth a look.   Anyway, if you have a store that sells fly tying materials nearby, you might want to check them out as a source.

<<Gary>>

p.s. If this works, you might also consider purchasing a fly tying bobbin - a device that holds the spool of wire and lets you control how the wire pays out of it.  This might allow you to control small lengths of fine wire more effectively, and might also be helpful if you wanted to strop blocks with it. 

Edited May 2, 2014 by GaryKap

[von stetina]

You can get .010 brass solid rod  and .008 solid silica bronze rod from Special Shapes. They have a web site. They have been around forever. I use this rod all the time. It comes in 3 and 2 foot for the silica bronze. If you want it nice and soft heat cherry red first.

 

For wire spools in copper and steel go to MSC Industrial supplies. they are cheap and fast. I use them for tons of stuuf, don'r know why others don't!

 

Von Stetina

[wefalck]

Apart from www.wires.co.uk, who also sell pre-tinned copper wire and a lot of wires made from other metals, you may want to search for NiCr- or -Konstantan/Constantan wire. These alloys are used for heating devices, thermo-constant resistors (hence the name), and for thermo-cutting saws (for cutting polystyrene foam). The diameter goes down to 0.04 mm. I got a small supply of various diameters through ebay. These wires also come as flat wires, btw.

 

wefalck 

[Lory]

Well, look at me... I figured soemthing out by myself and all I had to do was ask.  I was restringing a banjo and I saw that the string could be bent, and it would hold a form.  I was having a very bad time with my crowsnest railings. 

 

I used a pen to curve the .010 string, clipped it a bit long, fed the curve through the stancion holes.  It held nicely and then soldered each end.

 

On the cabin railings it was even easier and at teh corners I am just going to cross them, trim exactly and paint them together.  they only need to be soldered at one end.

[Jaager]

There is another way:

Start with one size of brass or copper wire.

Use a draw plate to get whichever smaller diameter that you need.

We may use draw plates to make bamboo or wooded treenails, but the original purpose is to make wire.

[rtropp]

Jaager,

darn... I never stopped to realize that draw plates were originally for wire.  That will be very helpful.

I read that you should stretch the wire to harden it(??) would you do that before or after using the draw plate?

Richard

[wefalck]

Drawplates for wire and drawplates for dowels are different animals. The one for wires do not cut, but reshape it, by forcing it through a conical opening. One can probably abuse the ones for wire to make dowels by drawing the wood the wrong way through. However, it is important that there is sharp cutting edge.

 

When drawing wire, one needs to anneal the wire between each pass, as it may work-harden. Drawing is normally done on a sturdy drawing-bench that allows to pass the wire straight through the drawing plate or die and to apply a steady force. The wire is pulled with a special pair of pliers, the closing force of which is proportional to the pulling force.

[brunelrussell]

There is a company called Resistance Wire that caters to craftsmen by supplying small amounts of wire instead of big spools.

[wefalck]

Recently I have come across very thin, down to 0.05 mm molybdenum wires that can be had from Chinese sources for little money. Apparently they are used to separate the (broken) glass from the displays of mobile phones ...