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[andygh]

Any tips on straightening wire?
I've tried pulling it in the vice & rolling it between flat boards but I can't get the kinks out, it's 2mm thick by the way.
I wish they wouldn't coil it up in kits, it's a waste of good material if I have to replace it  :'(

[Shipmate60]

What material is it?

Bob

[andygh]

Sorry  it's brass wire

[SteamboatPhil]

Hang a weight from one end, warm it, and leave it overnight.

[Martin (Admin)]

I saw Ron Dean doing this once......
One end in a secure vice, pull it taught with then stretch it a bit!... cold working?!?

[norry]

    ...Hi Guys...

I saw Blazing penguin do this with Reinforcing wire from electrical cable and it worked perfectly...You could try it with one piece of brass to check...

Clamp one end in a vice, Then grip the other end in the chuck of a drill & switch it on...


...Best REgards...Norry...

[RickF]

Matin's method (above) is best for long lengths -  always works with the coils of brass wire supplied by James Lane. May not be so good with harder brass.

For short lengths, I roll them on the bench (if I can find a flat bit!) under a 12" steel rule. If I'm going to paint them, I sometimes use a flat file, as this gives an "etched" finish.

Rick

[andrewh]

For brass wire the best solutuion is to pull it just far enough to (very Slightly) stretch it. 
If the wire is too hard or large diameter to get a little stretch then you can soften (anneal) it - this involves heating to dull red (600 degC) and either dropping in cool water or just letting it cool in still air (I prefer the quench - its safer)
Then do the pull - it will harden again as you pull it (work hardening) and a bit with time anyway

If its coiled I usually anneal in the coil, then unwind a length - straighten out the worst of the coil bend by pulling it over a screwdriver handle* then give it a stretch if necessary

*easier to do than describe

andrew

[malcolmfrary]

After careful unwinding, clamp one end in a vice, put the other end in a hand drill, lean back a bit and put about three turns per foot into it while tensioned.  The electric drill might be a bit too vicious.  Pre-annealing probably helps.

[andygh]

OK folks, in the end I clamped a vice to the roof rafters in the garage, annealed the wire and then hung my not insubstantial weight  from it while gripping with pliers. It is now straight  but it's 1.9mm dia instead of 2mm, good enough for me though

Thanks for all the advice

[andrewh]

Well done andy!

By my calculation, taking G in your area to be 981mm/sec/sec, that makes you exactly mumble stone in weight
andrew

[andrewh]

Recent flash of the obvious:

I have been guilty of failing to think about the obvious, and hence offer a much easier way to do the (very slight) stretch:

Do the annealing
fix both ends to something - say a bench so that the wire is more or less straight and under whatever tension you can get by a hand pull.  (by "fixing" I am thinking of a screw with washers and butterfly nuts)

Now, close to one end,  grab the wire with something you can get a good grip on (maybe a ring spanner threaded on the wire)
 and pull sideways.
A little sideways pull will exert huge force to stretch the wire (this is the pinciple of the tweaker)

Worth a try, i think
andrew