Ideas for straightening coiled .006" Stainless Music wire ???

[RJSakowski]

Music wire is hardened. In order to straighten it, it has to be bent past its elastic limit in the opposite direction of the curve. In the videos that I have seen for straightening spring steel wire, it is drawn through a series of rollers which gradually work the bends out. Here is an example.

Simply stretching or twisting wire to straighten it works wit h annealed wire but not spring tempered wire

 

[Bob Korves]

Like RJ said above, you have to bend the hardened wire in the opposite direction of the existing curve. Start with bending it in the opposite direction to a curve equal to the current bend, and see what happens. Good luck with it, I have tried it and the wire wants to move in sideways directions and it turns into a spiral strand. If it could be contained between two parallel steel plates so that it barely clears the gap before bending it, I think that may be the correct way to reverse the bend. I have no experience in containing it between plates while reverse bending it. If you try it, let us know how it works for you...

 

[markba633csi]

String it up on a guitar, strum for a while then take it off- that might work
-Mark

 

[pontiac428]

Pull it through a series of alternating rollers made from cheap v-grooved cartridge bearings. A piece of angle iron would make a good frame that you can fix in a vise. The final roller should be height adjustable via a slot or a screw to dial it in so the wire comes off straight. See also conduit straightener; tubing straightener.

 

[C-Bag]

I know this is going to sound weird, but that wire will stretch, and when it does it will be straight. If I was going to do that I’d make an adjustable frame with a screw adjuster(about 2’ at a time) pull it until it makes a tone. Let it loose and see if that was enough, if not a little tighter and recheck. Once you find that tone it stretches and set straight just rinse and repeat. You can get an electronic tuner for you phone so you can just tune to that frequency it straightened at and you’re good to go.

Id not try really long lengths with that thin of wire as it might break before it hits the proper tone from the extra weight.

 

[gunsmither]

You are going to run stainless steel wire down a rifle barrel?
Joe

No, these are for cleaning gunk off the inside of receivers, frames, bolts. The fine wire loosens crud with a little solvent. One end of the tool I used to make was a small wire brush, and the other end was a scraper, with different style scraping edges. They worked great, but I quit making them due to the curvy wire.

 

[gunsmither]

you need a wire straightener. https://www.durantco.com/quick-adjust-e-serieswire-straighteners.php

Thanks for that link Asm109. Their small unit says it go from .052" dia. down. Thought of making a unit like that after watching Utube vids,
but it seems like a lot of work.

Thanks to all you fellows for the ideas, much appreciated! Joe

 

[jmkasunich]

Put one end in the vise, grab the other solidly with vise locks and give it many short, sharp tugs, the harder the better. It'll be straight after that.

This. The key is to pull it just to the point that it yields. When it does, it will lose all memory of the previous bend. The trick might be hitting the narrow zone between "yield" and "break". For more ductile metals like copper and mild steel wire the stretch method works perfectly - you can usually feel it yield, and when you let go it just drops to the floor with no trace of twist.

In my experience, it isn't the number of tugs that matters. One pull that just reaches the yield strength of the wire will do it. With 0.006" wire the yield strength is only a few pounds. But holding onto the wire at the ends without forming a weak spot where it breaks before the rest yields is the trick.

 

[Bi11Hudson]

As a rule, I usually work with larger wire, .015-.025. But it is music wire. When I need a piece straightened, I clamp it up between two clamps, under tension, and rub it with a dowel. Tighten it up and do it again. The idea is to put it under tension and do a reverse bend. I usually do it until satisfactory for what I'm doing. It may or may not get sufficient for using where you have in mind. Models have a little give in dimensions, guns not so much so.

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