soft 3/16" steel wire for fender edge - where to buy?

[Gary_Ash]

I need to do some wired edges on some aluminum sheet metal.  The right size wire would be 3/16" (0.188")  diameter annealed steel wire, like for fences, etc.  The largest steel wire (not braided cable) I can find in stores or on line is 9 gauge or 0.156" diameter on the U.S. Standard gauge scale.  I can buy 3/16" cold-drawn steel rod easily enough but it is hard and stiff from being drawn and straightened, and can't be formed by hand - I need the really soft, bendable, annealed stuff - like the wire in coat hangers.  I'd rather not anneal 8-10 feet of steel rod with a torch.  The annealed "bright" or "black" wire is available in 1000 ft spools or similar huge quantities.  Where can I buy 10-25 feet of the stuff? 

[jpage]

I used to have a large roll of this type wire, not sure of the diameter. I'll have to check and get back to you. They use to make it here in my town and  think everyone who worked for them had a roll! We used to use it for clothes line.

[lump]

I'm certainly no expert on metallurgy, but won't the dissimilar metals of aluminum and steel set up a galvanic corrosion effect? When I was a sheet metal construction worker, we were careful to use only copper nails or rivets on copper roofs, aluminum pop rivets on aluminum fittings, etc. We were warned about "electrolytic corrosion." But that was just me doing what I was told at the time. 

 

I have read about Navy ships that were fitted with steel and aluminum parts touching each other, which experienced extreme corrosion. In researching this question for my own benefit a minute ago, I found answers on Wikipedia and all over google. Apparently the more "noble" metal (in your case, aluminum) will act as an "anode" and be corroded more aggressively, while actually protecting the steel wire. But eventually the steel wire may start rusting REALLY fast. 

 

Anyway, you may already know all about this, and have some plan for keeping the aluminum from directly contacting each other. I am just bringing up the question, in case it might help you. 

[Gary_Ash]

Corrosion?  You think the car might get left out in the rain?  And salt water, too?  Unlikely, but thank you for your concern.  The cars that were built like this 85 years ago are just fine because they were kept in dry garages for most of their lives.  Mine will also spend most of its life in the garage but will get driven on nice days.  But, into each life, a little rain must fall...

[Spinneyhill]

You can more or less fix the corrosion problem if you use zinc plated wire!

[cahartley]

You can get it there >>> http://www.metalsdepot.com/products/coldfin2.phtml?page=round&LimAcc= &aident=

 

1018 cold rolled isn't much more difficult to form than A36 mild steel plus it's uniform.

[Restorer32]

We use 1018 cold rolled for the same purpose.The fact that it is somewhat stiff is a plus in that it helps keep curves uniform and straight runs straight.

[rbk]

On July 21, 2016 at 9:31 PM, Gary_Ash said:

Corrosion?  You think the car might get left out in the rain?  And salt water, too?  Unlikely, but thank you for your concern.  The cars that were built like this 85 years ago are just fine because they were kept in dry garages for most of their lives.  Mine will also spend most of its life in the garage but will get driven on nice days.  But, into each life, a little rain must fall...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1937-Studebaker-T86-Transmission-/252473035361?hash=item3ac890ca61:g:oNYAAOSwMNxXUOVu&vxp=mtr

[Friartuck]

Speedy Metals also offers 3/16 in cold rolled 1018:

http://www.speedymetals.com/c-8227-category.aspx?thickness=0.1875

 

 

[Gary_Ash]

At last, I scored some 3/16" soft steel wire.  An industrial wholesaler responded to my frantic begging and agreed to sell me "only" 50 ft of galvanized 3/16 soft steel wire on the condition that I can't reveal the source and that I never call again.  I might actually use 10-12 feet of it for the cowl and side of my Indy car project [see thread in Speedsters].  Anyone else need a few feet of what will be left?

 

Actually, I did grab a 4 ft length of 3/16" cold drawn rod at Tractor Supply yesterday - just in case - and I admit that it can be bent with just a little work.  I guess I could torch anneal any short sections that need a really tight bend.  It is strange that in all the articles I see on-line about making wired edges, no one ever seems to pre-treat or paint the wire before rolling the metal around it, whether steel or aluminum sheet metal.  The galvanized wire against aluminum will be OK for little chance of corrosion, but bare steel wire probably should be primed/painted before wiring an edge.  But then no one is painting the back side of the fender before rolling the edge, either.  No wonder all those old cars rusted through at the wired edges!  Later cars omitted the wire on rolled edges, but they had production-scale tooling to do it. 

 

To RBK:  Thanks for the link, but that's a transmission for a Commander 6, won't fit the straight 8.  I do still need a 1936/1937 3-speed transmission w/o OD for a Studebaker President 8.  

[JV Puleo]

Gary,

I've been enjoying your thread since it's start, even though the 30s are well beyond my area or interest. How are you doing the wired edge? I've looked at several on-line descriptions and haven't yet found one that I'm comfortable with. I will, eventually, have to build a body for my 1910 Mitchell and would like to wire the edge of the cowl and perhaps the fenders.

[Gary_Ash]

When I took the 4-day Intensive Course at Tinmantech from Kent White, he demonstrated wiring an edge.  Here are some photos of the process showing Kent and another student at work on a cowl-like piece of aluminum.  The same technique is used on steel panels.  I covered part of this in my Studebaker Indy car thread in the Speedsters folder here (see post #135 on page 6). 

 

A flange needs to be turned on the edge.  The length of the flange should be about 2.5 times the wire diameter, so a 3/16" wire needs a flange about 0.47" wide; that is, a little less than 1/2".  Kent used his planishing hammer with flat dies top and bottom, drew a line on the metal, and slid the metal back and forth through the hammer.  He pushed down on the metal to make the bend a little tighter each time until he got to about 90 degrees.  This can also be done in a bead roller with a tipping die.  Again, the roller makes a crease on the first pass and bends about 15 degrees.  Each succeeding pass is used to bend a little more.  Unless you have a motorized bead roller, it probably takes a helper to turn the crank while you guide the metal through the roller.  On a curved opening, you may need to hammer the ruffles flat or use a shrinker/stretcher on the flange. 

 

See some of the Lazze videos on YouTube to see this done on a bead roller.  The index to the Lazze  videos is on his web site at http://www.lazzemetalshaping.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=results/category_id=5/home_id=5/mode=cat/cat5.htm.  Lazze also shows a trick of putting a shim under one end of the axle of a lower anvil of an English wheel so that edge of a piece of sheet metal is gripped rather than the center; pushing up or down on the sheet will form a crease as the metal is pushed through and you can make a 90 degree flange in a few passes.  If you don't have a planishing hammer, English wheel, or bead roller, you can saw the shape of the fender opening into a thick sheet of MDF board, clamp the metal to the MDF, and tap away with a body hammer and dollies to make the flange by folding it over the edge of the MDF.

 

Kent then clamped a wire tight against the root of the flange bend with ViseGrips and gently tapped the flange to fold it over the wire at one end of the part until the end of the wire was trapped.  Then he trapped the other end and proceeded to fold over the rest of the flange.  As you can see in the photos, the use of large and small shot bags or sand bags is helpful to avoid dents or flat spots.  Once the wire is held in place, a body hammer with square head was slid along the panel surface to tighten the flange down on the wire while not adding dings to the sheet metal.  One of those dollies called a "comma" can be slid against the inner edge of the flange and then the dolly tapped with a hammer to get some additional curl under the wire. A cross pein body hammer can used as well - see the hammer in one of these photos.  When its done, the metal has been pulled tight enough to get a smooth, rounded edge.

Edited July 24, 2016 by Gary_Ash (see edit history)