hoses and wireing

Yeah, I've been using 1.5 and seems to work well but found there IS a difference between glasses makers....... even at Wally World.

Rather than jewelers glasses, look at the cheap "reading glasses" carried by drug and discount stores.  These are far cheaper- I have gotten them for a buck a pair on sale.  Chose a high diopter, at least 1.5, even up to 2.0 are available on those racks.

Finding the wire is the easy part, seeing it is a whole 'nother' story!  Even with my Wally-World cheaters it's getting just too difficult for these micro bits and wiring engines is a pain. Either going to invest in jewelers glasses or move up to 1/32 scale........ but there is a BUNCH of 1/48 in the stash.

I find the K&S brass has been hardened, while copper electrical wire is usually in a soft condition.

Whenever I throw away a piece of electronics I check to see if there are any transformers inside. If so, I will take that off and scrounge the wire from it.  Small diameter enameled copper wire is getting hard to find, as electronics as a hobby is dying.

Lacking that source (although I have a fairly large supply on hand, craft stores have a fair supply of fine wire in their beading and jewelry sections, in both hardened and soft condition, and in a variety of finishes.  They also have a silver thread that looks a lot like Aerequip hose for smaller scales.

I tend to use brass wire because its easy to bend to shape.

I also use various gauges of guitar strings ... especially the wraped ones . They look just like radiator hoses and fuel lines like you would see on a funnycar  or custom show car.

But   guitar strings are a P.I.T.A. to bend !!!!

Oh , YES;

You hit on a good one there .Now , I recently stripped a flat screen T.V. and you should've seen all the wire and other goodies I got !     Tanker-Builder

The vibration motors found in PlayStation controllers have some of the finest copper wire I've found.... just sayin'.

Hi :

   What I use for the bigger hoses and stuff is solder .My solder is lead free-60% solder and 40% silver like jewelers use. I also use many sizes of copper wire that I get from my local hardware store in spools of 100 ft .( I know , that's a lot ! ) I share it ! Back to the solder .Mine is .010 and .020 and .040 (used for stained glass hobbyists .) The other wire is brass . I must use about three or four foot on a large model , or maybe more .Strip old electronics and motors for that really fine hair sized wire .

    I also use many other products hobbyists are prone to use .One is Magic Line from my LHS . Another is the finest fishing line you can get . It's usually .010 and.020 in size .There are many and another is the spools of florists wire or the wire core from the tie-ties on some products and the ones you buy for home use . There is also some very fine wire in old toys , available at yard sales . The possibilities are endless .You just sometimes HAVE to step OUT OF THE BOX and you WILL be successful !       Tanker-Builder

How about some of that wire that is used in the packaging of toys. You know, its wrapped around the toy to keep it attached to the cardboard packaging so kids cant easily remove it in the store to play with the toy.

Well OK - as an electronics engineer I'd like to write about the so called soldering wire. It's a wire made in many different diameters, meant to be melted with a soldering iron to join metal parts. Those wires are made from different materials. The best solder is an alloy with 60% tin and 40% lead - very nice stuff for soldering and also excellent for imitating ruber hoses and thick cables. It's forbidden for industrial use now, but still can be bought relatively easy for small scale use in workshops, hobby etc. If you insist on using lead-free materials, you can get lead-free soldering wire that is almost as good as the leaded type - just slightly harder and doesn't solder so smoothly, also a little more hard to get in small quantities. So it's no problem. As for copper wire - it's a lot harder and springy than the soldering wire. It's still very usable for axles, rods and hard lines, like the brake lines on a car for example - where you want defined bends and longer straight runs. For flexible lines people sometimes use plastic fishing filament - also available in many different diameters.

Hope it helps, have a nice day

Paweł

The lead wire I was referring to is in fact, lead wire.

I think that the lead wire they are talking about is either the clear or twister that fishermen use for tying weights and lures to the main line they use. Some also use solder. It comes in various thicknesses and is so easy to bend and holds it's shape. Hope this helps.

Jim 

I use lead wire from a Fly-fishing store for wiring...  very pliable and cheap.

I don't think the lead wire you are referring to is made of lead, its made of copper. I am guessing this is the wire you mean.

en.wikipedia.org/.../Lead_(electronics)

Personally, I use fuse wire and beading wire. I do a lot of 72nd scale and I use a lt of 5Amp and  34 gauge wire.

Lots of options in the arts/crafts store's beading depts as well.

Glenn

copper wire works great.... its easily salvaged from various electronic appliances and devices, very pliable, and comes in varying thicknesses (gauges) for different representations.