Metal paper clips for Wireing?

richs26 wrote:

Paper clips would be too stiff to maneuver in a tight tank compartment.  Just find some copper wire  which is available everywhere.  You can find it in discarded electronic and electrical devices, and cords, or at the hardware and electronic stores.  You could also use electronic type solder found at the above electronic supply stores such as Radio Shack.  You can also strip off the insulation from the copper wires and use that also.

Rich is right, and brings up a good point-any time you throw something out, scavenge it for supplies.  For example, when I have a piece of worn-out electrical equipment, at the very least, I cut off the power cord.  But go one step further and crack open the housing on whatever it is, and harvest the wire, even transistors or other circuit board pieces (I'm dating myself on that reference), all kinds of little fiddly things inside an appliance.  I got some very good wire from some speakers that a friend was throwing out.  I was going to use the speaker cabinets, too, to make display cabinets, but eventually tossed them, because they were made of particle board, and it would have been more work to make them look good, than I can do from scratch.  But that's the idea, think of salvaging every time you through something out.

Helps to have an understanding spouse, too!

Regards,

Brad

I do the same when I get rid of an old radio or whatever. I've got a ton of wire just laying around now. Another source I found that works well is floral wire, the kind that has only a very thin plastic coating. It's about 1/2mm thick and bends and holds its shape easily.

I have thought of using paper clips, but they did seem too thick. I have used them as structural support on a couple of projects where it was needed, but that is about it.

Use solder for wiring... It's super-flexible, stays bent where you bend it, and doesn't want to spring back on you.. I use .022 solder for radio cables and such...  Hoses too... Take a paper clip, start wrapping the solder around it, like a spring, until you have it tight and the proper length. It'll come out at 1mm O.D..  Paint it black or rubber, fairly thick, and it's a dead-ringer for flex-hoses.. It's available at any Radio Shack or the like...Here's the solder inside my Tamiya M577, working as the cables for the track's ICS and radios (It's still  under construction so it's just roughed in and unpainted for now)...

You can get smaller solder, as well as larger, but I find .022 about right for 1/35th scale cables...

When it comes to wires and hoses and such, especially in small scale.  I go right for the jewelry department of michaels.  Nothing like a good thin necklace wire.

I use 32 gauge wire for everything from headphone mics (in 1/35) to barbed wire, to power chords.  If its to thin I just twist it untill its thicker (double up and twist) or get a larger gauge.

For tubes I use really, REALLY old rail road wires I have left over from my dad's platform days (like the stuff for making it run and switches and such)  I just strip the rubber cover off and use it as a tube.

I'd have to agree that paper clips may be too rigid for this application. As mentioned above, I personally opt for the very thin solder wire.  It's bendability (not sure if that's a word...lol...but flexibility is almost the wrong term here) and it's memory for shaping make it superior to wires IMHO.

A word of caution regarding scavenging old electronic items though...in some electronics there are components (capacitors I believe) which hold an electrical charge long after an item has been unplugged (it is their function to do so)...you can electrocute yourself if you touch one of these fella's (or both it's leads) and create a circuit through yourself. Televisions are the specific item I was warned about.

caSSius wrote:

...A word of caution regarding scavenging old electronic items though...in some electronics there are components (capacitors I believe) which hold an electrical charge long after an item has been unplugged (it is their function to do so)...you can electrocute yourself if you touch one of these fella's (or both it's leads) and create a circuit through yourself. Televisions are the specific item I was warned about.

Good point about the capacitors.  You have to watch out especially for flux capacitors, or you'll blast yourself back to 1955 

Seriously, though, caSSius brings up a good point, and anyone working with electricy at all should probably have insulting material, for example, a good floor mat, and a piece of matting on a worksurface, too.

Regards,

Brad

Fuse wire is very useful for these sort of applications. 15 amp is about the same diameter as a paperclip, and much easier to work with.

Cheers,

Chris.

I bought a little spool of beading wire at Michael's, too, to use for rigging biplanes.

And in reading my previous post, I meant "electricity", and I meant you should have good insulating material, unless someone shows up and annoys you, and then you'd probably want the insulting material. 

Oh, my fiancee would love, err hate, this topic. She thinks I should throw everything broken away. Not me...I scavenge every last piece of stuff I can get out it. SOme of it ends up in the trash, but only after it's given me everything, and then some. Every once in awhile, I'll get enough stuff together and just start tossing parts together to see what I can build out of them.

 But, I digress. I always keep the wires and stuff around for rigging and things like that. Honestly, I'm a huge fan of using wire versus thread for rigging up things, and it works well if you need some ropes on a ship or something like that. Plus, if it should be braided together...it's easy enough to do that to.

Another thing I have found is the thinnest welding wire, nonflux, that you can get. It works very well, but if you bend it around for too long, it will break.

the Baron wrote:

caSSius wrote: ...A word of caution regarding scavenging old electronic items though...in some electronics there are components (capacitors I believe) which hold an electrical charge long after an item has been unplugged (it is their function to do so)...you can electrocute yourself if you touch one of these fella's (or both it's leads) and create a circuit through yourself. Televisions are the specific item I was warned about.   Good point about the capacitors.  You have to watch out especially for flux capacitors, or you'll blast yourself back to 1955    Seriously, though, caSSius brings up a good point, and anyone working with electricy at all should probably have insulting material, for example, a good floor mat, and a piece of matting on a worksurface, too. Regards, Brad

Another awesome resource for these parts are old computer monitors, and old computers,(thats where i have gotten a lot of detail parts for models) but as pre warned, out of any electronics, under no circumstances at all do you open a power supply, those are deadly and can fry you as well....

I don't know if this has already been mentioned. Goto Walmart type stores and purchase a cheap couple of dollar earbud for mp3/ipod. Strip down the wire casing then unravel wire and you have excellent wire for interiors of 1/35 vehicles.  

Regards,

Mark Schroeder