Magnet wire vs. artistic wire
Susan C. Burwash
But I also like coloured wire. I have been using Artistic Wire - which is a
colour coated copper wire. Someone has just told me magnet wire is very
similar. Does anyone here know what difference - other than price - there is
between the two, and any problems that there might be in making this wire
into knitted necklaces or bracelets? Any info much appreciated. Susan
Mark Kinsler
Magnet wire is high-quality, solid-copper wire that is coated with a
layer of plastic for electrical insulation. Some of the insulation
colors are indeed quite attractive.
I'm not familiar with "Artistic Wire," so I can't comment on price or
construction differences. However, magnet wire is meant to withstand
considerable bending when wound into the confined slots in the cores
of an electric motor or generator or transformer, so it ought to be
quite suitable for jewelry work. The coating is very tough and
heat-resistant.
You may be able to get scraps of magnet wire from a motor-rewinding
shop if you bat your eyelashes at the proprietor in a suitable manner.
That's gotta be the only thing that will work--they won't even _sell_
me any around here. You can sometimes get some by taking apart old
motors or transformers, but this is a lot of work.
The wire used in washing machine motors and some transformers is solid
aluminum, not copper. The coating makes it look like copper.
M Kinsler
512 E Mulberry St Lancaster Ohio USA 740.687.6368
http://www.frognet.net/~kinsler
Andy Dingley
>I've just started working with wire jewelry. Mostly sterling or fine silver.
>But I also like coloured wire. I have been using Artistic Wire - which is a
>colour coated copper wire.
I've never heard of "Artistic Wire" (I'm in the UK, maybe we don't
have it) What I have seen as coloured "artistic wire" is actually
aluminium. The colour is anodised, not varnished. The best range I
found (lots of colours, gauges and they even had square and hexagonal)
was in Barcelona, but that's a little far for a shopping trip.
>Someone has just told me magnet wire is very
>similar.
Magnet wire is for winding motors and coils. It's enamelled copper and
usually has a very limited range of colours, which are seen as
irrelevant and aren't even listed in the catalogues. Colours vary from
goldish-copper to pinkish-copper, and very rarely green or near-black.
You can buy these stuff cheaply on huge reels, or expensively on small
reels. Unless you really need a few miles of it, you'll find it more
easily from an electronics supplier than a motor winder. Small rolls
are quite cheap, and plenty for craft purposes. Just ask for
enamelled copper wire.
--
Smert' Spamionam
Tim
> goldish-copper to pinkish-copper, and very rarely green or near-black.
Usually golden, yes, but RadioShack transformers usually have some red stuff
in them, every so often you come upon something with green in it, and, surely
the rarest of them all, I've seen a really tiny motor with blue wire on it.
Not much is "near-black", AFAI've seen. Wait, that's right, I do have some
wire that's black (or a dark reddish brown). But that came from some (perhaps
as much as 50 year old) transformer. :)
Tim
--
"Yeah, and I'm not easily impressed. Whoa, a blue car!"
- Homer Simpson