bending piano wire

Was wondering if there was a fixture anyone is using
to bend 1/8" wire. I am building a scale model which
has a lot of wire in the gear. Is there something out
out there thats being used or should I just make up a
steel plate with pins to bend around.

Frank Zarzycki

Yeah, Harry Higgly advertises in most of the RC magazines. He sells a small fixture for bending.

K&S, the company that sells all the brass tubing, has two sizes of benders like you describe. You can probably build a better one if you have the machine tools and skills, but the K&S tools are plenty adequate. Lots of hobby shops and the mail order places carry them.
Kelvin

LAST EDITED ON Aug-16-03 AT 12:39 PM (CDT)
 
Here is a photo of the K&S bender, without the bending arm in place. The arm slips over the steel pivot pin. I have both large and small sizes, and I consider them indespensible. They were very reasonably priced at my local hobby shop. The photo shows me bending a second gear leg to match the first one, for my Wooley Cobra project. The rest of the landing gear setup can be seen at:

http://www.classicaircraftmodels.com/CobraWing.html

Bill Groman

thanks for the info and pictures, I knew some one made one

No wait! I have the coolest bending rig, oh, it's a plate with steel pins...

Professional production benders are little dies in a press of some sort, otherwise, steel pins.

Just like Norm Abrahms, they don't show the junk pile they accumulate getting the jigs right.

Heating works well but you will lose the magic of hardening.

>thanks for the info and pictures, I knew some one made one

I advise you to get the big wire bender if you want to bend 1/8 wire.

I have a small one, and 1/8 is *almost* too much for it.

In Christ,

>Here is a photo of the K&S bender, without the bending arm
>in place. The arm slips over the steel pivot pin. I have
>both large and small sizes, and I consider them
>indespensible. They were very reasonably priced at my local
>hobby shop.

They work great, but if you could rig up a clamp to make sure only one side of the bend actually moved, you could guarantee where it would bend a lot better. The way it is, the wire can slide on either pin.

Hi Brett,
I can usually get the little button tight enough with a t hex wrench to keep the wire from slipping. At least up to 1/8th wire, anyway.
Bill