Straightening Insulated Copper Wire

A simple practical method for straightening kinked copper wire for the spares box so it can be re-used again.

Construction Hints & Tips Includes:

How to make twisted pair wire     How to drill cases that are painted     How to use wiring sleeves     How to tidy wiring with looms     How to straighten kinked connecting wire    

Connecting wire used for electronics projects can be expensive and as a result it is often saved from one project to the next. Unfortunately this insulated copper wire can receive many kinks and bends when it is stored. To re-use the copper wire satisfactorily it is necessary to remove the kinks and bends. However it is not easy to remove these kinks and bends from the insulated copper wire without knowing how to do it.

It is well worth saving connecting wire as it can be expensive to buy, and also when just a short length of insulated copper wire is needed, it can time consuming to buy each time, and keeping a stock of all the wire that might be needed can be too expensive for the average constructor. However it is often worth keeping some of the most used types of copper wire so that they can be used in construction projects.

Removing the kinks and bends from the copper wire

The simplest way of quickly removing these bends is to use the shaft of a screwdriver as shown below. Wrap the wire once round the shaft and then pull the wire so that the wire is pulled so that the entire length passes round the shaft. When doing this, it may be necessary to just hold the wire gently in position. This can often be done with a thumb.

A simple method for straightening kinked wire
A simple way for straightening wire with bends and kinks

Although very simple, this method of removing those unwanted bends from copper wire is a particularly effective method of enabling old copper wire from the junk box to be re-used for making connections in projects. Not only can it be a cost saving, but it can also enable projects to move ahead rather than having to wait for new wire to be purchased, or have to used the wire as it is with all its bends and kinks. This ensure that the appearance of a project looks good, while not spending a fortune on buying everything new.

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