Where can I buy Nichrome wire from?

[o1moregil]

i got some inconel wire .012 on the way , have to give it a try , 20 foot $10.00 not bad, .39 cent shipping

[GAWnCA]

i got some inconel wire .012 on the way , have to give it a try , 20 foot $10.00 not bad, .39 cent shipping

Don't be surprised when it shows up in a regular letter size envelope. That's why the shipping is so cheap. I think they also include a warning letter telling you to watch out when you unroll it.

[vulcom1]

They probably put a twist at the end to keep it from unwrapping.
I havn't been cutting as much as I used too but still like making wing cores as they are easier for me instead of ribs. When done my 30% Raven look alike, I want to build a cnc foam cutter. That will be my first project into this and we will see where it goes from there.
John

[GAWnCA]

John,

This is how it will arrive. Note, the Warning and also the size envelope.

Greg

[o1moregil]

I recived my inconel wire .012 a cuple days ago, and I hadnt had time to put it on the cnc till now, Im having trouble heating this kinda wire, my towers are 42 inch apart wish is 42 inches of wire, and im using a car batt charger that at full (i believe its 5amp). it heats the wire way to low and I have to set the speed of the steppers on the very low speed and it takes for ever to make a cut.

what are you guys using to heat this wire?
thanks !

[GAWnCA]

I recived my inconel wire .012 a cuple days ago, and I hadnt had time to put it on the cnc till now, Im having trouble heating this kinda wire, my towers are 42 inch apart wish is 42 inches of wire, and im using a car batt charger that at full (i believe its 5amp). it heats the wire way to low and I have to set the speed of the steppers on the very low speed and it takes for ever to make a cut.

what are you guys using to heat this wire?
thanks !

You might want to look at this web page.

http://www.nsrca.org/technical/tip_t...wer_supply.htm

He uses many Radio SHack parts but you can find them elsewhere for less money.

[o1moregil]

Thanks GAWnCA, I ran with this and other sites a cuple days ago , and I'm not shure
about 2 amps capable of heating this wire, I have purchase a 5 amp 24v transformer from....hummmm....shoot, cant remember, but its in a rc site (I found the link in a utahfliers.com) I paid 29 dlls plus shipping , the problem is that it keeps on burning the dimmer controller

[rceebuilder]

rceebuilder.

COOL MACHINE. How about some more photos. It looks sturdy, and how did you weight the wire?

Greg

There are L shaped copper tubes which has 1.5 mm inside diameter on the left and right columns Wire ends are passed inside these tubes so the wire ends turn up . then the wire ends knotted to another steel wire which are holding the tension weights. We use inconel wire. It is perfect and whitstands to high tensioning even at high temperatures.

[vulcom1]

What I am using is an old 8 amp power supply but 5 should still work. I used to use 4 but lucked out on this one. Where is your dimmer connected on your supply. I have mine before the transformer and adjust the transformer. It is in a box with the 110 volt power cable. If you have it after the transformer I think you will get problems.
John

[o1moregil]

vulcom1
I have it before the transformer, it's been 3 dimmer switches that i have gone thru with no luck, I just bought an old train controller off ebay shuld be arriving soon this week, its the old kind with no cuircuit braker (the good ones) , ill give it a try, only 9 bucks (cant beat that)

[43220]

I have used NiCr wire from various suppliers for years. For temp control, a simple dropping resistor (any appliance that uses NiCr wire as a heating element) wired in series works for me - simple and dirt cheap. Right now I use the heating coil wire from a popcorn popper. I can clip on at various points (varying the length of coil used in the circuit) to adjust the wire temp (see pic).

My problem is wire I have on hand now breaks too frequently. Anybody recommend something that holds up well without breaking? Reason it breaks is I cut foam manually using guides the wire makes contact with and moves along during the cutting.

I am here to learn (get help really) on building, on a budget, a cnc setup! I suppose this should help much with my wire breakage problem. Will post separately on this.

[erase42]

hi 43220,
I can send you a length of iconell wire that is to short for my machine. send me a PM and ill get your address from you. Its supposed to be stronger than nichrome and it does seem to be true.

Ps to you other two previous posters,
dont use a dimmer, order a router speed controller off ebay or Harbor Freight for around 15 dollars. They are fused, handle 5 amps or more, and never burn out. Using same one for 3 years now.