Introduction: Wire Straightener - I Made It at TechShop

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Wire usually comes in a spool format, but it's a LOT easier to work with when it's straightened out. But it can be a lot of work to make it straight... and it take a log of practice to do it by hand.  But this simple gadget is fairly easy to create and saves hours of hand straightening wire. In this example I have 12 gague hot-rolled (soft) galvanized wire from Lowe's, but it works on spring steel wire as well

It's really cheap, fairly easy to make, and well worth the effort if you do any amount of wire work.

I MADE IT AT TECH-SHOP http://www.techshop.ws

MATERIALS:
Base -- 1 X 8 pine board;  about a foot long
Frame and sliders -- 1 x 1 pine; about 6 feet of it total. 
Pulleys -- 1" x 1/8"  
Fasteners -- Finish nails, Screws to fit the inside of the pulleys.
Wood glue

Step 1: Start the Base

Start with your base board and cut a 1x1 to fit the length. Nail it down with a little glue along one edge.

Step 2: Cut the Sliders and Match the Push Rails

Cut 5 sliders about 1/2 the length of your base. Make them all the same lenght.
Stack them against the base rail and measure for the length of the push rails. Add about 1/16" so the sliders are not packed in too tight.

Step 3: Drill for Push-screws and Capture Sliders

Drill holes for the push screws cooresponding to the sliders: 3 in one end, 2 in the other (alternating).
I just drilled the holes in the wood for the machine screws. I matched the hole to the nominal diameter of the screw (not the threads). You could oversize the holes and use nuts and washers if you want.  

Step 4: Add Pulleys and Calibrate

Screw a pulley to each of the sliders. Be sure they turn freely.

CALIBRATION:
Hand straighten about a foot of wire off a spool. Line the pulleys up with the push-screws so that the straight wire witll fit through between them. Then add a little tension to each so the wire is held tight. Use a pair of plyers to pull your wire through another 6 inches and then release. It will either be over bent, under bent, or just right. Keep adjusting and pulling until you pull a perfecdtly straight wire out!