Introduction: 5 Minute Wire Straightening Jig

Anyone who has tried straighten wire by hand knows how frustrating it can be.

One common method is to fix one end and tighten the other end in a drill chuck.  Apply tension to the wire while turning the drill slowly.  This works well but I find it can be tricky to detach the wire from the drill without putting kinks in it.

The method I'm going to describe is to build a jig.  It works well and only take a few minutes to build.

Step 1: Materials and Tools

The materials required are cheap and you may even have them lying around your workshop.
  • A length of wood to fix the jig to.  Can be as long as you like.  The one I used is about 1.5 metres long -- that's about 5 feet in American units or 1.5 meters in American metric :-)
  • Two eye bolts
  • A 'D' shackle
  • A turnbuckle
Tools requirements are:
  • A drill
  • Wire cutters
  • Pliers
  • Eye protection

Step 2: Making the Jig

Drill a hole near both ends of the wood and screw in the eye bolts.

Attach the turnbuckle to one of the eye bolts with the 'D' shackle.

That's it, done!

Step 3: Using the Jig

Take a length of wire and fix one end to the lone eye bolt and the other to the turnbuckle.  Pliers can help here.  Try to put a bit of tension on the wire as it will make the next step quicker and easier.

Tighten the turnbuckle and the wire will automagically straighten as the tension increases.  

WEAR EYE PROTECTION!  It's all fun and games until someone get a piece of wire in the eye if too much tension makes it snap.

When the wire is straight snip it off at each end with wire cutters.

The end!