How do you make half round wire

Hello,
i am curious to know how do you make half round wire with a round draw plate?

julie

Double the annealed round wire over and carefully pull it through a round wire hole that it will easily fit through. Then, keep going like you are pulling wire. Once you get where you want to go, carefully separate the two now half round sections. I have only done this to confirm that I can. If I want half round wire and only have round wire, I roll it through my half round rolling mill. Good luck…Rob

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I forgot to mention that you need to figure out a way to keep it all from twisting while you pull the double wire. Start with a short piece just to get the feel for how it goes. I used a wooden ring clamp to pull the wire through. I just kept enough tension on the clamp to allow the wire to pull through it while maintaining the orientation of the wire to the hole. It might be best to have a second pair of hands. Good luck…Rob

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Hi Rob,
Thank you for your time and comments! I wonder if bending the wire in half, and then welding or soldering the open ends together might help maintaining the alignment…:thinking:

will attempt today!

julie

I tried that and it caused another problem. As careful as you might be, one length may be a bit longer than the other. In my case it caused a bow that got kinked. I found that bending it and then starting with the bend going in first allowed both segments to stretch independent of each other…Rob

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Hi, alas…i have no more room for a half round rolling mill

julie

On my D130 mill it is just a couple of outside rolls…Rob

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Hi Rob,
since i absolutely LOVE the drawbench i made recently, i am going to experiment with that!

great advise, thank you!

Why don’t you just buy a half round drawing plate?

Traditionally, you hold a knife against the exit side of the drawplate between the two wires. (If the wire is long, you will need one person to hold the knife against the plate and another person to draw.) Best if the knife is held vertically (perpendicular to floor/ceiling).

Janet in Jerusalem

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Is that to separate the two pieces, keep them from turning or both? Thanks…Rob

Since the two pieces remain separate, I guess I would say it’s to keep them from twisting around.

Janet in Jerusalem

Makes sense to me.

Hi,
so…opinions please…which do you prefer to use to make hakf round wire…a round draw plate? or a half round draw plate…?

Julie

Make 1 piece of square wire half the length you need of the half round. If you need half round wire 2 mm wide, then make the square wire 2x2. Roll it out until it is exactly rectangular.Double it over and run solder into the fold. This can now can be filed to a point and drawn down to the half round wire you need. As Janet’s said “ put a knife between the 2 pieces at the back to keep from making a spiral mess. This takes longer to write than to make.

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Half round rollers.

Place two round wires through the round hole in your drawplate. You will come out with two half round. Or if you have a rolling mill with half round on it you can roll it out.

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Hi,
thank you Neil, for the heads up to Otto Frei’s large selection of drawplates!

https://www.ottofrei.com/search

i may “need” more than one!

julie

i may “need” more than one!

I was taught you can never have too many [ ] (fill in the blank). :slightly_smiling_face:

Neil A

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