Mellow Mullet
Masterpiece
After taking the wire off of several large projects, I was left with a large pile of used wire.
Being the cheapo, err-- the frugal guy, that I am I wanted to reuse as much as I could; but, I had to straighten it first. While the copper will have to be heat treated again, the aluminum would be perfectly usable if I could straighten it.
I kicked it around a bit in my head and drank some PBR for inspiration; here is what I came up with. I pick up these three items at Home Depot:
A 3/4 x 8 inch galvanized nipple
A 3/4 inch floor mount galvanized flange
A 3/4 inch galvanized cap
Oh, and some New Castle Ale at Target, it was on sale.
Here it is assembled, I screwed it to the front of my new bonsai work bench.
Now, I know you are probably thinking that the Mullet has had too much New Castle, but here is how it works. Just grab the wire by the ends and pull it against the nipple in a back in forth motion. It only takes less that a minute to straighten a pretty thick wire. Here it is in action, Mrs. Mullet gets credit for the action shots.
Wire before:
Straightening:
The finished product:
While I know this isn't the only way to do it, it works out well for me as I can straighten while I work. I used to do it with my vise in the shop, and have pulled it with pliers too. Anyway, Hope it Helps.
John
Being the cheapo, err-- the frugal guy, that I am I wanted to reuse as much as I could; but, I had to straighten it first. While the copper will have to be heat treated again, the aluminum would be perfectly usable if I could straighten it.
I kicked it around a bit in my head and drank some PBR for inspiration; here is what I came up with. I pick up these three items at Home Depot:
A 3/4 x 8 inch galvanized nipple
A 3/4 inch floor mount galvanized flange
A 3/4 inch galvanized cap
Oh, and some New Castle Ale at Target, it was on sale.
Here it is assembled, I screwed it to the front of my new bonsai work bench.
Now, I know you are probably thinking that the Mullet has had too much New Castle, but here is how it works. Just grab the wire by the ends and pull it against the nipple in a back in forth motion. It only takes less that a minute to straighten a pretty thick wire. Here it is in action, Mrs. Mullet gets credit for the action shots.
Wire before:
Straightening:
The finished product:
While I know this isn't the only way to do it, it works out well for me as I can straighten while I work. I used to do it with my vise in the shop, and have pulled it with pliers too. Anyway, Hope it Helps.
John
