(Topic ID: 52813)

What kind of metal for making a wire gate?

By bighurb

10 years ago


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  • 26 posts
  • 21 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 11 months ago by Rdoyle1978
  • Topic is favorited by 2 Pinsiders

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#1 10 years ago

I've had a new shuttle toy to install on my space shuttle for a while now but the old one is completely missing the wire gate. Anybody have any suggestions on what to use for making my own from scratch?

#2 10 years ago

im guessing a good material to use is Stainless steel tig welding rods. use a micrometer to match the thickness to other wire gates

#3 10 years ago

That sounds pretty good. Think I could buy just one rod though, or will I have to buy a big pack of 100 of em'?

#5 10 years ago

unfortunately you would have to buy a pack of em. Im not sure of how small of a pack they sell but, i bet if you goto a local welding shop they'll probably give you a rod.

#6 10 years ago

In a pinch, I have made them from "large" paper clips.

#7 10 years ago

I use piano wire. Seems to work great for me...

#8 10 years ago

I've heard piano wire recommended in the past for gate replacement.

#9 10 years ago
Quoted from rad:

I use piano wire. Seems to work great for me...

Has also worked for me. Sold as 'music wire' in larger hobby shops. Comes in different diameters and is very hard steel. Because it's sold in 3' lengths, you can make a mistake or two and still have plenty left over to try again.

#10 10 years ago

Yep - piano wire, available at any hobby shop in dozens of sizes and you can buy just a single length cheap.

#11 10 years ago

I got a roll of wire at OSH (Orchard Supply Hardware) the other day that matched the thickness perfectly. Made to gates for my SP. It was in the crafts area I believe. Let me know if you need more info on it. I have it at home..at work right now....working. Yea, working.

Mike

#12 10 years ago

I've tried a large paperclip, it only works for a few hits.

#13 10 years ago

http://www.pinrestore.com/Supplies.html

Piano wire is available here .

#14 10 years ago

Piano wire is spring steel and it tends to like to "spring" back to its old shape. Great if you are making springs, a pain if you are just trying to bend a ridged shape.

My local welding shop will happily sell me stainless steel tig rod by the rod. They even have a scale by the rods because they expect you to buy by the pound, the stuff is really expensive and you often don't need much for small job. Just ask the counter people which stainless steel rod is the cheapest and that is the one to buy, don't worry about if it is 308 or 316 or a number with an "L" behind it, they will all work great. The only thing that will matter to you is the diameter and that it is stainless steel rod.

#15 10 years ago

Good info

#16 10 years ago

chinese takeout food container handles work great.Piano wire is too brittle to get a 90 degree bend without it breaking much of the time

#17 10 years ago
Quoted from mg81:

Piano wire is spring steel and it tends to like to "spring" back to its old shape.

Which is probably why the wire hobby shops sell is called music wire. It doesn't spring back to it's old shape and holds up just fine to pinball abuse.

Take the bracket that holds the gate to the hobby shop with you so you can get the correct size. Get the biggest wire that will fit in the holes without binding. Figure out the order you need to make each bend (the hard part), then start bending. Actually, the bending part is kinda hard too. But 3' lengths allow for numerous retries.

#18 10 years ago

Being a cyclist as well as a pinhead, I use stainless steel bicycle spokes. 1.6mm(center section from a 1.8/1.6 double butted spoke) works quite well when I need to remake a wire gate.

#19 10 years ago

Awesome! Thanks for the input everybody.

#20 10 years ago

I've had great success with coat hangers, believe it or not!

#21 10 years ago

I've been using Music wire from hobby shops for years, inexpensive, easy to bend and it lasts, win,win, win!!

#22 10 years ago

Steve Young at PBR sells the correct wire in two or three different diameters in several lengths. I keep some on hand at all times because you never know.

John P. Dayhuff
Battle Creek, Mi.
269-979-3836

#23 10 years ago

Ace Hardware sells wire of various gauges. I replaced my BoP one way gate, as well as a Pinbot lane guide (which is thicker) using wire from there.

9 years later
#24 11 months ago

Although the original post is old, I just ordered this from Amazon and it worked great to reproduce the wire gate that I had missing:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082ZNTD4J

Hope this helps you.

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#25 11 months ago

I use the wire from binder clips. The wire is already in a usable shape depending on the gate. And the wire takes a hard hit without bending.

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#26 11 months ago
Quoted from KenLayton:

In a pinch, I have made them from "large" paper clips.

Same here. Definitely large, but they’ve lasted for years without becoming deformed

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