I use 1/16 dia music wire attached to 1/4 square wood or 1/4 round wood for my push rods. I soften the wire by heating it before I put a Z bend on one end. The last time I had a lot of trouble with the wire splitting even after heating. I would like to know the best and easiest way to soften the music wire so it won't split.

A J Clark

Instead of music wire I like to use 2 56 push rod wire which is softer than music and takes Z bends easily. It is also strong enough to do the job.
Bill.

Coathanger wire will work fine for your application.

Jim

I hate z-bends. Gave them up many years ago. Better and easier to just bend the music wire to 90 degrees and use a snapper keeper on the connection. The snapper keeper must be of the correct size to fit the wire.

Jim,
I've always made z-bends, but I agree, those keepers are great. I never think ahead to get a supply, but I've used them when they are in the kit.

I would still like to know how to soften piano wire since it is also necessary when threading the end.

Tom

Perhaps a really dumb question here but is piano/music simply a descriptive term used for smaller wire or do you actually purchase this at a music store?
Pat

To anneal the music wire you need to heat the area to be bent or threaded to a DULL red and let it air cool. To re-harden the wire heat it to a dull red and then quench it in oil.

If you get the wire bright red it will make it brittle.

DEG

I like Z-Bends a lot. But like you I have problems with it cracking. Just do what iflyrc24 said. Also, make the bend first and then cut to length. That way if you have to do it a couple times you don't have to rebuild your pushrods.

BadBart - Music Wire is a case-hardened steel wire (soft in the middle, hard on the outside). We use it for landing gears, pushrod ends, cabane struts, etc.

Looky here:

http://airfieldmodels.com/informatio...ing/metals.htm

If you hit the back button in the side menu from that page, you'll come to an index page that covers all kinds of construction materials we use for model-building.

- Paul