Straightening brass beading

Hi,

I need to solder 3/16" half-round brass beading along the top edges of the loco tender that I'm building. Since this stuff arrives as a coil, it needs to be straightened. The 2 main lengths will each be around 20", if it's not straight It will stick out like a sore thumb.

Any tips for doing this will be much appreciated.

TIA

Clive

Clive , Suggest you have a look at a pyro straightener at your local electrical distributors or on line . BICC do a reasonable one .

Trevor.

Put one end in your vice, grip other end with mole grips and then give a sharp pull on the mole grips to stretch the beading taught, that should do the job

Jason beat me to it. A good trick for any wire less strong than music wire, in my experience. It would work with music wire too, but holding it is more difficult, pulling hard enough even more so.

Cheers, Tim

Thanks for comments. The straighteners look surprisingly effective in the on-line videos, but I think I'll try a good strong pull. I'll probably need some mechanical advantage though!

If pulling does not work then try twisting it. One end in the headstock chuck and the other end in the tailstock chuck with a little bit of tension. Turn the chuck by hand.

Martin C

Does that work on half round beading? I've used it on round wire but would have thought the flat of the HR beading would end up in a spiral?

If you twist half round one way then reverse the twist direction it should straighten it but leave it flat. Just don't overdo the amount of rotation applied.

Martin C