Welding piano wire?

[noddaz]

I am not a shill for this. I just think it is pretty cool. I don't even know the price.

Ok, I went and looked at the price.

[chrisguyw]

Sunstone makes some really great products,.......however, $2,000.00 to 4,000.00 for an entry level hobby welder is not for everyone.

Cheers
Chris Walker

[waaytoomuchintothis]

I have a little 120v wire feed welder. I never even considered using for chassis. I may look into it, but as has been said, I won't be buying a tiny welder for thousands, regardless.

[HomeRacingWorld]

Solder secures piano wire good enough for slot car chassis? I mean unless the countless chassis I have made were wrong?

[chrisguyw]

I have a little 120v wire feed welder. I never even considered using for chassis. I may look into it, but as has been said, I won't be buying a tiny welder for thousands, regardless.

The simple non technical answer ......stick with your iron for chassis building...................welding uses/requires SIGNIFICANTLY more heat than soldering, and the increased heat can change the properties of the base metal (the wire)..........this may reduce the flexing properties and memory of the piano wire, which is why it is so good in the first place.

Cheers
Chris Walker

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Thanks for saving me the bother. I did wonder about the heat involved. I have burned through some stuff.

[Model Murdering]

Tig? Plasma. Super cool! .... but it'll take the twang right out of piano wire where ever you spot it.

Spendy with with a near vertical learning curve for the unindoctrinated. You dont just pick up a tig torch and start spotting piano wire together, that is fractionally over the diameter of the tungsten electrode.

Chris is right of course. Dont let your iron quit it's day job!

[Kevan]

The #1 advantage solder has over welding is the ability to melt it again.

[Fathead59]

I have a question about piano wire , when soldering how clean must it be ? Can you just clean it off with rubbing alcohol and then rough it up with steel wool or emery cloth ?

[chrisguyw]

Yes...........give it a good rub with the steel wool/sandpaper,........it is highly advisable to use liquid acid flux for soldering piano wire, and equally advisable to thoroughly clean off the acid flux when you are done.

[SlotCat]

Chris nailed it, great answer!

[HomeRacingWorld]

Sure, I just use sandpaper.

[SlotCat]

Harry, ChrisVWguy and ModelMurdering nailed it regarding welding piano wire, take the temper right out of it and no more springy.

[noddaz]

I get that as a tool for this hobby , price wise it is quite unrealistic.

But you have to admit that it is pretty darn cool.

[chrisguyw]

Some people spend a lot on their hobbies !!

[Kevan]

For the length of time that takes to spot a weld (less than a tenth of a second) the wire isn't going to generate enough heat to take the temper from more than a couple of mm of wire.

[TuscoTodd]

Cool video - thanks for sharing!
I enjoy solding mine, but there are times it would be really handy to be able to spot something like that!
🙂