Wireforming techniques

[welder4956]

I'm interested in learning more about wireforming techniques. I've thought about forming the basic shap for my front spoiler/apron from 1/8" or larger wire then fitting sheetmetal to it. I'd love to hear any recommendations on how to do this.

[Gene_Olson]

I haven't wireformed many models but we did make a lot of scenery from 1/4 rod and I built a big kinetic piece out o 1/4 rod.



I found that one of the hardest parts is making fine adjustments to the rod once it is in the structure.

outside you stick it in the vice, bend it on your knee, over the corner of the table, . . . once it is in place you can often see exactly where you want to apply force but figuring how to put the force in the right spot in the right direction is a bit difficult.

I ended up making some jigs out of pieces of Unistrut channel

I notched out the top, drilled two holes into the bottom and then sliced down the center of the channel to make two bending/alignment tools.

Unistrut channel makes a simple tool for aligning and bending 1/4 in wire while forming bucks or other patterns.


A nut can be welded on the bottom of the angle under the hole and the jig can be used to make small bends in existing rods by screwing a bolt through against a rod captured by the j shaped channel edge.

if you take two vice grip pliers and use the j shaped edge it can be used as a welding alignment jig to butt weld two rods together.

Gene

Gene
That is just the tool that I have been lookiing for. I am going to make a bondo buck of a 42 ford hood. And was wondering how I could make the small bends.
This is just the ticket.
Thanks for the post. And Thanks Welder for asking the Question
Earl

[jvo]

Gene, that's pretty ingenious. I just spent some time in your own website, which I haven't done before now. Pretty impressive career you've had. I hope you attend MM05, I'm looking forward to talking to you. I had a similar career planned when I got out of high school, set design and building, and I did a lot of amateur acting in high school and college productions when I was young. I took the proverbial "year off", after high school, never went back, ended up buying my own truck when I was twenty one, thought I was gonna get rich, and spent the last 30 years in the trucking industry. Anyway, that's off topic, looking forward to seeing you at MM05. John V.O.

[jprisher]

I learn something new every time I visit this group. It's is addictive when you are picking up so much good tips. I was thinking of using wire forming to build a alum. part for my brother's motor cycle. It has a good bit of shape to it. It goes in between the engine and the front tire.

[Oldtin]

When I started on the wireform for the ZM2 roadster Tom Lipton provided a handy little bending fixture that really helped move the project along. It was basically a block of aluminum with two 5/8" steel pins in it about 3/8" apart, Tom had machined a notch around the bottom so that it clamped nicely in a vice.
Prior to receiving the tool from Tom I had been using a gang of pulleys from 1.5 to 24" diameter to bend the 1/4" wires on, I thought that the variety of radii would help make the bends smoother, It was a slow process. The fixture that Tom made worked much better and the depth of the pins allowed me to match the wires from side to side or bend two matching wires at the same time to help keep the wireform symetrical. I was very surprised to see how much quicker the bending process went with the fixture/tool.