"Jewelry-grade" copper wire?

Thread Starter

Rabbit H

Joined Aug 5, 2016
153
Okay, Guys, time for another exciting round of...
I CAN'T BELIEVE HE ASKED THAT !!!


I'm tired of searching all over town for a short length of a certain gauge solid copper wire for those occasional times when I need to solder a jumper on a pc board. Normally, old clipped resistor leads are good for such a thing but just try to find one when you need it!!! (Without resorting to removing your shoes to probe the throw rug under your workbench anyway!) Therefore, I'd like to stock up on some 1 or 2ft sections each of 16 thru 24 gauge solid copper wire. My theory is that having what I need on hand will guarantee that I'll never have a need for it again! :rolleyes:

Anyway, I know that craft stores (Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Big Butt Liquor & Pawn, etc) sell packages of short lengths of copper wire in multiple gauges for making jewelry, and the prices are quite reasonable. Is there anything wrong with using something like this for carrying <10A of up to 110VAC (in the proper gauge, of course)? And if so, do I want to get "dead soft" or "half hard"?

Or is "jewelry-grade wire" synonymous with "crap wire"?

Thanks!

Harvey
 
Last edited:

KL7AJ

Joined Nov 4, 2008
2,229
Okay, Guys, time for another exciting round of...
I CAN'T BELIEVE HE ASKED THAT !!!


I'm tired of searching all over town for a short length of a certain gauge solid copper wire for those occasional times when I need to solder a jumper on a pc board. Normally, old clipped resistor leads are good for such a thing but just try to find one when you need it!!! (Without resorting to removing your shoes to probe the throw rug under your workbench anyway!) Therefore, I'd like to stock up on some 1 or 2ft sections each of 16 thru 24 gauge solid copper wire. My theory is that having what I need on hand will guarantee that I'll never have a need for it again! :rolleyes:

Anyway, I know that craft stores (Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Big Butt Liquor & Pawn, etc) sell packages of short lengths of copper wire in multiple gauges for making jewelry, and the prices are quite reasonable. Is there anything wrong with using something like this for carrying <10A of up to 110VAC (in the proper gauge, of course)? And if so, do I want to get "dead soft" or "half hard"?

Or is "jewelry-grade wire" synonymous with "crap wire"?

Thanks!

Harvey
It's actually a little bit harder than our "normal" electronics wire, but it works fine. I use it for R.F. coils all the time because it IS so stiff.
 

Thread Starter

Rabbit H

Joined Aug 5, 2016
153
What I use is solid cond. cat5/telephone cable stripped, it strips easily and is available by the ft at HD etc.
Max.
Mornin' Max,

I've used phone cable when I needed 22-24ga copper. I've also stripped and used 12 and 14ga Romex ("house wire") when I needed a larger conductor. However, I have a current need for some solid16ga and I'm having trouble sourcing it.

Harvey
 

Kermit2

Joined Feb 5, 2010
4,162
Home Depot has it as "primary wire" under a subheading of building wire. They have both solid and stranded conductor.
They also have 18 gauge as thermostat wire and 20 gauge as bell wire or doorbell wire.
 

OBW0549

Joined Mar 2, 2015
3,566
Is there anything wrong with using something like this for carrying <10A of up to 110VAC (in the proper gauge, of course)? And if so, do I want to get "dead soft" or "half hard"? Or is "jewelry-grade wire" synonymous with "crap wire"?
I don't think it matters; copper is copper, whether soft, half-hard or full hard.

I keep a couple of spools of tinned bus wire (AWG 16, 18 and 22) on hand for these situations-- or I just use resistor or capacitor clippings if handy. I got the bus wire on Amazon.com.
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
The hardness of copper...this can be cause by, "work hardening" or it can be caused by the wire not being pure copper.
Check the conductivity of the wire to see if it's pure copper.;)
 
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