"Short Lengths Of "Guitar Strings" For 15mm Tech Tentacles?" Topic

Maybe guitar string is not the right material but . . .

Does anyone sell pre-cut lengths varying from about 1 inch to 3 inches, of thin easy-to-shape "coiled"(?) wire that could be used as tech tentacles for making things like these, for 15mm?

Matrix-like "Sentinels":

TMP link
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Futurama "Hoverfish":

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Minority Report Spiders/Spyders:

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Or for making other small tripod conversions:

link

Thanks,

Dan

Okay,

Now this is a cool thread. It would also be a good group project. How to make your own tripods on the cheap. Does anyone have any suggestions or examples of ones they made?

Psychosama,

But, does guitar string unravel when cut? Does it have to be soldered before cutting? And is the wire easy to shape afterwards?

I dunno these things. I love the sound of guitar music but have never really played one, tuned it or anything.

Dan

I'm with Psychosama, though you will have to put down about 75 cents to a dollar for a single guitar string at the local music shop.

If you like the smooth outside look, ask for flatwound guitar strings. They're favored by jazz players and are not quite as common, so you might have to buy the whole pack (about 5 bucks).

Cut them short and then flex them a bit until the flat wrap separates a bit and you should get a look similar to the last two pics.

guitar string is nothing more than a small wire wrapped around a central wire. I've never heard anything about it unraveling when clipped. Even more when you bend small lengths of it it keeps its shape like any other wire.

Here: link

Malleman: "It would also be a good group project. How to make your own tripods on the cheap."

Are you suggesting a challenge to all members that do 15mm? I tried to do that once with 28mm gamers:

TMP link

But you might have better luck thouh.

Dan

Okay, any idea how this fella may have "hand wrapped" floral wire to look this good?

All he says is . . . "The tentcles were made from floral wire. I hand wrapped each one individually and they are all vary length"

link

What's the secret to something like that?

Thanks,

Dan

It can be a little pointy and frayed at the edge when you clip it, the trick it to just clip away the little sharp bits until you get a nice flatend bit. Ultimately it shouldn't really matter because 95% of the time you'll be sticking the end into predrilled holes in something or covering the end with claws, feet, base etc like this one of mine:

@CC

Don't hand wrap it. Simply cut three lengths of floral wire to about twice the length of the finished tentacle. In a bundle, clamp one end of your wire in a vice and chuck the other end in a power drill. Pull the trigger and let it twist.

This fella says he has a "cable making device":

link

I wonder if something like that could be done for smaller thicknesses (as with 15mm).

Dan

MASQ MINI makes the tool that you roll a worm of greenstuff on.

AHA just didn't know he made them clear

link

You might look into wire wrapping tools. They are still used in some electronics. Might be hard to find one that lets you wrap that much wire. They are generally used for short lengths to make connections.

Check around for people winding their own motors. RC guys do it sometimes. Might be a tool or method you can adapt.

" What's the secret to something like that?"

I imagine the secret is an obsessive personality and possibly the influence of some powerful (not caffeine) stimulants.

"I imagine the secret is an obsessive personality"

I don't know about that. I knew a guy who made chain mail by hand. He did it just because he was bored. Never underestimate the power of boredom.

Stick with the guitar string.

I've also seen folks put a nail into the chuck of a drill and slowly wind wire around that. Honestly, though, I think that guitar string would be just fine. I've often thought about adding legs to Tau gun-drones to make 6mm-scale tripods.

The nickel (or whatever for your strings) wound around guitar strings will uncoil. However, In building tripods, you are unlikely to put these under repeated stress. If you snip once, bend, then glue in place between two other things (body and base), you shouldn't have a problem.

Okay Dan I am in. It will be about a month before I can start on the project due to other projects I need to finish first, but please if someone is interested, don't wait on me.

I am not thinking a competition, but instead more of a cooperative project in which we use our collective knowledge on what materials to use (wire type, various head types, and base styles) to give us various tripods or things with tentacles for us as 15mm fans to choose from.

More of a guide on how to make this or that on the cheap and easy.

My first question is what wire to use? I am going to try to goto the music shop go get some guitar string asap.

Guitar string will work fine as armoured tenticals, i use it all the time to create armoured power cabling on my Battletech mechs and i have also used its on a few 15mm miniatures.It is tough stuff to cut and does unravel at the ends but only if you are very forceful with it, it's quite easy to shape and i suggest using a old pen or length of rod to wrap it around to create the curves that you want to make…
Below is a example of a mod i done on a Battlemech to convert it into a different variant, i used guitar wire for the armoured cabling.

Dragon Forge Designs sells castings of guitar strings in various thicknesses. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to the Power Cables section:

link

I've used them for conversions and for various master sculpts. They work great and Jeff at Dragon Forge is a great guy to deal with.

-Matt Beauchamp
Hydra Miniatures
hydraminiatures.com

I use an old hand drill to wrap wire. Put the two pieces in the chuck and start crankin'. Used to do this to make barbed wire in 28mm. But….
I don't see why guitar strings wouldn't work. Pretty stiff in the upper gauges and easy to cut with good clippers. Got me thinkin' of an old 1/144 turret I have laying around……

But guitar string (or bass strings) will not hold much of a shape. They;re designed to vibrate, not stay still…

But head to an electrical supply house they sell stuff like this by the foot…

But guitar string (or bass strings) will not hold much of a shape. They;re designed to vibrate, not stay still…

At the end of the day its just wire and wire can be bent to shape, but those pewter cast power cables look like a good alternative…

Matt,

Those cast cables look amazing, specially the 1.15mm ones. What a find!!!

Thanks so much,

Dan
PS. Malleman, you're on!!! I'm going to try and first make one without resorting to the cast cables. Let's see how that looks. If it doesn't work, I'll order the cast cables pictured above. Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Yes, wire can be bent to shape, but instrument strings are *tempered* wire. It wants to stay straight, and doesn't hold a curve easily. It kinks fine, but doesn't curve.

Personally, I'd buy some .020" solder and twist that.

Oh My…. I can see money wandering out again….

Guitar strings are cool to work with. They hold their shape and look great. They glue easily with superglue, cut easily and do not unravel.

I use them all the time:

More here:

link

All the Best!

Colonel O Truth: you do great work!

John T

Thanks, John!

Just a thought on the cast cables: They must be prone to breaking when shaped. And practically impossible to fix properly.

Why bother when actual guitar strings are pretty cheap? (Especially if you play/teach guitar as I do… I keep all my old strings for just this reason…)

Depends on metal used for breakage.
And how you bend them of course,