Gisco "Bronco Cut" wire question

[wireDoug]

I'm hoping someone can help me with a small problem.

I run a one-man job shop doing, among other things, wire EDM work for local corporations.

I've been EDM'ing for thirteen years now; my experience has been mainly with hard brass wire, though I did experiment once with some Mitsubishi zinc-coated wire for one particular production job.

A former customer of mine recently gave up on the old beat-up wire machine that they bought three years ago (thinking they were saving themselves money!) and has now come back to me.
I bought three spools of leftover Gisco "Bronco Cut" zinc-coated wire from them cheap; all three spools were still shrink-wrapped.
For the life of me, I can't even get the stuff through the upper guide of my Mits FA10 machine; it curls up like a coil spring, right from the spool. I've never seen anything like it!

Does anyone have an explanation for this?

Obviously, I'm not out much money, but I would like to get some use out of this wire and not just take it to the local recycler.

Thanks for any light that can be shed on this!

 

[unclesyd]

I call this the monofilament fishing line conundrum. On fishing line you have to put it on the reel in the opposite direction it was put on the transport spool.

You might have to rig up and rewind it a different spool using the opposite lay.

Another possibility is to add another roller guide to the EDM machine wire feed system to straighten the wire.

 

[ajack1]

Have you tried running a cigarette lighter flame up the first 3-4 inches and then straightening it between your thumb nail and forefinger? This often helps get it started.

Also have you checked it is the same gauge as you normally use and will in fact fit in the guides?

 

[wireDoug]

Thanks for the suggestions!

Yes, it is the correct diameter wire (.010") for my guides; it's just too coiled-up to feed through.

I did so some research and found that this wire is much softer than the hard brass that I normally use (much lower tensile strength); good for cutting large tapers, but tough to feed through my machine (possibly easier to use with another brand of machine, I'm told).

I'll try the flame-straightening method and see whether I can get it straight enough to feed through the guides.
If not, I think I'll be off to the scrap metal dealer; a little poorer, but a little wiser.

 

[1800edm2win]

It has to do with the age of the wire, Harder wire's will come off the spool because of memory. They only have a shelf life of about a year.

I worked for Gisco for 25 years i have seen it all

Sincerely

Robert Scharpf