Working tirelessly here in the offices of The HotWire: LoosCo.com’s blog , sometimes we hear things that aren’t exactly correct (think of the magnetism test from our recent blog “Enough with the magnet test already”) and see things that you know should be true but really aren’t. That’s why we keep our trusty copy of the Loosco.com Engineering FAQ’s by our side, on constant vigil to disprove industry myth, decipher industry jargon, and assist readers with demystifying the ins and outs of aircraft cable and wire rope. Plus, we just love to talk about our business. Can you blame us? It’s what we do! And you guessed it: this is another technical post.
This week we came across two facts about wire that we know will clear up some common misconceptions and clarify some terminology. The first is wire appearance versus wire finish, or as the title of this blog says: Bright vs. Shiny.
The term “bright” in the wire industry commonly refers to an untreated wire surface, free from coatings such as zinc (galvanized), tin, copper, liquor, etc. It does not mean “shiny”. A shiny finish (in effect an extra smooth surface) occurs when wire is drawn in oil. Smaller sizes are more commonly drawn in oil, while larger wires are drawn in soap (know as dry drawn), creating a matte finish.
You can see the difference between these two finishes by comparing stainless steel wire ropes in the ½” to 5/8” range: those with higher wire counts (6x37, 6x42) have smaller wires that are oil drawn, while those with lower wire counts have larger wires that are soap drawn. The former is shiny, while the latter is noticeably dull in comparison.
Which brings us to our second topic in today’s post: Shininess of stainless steel vs. galvanized wire. It’s a common misconception that stainless is shiny and galvanized is dull. In fact, it’s the opposite. Galvanized wire, when compared to even oil drawn stainless wire, is shinier. Don’t believe us? Let’s take a look at some pictures:
Galvanized or stainless?
Stainless
Galvanized or stainless?
Galvanized
Galvanized or stainless?
That’s actually Stainless
Seeing is believing. If you have any additional questions about this or any other wire rope or aircraft cable related topics, contact a product manager and we’ll be happy to help. Or you can visit LoosCo.com and look around for yourself. See you there!
 |
 |
 |
 |