Fine Wire Drawn to Your Specifications

At IWM, our fine wire is drawn to meet our customers’ exacting specification ensuring best value to our customers’ manufacturing processes and product quality. IWM is in continuous production of single end, round wire drawn from aluminum, commercial bronze, and low carbon steel coil and rod materials. More details concerning material specifications can be found in our materials technical guide. Below, please find specifications concerning our wire sizes, processes, metal treatments, and packaging solutions for your design considerations.

IWM offers fine wire in diameters starting at 0.005in. (36ga.) as well as larger diameters produced through our intermediate process dies. Below is listed the American Wire Gauge (AWG) standard reference size chart and size ranges for IWM intermediate and fine wire. For a current list of wire sizes, please contact IWM at solutions@iwmesh.com.

Wire Drawing is a progressive process which the metal is stretched and formed from a larger diameter to smaller diameters through a successive series of precision dies and drawing wheels (capstans) which pull the wire.  At IWM, our wire is drawn to an intermediate size, which may be then conditioned prior to drawing to its final fine wire dimension.

As the wire is drawn, the material is strain-hardened and the material loses its ductility.  Thus, prior to final wire drawing, the intermediate wire is soft-annealed to improve the wire’s ductility to minimize breaks during the final wire drawing processes.

Annealing is the heat treatment process for increasing the metal’s ductility and reducing its hardness.  At IWM, both annealing ovens and furnaces are utilized to stabilize, partially anneal, and fully (soft) anneal our wire.  The annealing process requires precision control of temperature (heat & cooling), time, and atmosphere to ensure the desired mechanical properties of the wire.  IWM process quality control and monitoring ensures consistent annealing processes to eliminate issues found during the annealing process such as microstructural inclusions, decarburization, and carbon sooting.

Copper Coating

IWM typically copper coats its low carbon steel wire where the copper acts as both a surface lubricant for the fine wire drawing process as well as a corrosion inhibitor and/or conductor for the fine wire’s use or application.   Copper coating is applied through a chemical coating (immersion coating) of the wire through an acidic copper solution after the wire has been properly cleaned and surface treated (pickled).

IWM’s packaging solutions for fine wire are customized to meet our customers’ payoff requirements, while ensuring best value when considering logistics and handling.  Typical packaging consideration can include, but are not limited to size & weight of spool, reel, or stem; spool material types; quality considerations such as foreign object debris (FOD) control and electrostatic discharge (ESD) preventive packaging; bulk pallet or rack sizes; and returnable rack and equipment programs for continuous or KANBAN programs.

For more details concerning packaging options, please contact IWM at solutions@iwmesh.com.  For general spool packaging consideration, please find IWM’s standard spool sizes.