Stainless steel wire?

[zazanomore]

So I've been doing a lot of research on DIY bird toys. I've found that those stainless skewers used in the bases of bird toys cost about 7 dollars for a small piece on online stores. With that money, I'd rather just buy their toys.

Then I thought of using stainless steel wire. It is pretty reasonably priced, and you can get bird safe stuff. I'm wondering if this would also work for a strong toy base. Would I be able to bend it so I could make a hoop for the bell and pear link?

I like that with stainless steal they can't bite through it and it is reusable. I'd rather make toy bases from something long lasting, rather than just cotton rope or leather strips.

[pirategene]

Hi
Did you run across these sites re bird toy parts? Good price for ss wire and other parts
www.busybird.com
birdtoyoutlet.com
nalanitoys.com
plus as you know, there are a lot of others. SS wire is easy to work with, using needle-nose pliers or vise-grips, etc., you can bend little loops at the wire end. There are a few tricks to working with it, so if you get some, let me know.
pirategene and tambo

[lotus15]

SS wire is a great choice but personally I prefer skewers. It's easy enough to bend but what's tough is cutting it. Not only do you need a ss wire cutter but you also need to sand down the edges as they can be very rough and sharp. You also have to be really careful about how you bend them so that they don't create any toe or beak catching gaps or points. Skewers are a really wonderful investment that you won't regret!

[Michael]

Consider that the skewers are reusable. You'd only need a couple of them (however many toys you want up at a time). All you have to do is replace the toy pieces hanging on them. The reason most toys don't come that way is because it is economically not feasible to use a skewer on each new toy and it's not like customers return them for new parts, so the SS wire comes out cheaper to let you keep away and most likely discard. Think of SS wire toys as plastic bags and skewer as one of those reusable shopping totes. $7 seems unreasonable if you use it once, but if you keep replenishing it, you save money in the long run cause the stainless steel wire won't last for more than a few uses (the bends become brittle if you keep opening/closing them). Also when you consider the fact that you don't need tools it definitely makes it much simpler for a hobby toy maker.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

FWIW, if you open and close a wire joint properly, it should last for many openings and closings. The most common place you run into this is with a ring that has a cut through it (called a jumpring). The correct way to open the joint is to grasp each side of the opening with pliers and twist the ring so that one side of the cut moves away from you and the other toward you. As opposed to pulling the joint open by pulling the ends away from each other, deforming the circle. Twisting the ring open and closed again will much reduce the metal fatigue and also ensures a tighter closure. You can do a similar technique with a round eye end that you have made.

You could also get a torch and anneal your wire, but you probably don't want to get into that, especially with stainless steel!

Here is a picture of the correct technique:

[zazanomore]

FWIW, if you open and close a wire joint properly, it should last for many openings and closings. The most common place you run into this is with a ring that has a cut through it (called a jumpring). The correct way to open the joint is to grasp each side of the opening with pliers and twist the ring so that one side of the cut moves away from you and the other toward you. As opposed to pulling the joint open by pulling the ends away from each other, deforming the circle. Twisting the ring open and closed again will much reduce the metal fatigue and also ensures a tighter closure. You can do a similar technique with a round eye end that you have made.

You could also get a torch and anneal your wire, but you probably don't want to get into that, especially with stainless steel!

Here is a picture of the correct technique:

Thanks for that. I've actually been looking up different techniques on youtube. If or when I get wire, I'll be sure to contact you asking for help!

[greymatter]

I use SS, and although it takes a bit of time & practice to get it right, bending it just requires basic tools. I do like that you are able to add onto the base once your fids have had their fun

I'm lucky enough that I work down the street from a direct supplier, and can get a pound of 12 gauge SS wire for $9! That's about 30 3- foot pieces . It helps keep costs down (hence lower prices - yay!).