Old Electric Cord

[paulbrown145]

Is the effort worth it? Will the copper wire hold up? I spent a few hours salvaging some copper wire to use on some pheasant tail nymphs. I hope the effort pays off.

 

[dudemanspecial]

It will tarnish and turn green from corrosion pretty quickly.

Fly tying wire is varnished so it won't corrode, and a spool of it is less than 5 bucks.

 

[paulbrown145]

It will tarnish and turn green from corrosion pretty quickly.

Fly tying wire is varnished so it won't corrode, and a spool of it is less than 5 bucks.

Thanks, I didn’t think of that. I guess I will only use these when I plan to cover with solar resin

 

[DGC]

I've been doing exactly what the OP has done for years. No tarnishing or turning green. Perhaps this is because I open my nymph box to allow thorough drying after fishing. Different wires, different gauges and perhaps different compositions could explain my luck. No big deal to tie and try a few.

 

[dudemanspecial]

I've been doing exactly what the OP has done for years. No tarnishing or turning green. Perhaps this is because I open my nymph box to allow thorough drying after fishing. Different wires, different gauges and perhaps different compositions could explain my luck. No big deal to tie and try a few.

I can see being meticulous about drying them preventing corrosion, but am having a hard time imagining the copper not tarnishing. Simply exposing copper to oxygen will make it tarnish pretty quickly. Look at the copper pipes in the plumbing of your house.

In the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter how dark the copper wire on your nymphs becomes though, so have at it.

 

[lestrout]

Decades ago, when the Brassie was first invented, the big "tyler" in Denver would package his copper wound nymphs in a tiny glass vial (just like a crack tube) which he then purged with nitrogen, or maybe it was CO2. Anyway, the locals would be sure to get'em fresh and not open the tube till streamside. Guess varnished copper wire wasn't readily available then.

 

[nymphingmaniac]

if people really wanted to go through the trouble you can buy spools of motor windings wire that is coated. But, as another wrote, the cost of buying it from a shop is small and it helps support the shop.

 

[Bamboozle]

A couple of thing regarding extension cords/lamp cord strands:

Tarnishing/turning green will depend on the quality of the extension cord, whether the individual conductors are varnished, the PH of the water you fish and whether your skin acids are like mine and you can tarnish stainless steel. 😉

The diameter of the individual strands depends on the overall gauge of the stranded wire cord and the flexibility desired by the manufacturer.

The most common extension cords are either 16 or 18 gauge stranded wire. In an typical 18 gauge stranded wire cord this equates to anywhere from 7 to 19 individual strands of 26 AWG to 30 AWG wire.

A 16 gauge extension cord is typically anywhere from 7 to 19 strands of 24 AWG to 29 AWG wire.

As a point of reference, UTC Ultra Wire comes in 5 different gauges which measure as follow:

Large - 25 AWG (0.0179")​

Medium - 27 AWG (0.0142")​

Brassie - 32 AWG (0.008")​

Small - 34 AWG (0.0063"​

Extra Small- 38 AWG (0.004")​

​

Ultra Wire is also varnished, spooled and comes in a many colors.​

The bottom line with old cords is you don't know what size you have until you count or measure strands and you won't know if the strands are varnished until they oxidize or not. I used old cords when I started fly tying and threw away the green ribbed flies a few years later...

Folks can use and do what they want, but I never had an issue with tarnsihing or oxidation after switching to Ultra Wire, I like all the color choices and it is spooled which makes for easy storage.

When I factor in the time to strip old extension cords, count strands and figure out a way to store the strands, it isn't worth the hassle to me to save a few cents on a single color of wire.

As always, YMMV...

BTW - Another wire I use is Beadalon Artistic Wire, a coated wire sold in craft shops. It is also available in lots of colors and spooled. I never did a price per foot comparison to Ultra Wire but they make a few colors I use (like true purple & true brass) that are unavailable from Ultra Wire.

It's good stuff and available from many sources!!

 

[stecal]

I've been using copper wire from an old extension cord for a while for tying. I've never noticed any corrosion or turning green

 

[Kms]

Will the copper wire hold up?

Copper work hardens readily, becoming significantly less malleable and increasingly brittle with each flexion. Used wire may have undergone any number of bends, and so may be quite brittle, so unless you know just how “used” the wire is, it’s durability could be highly suspect.

New spooled wire should be nearly “virgin” in this regard, having only been bent once when it was spooled.

Note that you could likely undo any work hardening by annealing any wire you recover at ~800F, however.

 

[poopdeck]

It’s not worth my effort but to each their own. Ultra wire is cheap and a single spool lasts a long long time and ties more flies than I will ever need in a year or two or more, who knows. I never felt a need to save money on wire.

 

[jeffroey]

This falls into the "juice not worth the squeeze" category for me and probably most others . . . unless you're getting ready to tie a thousand pheasant tails

 

[nfrechet]

your fly will probably be lost to a tree limb or submerged log quicker than the wire corroding 😁👍

 

[paulbrown145]

your fly will probably be lost to a tree limb or submerged log quicker than the wire corroding 😁👍

Very true.

 

[shakey]

I use copper from salvaged electric cords and motors more than any other ribbing.
I don’t experience a problem with tarnishing, and I have been doing it for years.

 

[PennKev]

I tie flies in batches. I've used stripped copper wire in a pinch. I don't anymore. My supply of Copper John's and Brassie's turning into Brown Johns and Brownies was a waste of my time.

It definitely does tarnish. Maybe tying flies in ones and twos and you won't notice it. Tie a couple dozen and I can guarantee you they will change colors before you use them all.