How to Seamlessly Join Stainless Wire Without Welding

Twist it.

Use an Angler's knot.

Soldering works fine....

http://www.bssa.org.uk/topics.php?article=150

I think some overlap will be necessary, but soldering, or even a good adhesive should work.

A histroical note: Many years ago, I compared surface preparation methods for adhesive bonding of stainless steels, using the ASTM overlap shear panel bonding technique.

Of sanding, glass beading and wire brushing, wire brushing produced the highest bond strengths. All methods produce acceptable results.

Good Luck.

like a Blacksmith?

Super glue comes in thin and thick, a gel. If that's not good enough, you can solder it, but it takes a special flux. Check with a jeweler for the right stuff.

You're not going to make much progress trying to silver solder with a soldering iron.

Soft solder (like what is used for connecting conductors and tin smithing) absolutely.

Have a close look at a pre MIG/TIG welding era SS urinal and you will see the soft soldered joints.

Ask an old plumber he'll tell ya.

Three or four ideas here that don't require welding or silver solder or fancy prep work.

You should be able to find stainless tubing in an I.D. just a few thousandths larger than the O.D. of the wire your wife is using. Pieces of this small tubing are available at our local Hobby Lobby in the beading section, and so are very small diameters of brass.

Insert the ends, crimp with a tool you find appropriate after experimentation. Done.

My mom can't squeeze the crimpers that hard, so she just smashes the tube twice on each end with a ball-peen hammer against pop's old bench vise anvil. Yes, I've shown her how to crimp the tube by crushing it with the vise jaws. She likes to smash it because it's faster.

If you can't find tubing small enough, you can also bypass the two ends to increase the diameter inside the tubing, even thread in extra fragments of wire if you need more filler.

I've seen some of this done where six or seven or eight loops were all joined into one compressed tube using this method.

It's not very reversible, but that's kinda the idea. It doesn't come apart.

Last, you can fold the ends of the wire back on itself to make small folded hooks. Hook the two ends together, leave the ends of the hooks spaced a little, and wind this connection with fine single strand copper wire. Solder the copper wire as you would any copper. No need to worry about the stainless prep work.

I also have seen some of the RC model guys use gel cyanoacrylate to bond stainless inside tubing. They claim it's permanent. Probably not to high heat but you are talking jewelry and knick knacks so this could work also.

Fishing supply stores carry many fasteners to join stainless steel wire. However, welding works so well and is so easy. You may not think you have access to welding equipment, but there is so much of it available at such reasonable cost on Ebay and other sites, that I wouldn't rule welding out.

nickle wire is easier to solder. i would suggest filing the ends to a 45 degree angle. solder using the correct solder and flux. file smooth. buff

I use a silver/tin solder every day to join small pieces of stainless steel; you have to get it to 600+ deg. F to flow. The comment about stainless steel hypotube is a great one, definitely the best so far.

Get some fine stainless steel wire and do as a fisherman would, if you don't know what he would do just ask one, or just pull the satinless steel wire through both of the two pieces of netting at once, then tie off!

Spencer.

http://www.verdigrismetals.co.uk/mortise%20and%20tenon%20joints.htm

or you may go nuts attempting this

(muh ha ha ha haa)