On Sun, 28 Mar 2004 18:55:40 -0000, (Dave Platt)
wrote:

In article ,
Richard Clark wrote:

then the wire will work harden and break

Copper?

That's my experience, and a few minutes of Google-searching the Web
comes up with numerous references stating that copper does suffer from
work hardening after cold-deformation. The extent depends on the
purity of the copper and on what other metals it has been alloyed
with. [Lead is apparently one of the few metals not subject to work
hardening.]

This process can be reversed by annealing, but that's a bit tricky to
do if the copper is already part of a coaxial cable :-)

With some experience working with drawing wire (and I don't mean
artistically) I can confirm that most metals, copper and silver
included, tend to work harden. OFHC copper is better than most copper
alloys.

Gold is one of the few that does not, which is why certain types of
jewelry and leaf can only be made with reasonably pure gold.

Annealing at the right temperature for the particular metal of alloy
will make it malleable again, but those temperatures are not
compatible with plastic or rubber insulations.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
------------------------------------------------
at the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom