Coat Hanger Wire

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madelinew

Tenderfoot
Jun 1, 2008
73
0
Isle of Wight
Been playing around with some of this in a moment of boredom tonight and made myself a toasting fork. It's left a metallic smell on my hands so I'm wondering - is there a toxic coating on coat hanger wire which may prove unpleasant if heated.
 

Mesquite

It is what it is.
Mar 5, 2008
27,803
2,892
62
~Hemel Hempstead~
Had a look at one and mine appears to have a varnish on it. Maybe you might want to heat it up to burn this off before you use it for your toasting :)
 

Mike Ameling

Need to contact Admin...
Jan 18, 2007
872
1
Iowa U.S.A.
www.angelfire.com
Most (all) coat hangers have some sort of varnish or enamel paint coating - to retard rusting. If you are going to use it to cook/roast food, you need to burn the paint off first. The actual metal alloy they are made from can vary by manufacturer, but you should not have any health/food problems with it. If you happen to find a hanger that has a ZINC coating, be carefull to not breathe the smoke when you burn that coating off - toxic.

A lot of the current barbwire fencing also is zinc coated. But it's great wire to use for projects. It has more tensil strength than common utility wire, so it is stiffer and will hold it's shape better. Just be careful of that coating if you are going to use it for food/cooking.

Mikey - yee ol' grumpy blacksmith out in the Hinterlands
 

StigOfTheDump

Tenderfoot
Jan 26, 2007
52
0
57
Galloway
Most wire coat hangers do have a galvanised zinc coating as does barbed wire, its that grey oxidised looking stuff.

Its easy enough to remove in a fire, you will be sure its gone if the wire will rust over its surface if you leave out in the rain etc.

Zinc is definitly a toxic heavy metal, so dont breathe the fumes, welders get a complaint called metal fume fever from welding galvanised.

Im a huge fan of coat hanger wire, its very versatile, and is easy to get. as is old barbed wire, which as Mike Ameling points out is stiffer due to its higher carbon content.
 

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