jkn wrote:
Hi All
Thanks for the suggestions...

Craft shops are clearly worth a look. There is plenty of 'craft wire'
on eBay, but I'm not sure of the strength/malleability. I'll see what
I can learn from poking around a shop.

Flower shop wire tends to be ferrous, I think.

Something with the strength of brass, but 'Aluminium' in colour, would
be good. I want to bend something useful out of it, a bit like the
street-seller stuff but more functional, he said coyly.

Is there an easy source of 'coat-hanger wire' which isn't pre-bent
into the shape of a coat hanger? Strength-wise it would be fine, but I
need to start off with a decent length of straight.


OK. that would be something agricultural. Used in fencing. Galvanised
iron wire.

The easiest way to straighten it is to get a length and put one end in a
vice or some sort of rigid clamp, and then wind the other round a pole
and pull bloody hard. It stretches, work hardens and straightens.

It takes many years for fence wire to rust. You should be ok with
galvanised. And a spray coat of clear lacquer will help as well.