#galvanised wire

Razer Wire for Sale – High-Quality Security Solutions

Galvanized steel razor wire, also known as razor wire or razor blade wire, is a type of security fencing material. It consists of razor-sharp blades attached to a steel wire core, designed to deter unauthorized access and provide high-security fencing solutions. The steel wire is coated with a layer of zinc (galvanization) to enhance its resistance to corrosion and increase its durabilit.

Kendra Haste Brings Galvanized Wire to Life

Kendra Haste is a contemporary animal sculptor working with the medium of galvanized wire.

Since graduating from the Royal College of Art in 1998, Kendra has established a significant reputation in her field with work included in collections world-wide. She is a member of the Society of Wildlife Artists (UK) and a signature member of the Society of Animal Artists (USA).

Public sculptures in the United Kingdom include an elephant at Waterloo Station, London and thirteen works at the Tower of London, commissioned by Historic Royal Palaces in 2010.

'What interests me most about studying animals is identifying the spirit and character of the individual creatures. I try to create a sense of the living, breathing subject in a static 3-D form, attempting to convey the emotional essence without indulging in the sentimental or anthropomorphic.'

Unless you work in the industry or take an active interest in the environmental side of things, you might not know what happens to waste here in the UK once it leaves our houses. In actual fact, the process is much more complex than you might have thought and it all goes through a number of steps before it reaches its final end.

Of course, the entire process starts in your kitchen, when you decide whether to separate your waste and put it into the recycling, or chuck it straight into the bin.

If you choose the former, it might be picked up from your home or maybe you have to take it to a drop off point, either way, from here it will be collected and taken to a biological centre, where it will be separated and cleaned. From here, the process will depend on what it is that needs to be recycled. Glass might be reused in its current form, or it could be melted down and reformed into something else. Whereas aluminium will have any covering paper or dyes removed, before it is then melted down, then reformed into big blocks. Whatever the material, once it has either been melted down and reformed or thoroughly cleaned for reuse, it can then be shipped off for reselling, either to manufacturers who can make something out of the basic fabrics, or to companies and factories who can repurpose the reused product. Obviously, this is a simplification of a lengthy process, but it covers the basics.

When your old rubbish destined for the landfill leaves your home, it too starts life in the same place as the recycling, which is at a biological centre. Here, the rubbish bags will be shredded and the waste will be dried out. Anything that can be recycled or composted will be taken out and hot air is passed over the remaining waste to help any biodegradable items decompose. The remaining waste can then be taken to either an incinerator or the landfill.

In the UK, most of our waste ends up in the landfill. Here it is put into the ground and covered over at the end of each day to ensure it isn’t exposed. Landfills are also lined to help protect the surrounding environment from the effect of the waste that is being put into it. However, even though this system was originally implemented as a cheap way to dispose of rubbish, there are now complications involved with it. Not least of which, that we’re currently running out of the space available for new landfills. So right now, there is an impetus on finding new alternative methods for waste disposal that will help solve the problem and still be environmentally and economically sound.

One of the possible alternatives would be incinerating our waste in order to extract energy from it. Unlike traditional incineration plants, these new plants needed for the process are not only much more efficient at reducing the garbage, but they also allow for energy to be extracted, either as electricity, heat or combustible fuels. They are also much more environmentally sound, as there are strictures in place to ensure they don’t release as many harmful gases and ash into the environment as traditional plants. Although there is still some debate surrounding the topic of whether these should be implemented in the UK, they are a viable final alternative for our old waste instead of landfills. 

But even with all these different paths and variables that our waste can take, they all have one thing in common and that is that every one of the different possible processes involves wire. More specifically, galvanised formers. Galvanised wire is an essential part of waste disposal and recycling and without it, we wouldn’t have the modern system we have today. Galvanised wire is a form of metal wire, usually iron or steel, that has been dipped into a molten solution of zinc. This zinc then acts as a protective layer against any corrosive forces that might otherwise have impacted on the metal underneath. Formers are simply big coils of this wire. Whatever the stage in the process and whether it’s waste off to the landfill or aluminium to be recycled, at various points, these materials are going to need to be handled, transported and probably stored. Imagine trying to do this if the rubbish was left uncollected in mountains or the recycled materials were left loose. Suddenly, the task would be huge and the entire system would involve a tremendous amount of time and manpower. So, it’s necessary to bundle all the waste together, in its separated forms, and keep them tied up in bundles. These bales of materials can then be stored easily, handled and transported, which is far more efficient and makes the entire system possible. Without the galvanised formers to provide this basic function, the entire system would soon collapse.

The galvanised wire also helps when the waste goes into the landfill. When it is all tied up in its blocks of waste, the mass of the garbage is compressed and reduced, which means it takes up less space in the ground. This helps make this final part of the process more efficient as well and ultimately helps conserve space in the landfill, so more waste can eventually be put in there. As it is all tied up with wire, it also means that individual pieces of rubbish can’t escape from their parcels into the ground, which makes it that much more environmentally sound too.

The process of how we deal with our waste is actually very complicated and far more involved than simply shipping it from our homes to the landfill. And of course, the way it currently runs is down in part to the galvanised formers that make it all possible. Without that to help aid the process and make it more efficient, we might not have the same refuge system that we currently have.

We tend not to think about how much our waste is costing us. After all, the rising cost of milk and bread is rarely thought about in terms of how much the plastic packaging cost. But in reality, 16% of the money we spend on products actually goes on the packaging alone, which is quickly disposed of. Then there’s the fact that the contents of an average bin over the space of a year would be able to provide enough energy to power a television for 5,000 hours, while one recycled can could do the same job for three hours. Thinking about it this way, you get a sense of how our waste could equal money. And only 40% of what we put into our bins actually needs to be there and not in the recycling. When you look at the actual figures and what the implication of them is, you can get more of an idea of how we could be better utilising our waste, which is something we are desperately in need of doing.

Forgetting for a second the added environmental concerns of recycling and chucking away our unwanted things, there are many other implications of the amount of waste we are creating. With the average person in the UK generating their own bodyweight in garbage every seven weeks and the total amount rising annually at 3%, the concern over what we do with all this waste has serious financial and logistical issues. After all, at the moment, a lot of this waste might be going into landfills, but there is only so much land available for this and with the world’s population on the increase, we can’t afford to constantly give land away as a dumping ground. So it’s safe to say we’re all fairly aware that we need another alternative on these grounds alone.

The question is then, how do we translate all this increasing amount of waste into money made or saved and not wasted along with our old food containers? This is where new innovations in waste disposal come in. Refuse Derived Fuel, or RDF, is a process through which we could turn our waste into a new and partially renewable source of energy, so not only would we stop putting so much pressure onto our existing resources with our waste disposal, we’d have a new alternative. We could literally turn our waste into energy.

For those in certain industries that come into contact with the product, black annealed wire is a vital commodity that is essential to their work. There are so many tasks that could not be done as safely and efficiently without the wire. However, outside of these industries, it’s a product that is not widely known about. Yet despite this, it is something that is crucial to the way many of us choose to live and run our lives, albeit indirectly, even if we’re not aware of it. If you don’t happen to work in agriculture or in one of the many industrial sectors, there’s no real reason for you to know much about black annealed wire or what it’s used for. But despite this, it might be something that you could use and benefit from in your daily lives, whether that’s in a professional or personal capacity. Black annealed wire is one of those products that can be used for a number of tasks and projects and becomes invaluable to those who rely upon it.

Here’s what you need to know about it.

The reason behind the popularity of black annealed wire is down to a few important factors. The first of which is the essential properties of the wire.

Black annealed wire is a carbon wire that has been annealed. This involves the carbon going through a process whereby it is subjected to a heat treatment, which improves the material’s properties to make it more usable for a number of different purposes. In the case of annealing, the ductility of the carbon wire is improved, which means that what was already a very strong wire now also becomes more flexible and malleable, perfect for use as a baling wire or for weaving, both in the industrial sense and for home use. Simply enough, it’s called black annealed wire because of the colour it gets from this thermal annealing process. 

On top of this, black annealed wire is essentially relatively cost effective to make and produce, which means that it can be easily done and doesn’t then cost the earth to supply, helpful when it is being used for large scale projects that require a lot of it, as some of the main industries that employ it in their work do.

Finally, the specifications of the wire supplied can be tailored to the client’s exact needs and requirements, something that is essential when the wire is being used in conjunction with a baling wire machine, as is often the case. The length, diameter, weight and even tensile strength of the wire is all customisable down to the customer’s specific requirements, which makes this tool even more useful for any number of purposes.

But when it comes to the main different uses of annealed wire, the distinction really comes down to the different forms it comes in. It’s not only supplied in varying sizes of spools, after all. In fact, black annealed wire can be made in five different forms, all of which imbues them with properties and qualities that are essential for a number of different reasons.

Packaging and rewound coils

The predominant use of black annealed wire is for packaging. In the packaging industry, rewound coils of black annealed wire are primarily used. These can again be produced according to the customer’s exact requirements and are used in conjunction with a baling machine. Most commonly, rewound coils are packed and supplied shrink wrapped on palettes, which makes them convenient to transport to the location where they are required as well as easy to handle and store. The strength and ductility of the wire makes it incredibly efficient as a tool when packaging items of various materials, shapes, sizes and weight.

Recycling and waste management and black annealed formers

It’s for similar reasons, although ultimately a slightly different purpose that black annealed wire is also extensively used in recycling and waste management, though for this, it is usually formers that tend to be used. Whether the waste is being transported to a dump, is going to be recycled, or the recycled products are waiting to be resold, the wire is vital in compressing and encompassing the waste materials. By using the formers, again with a baling machine, bales of the materials can be created. This then keeps the waste in manageable bales of the same size and shape, which makes them much easier to store, handle and transport. As well as this, it ensures that any potentially dangerous materials are safely encompassed within the block and not likely to escape and the entire process becomes immediately more efficient.

  Catchweight coils and steel stockholders

When it comes to construction work and that which involves the use of a lot of steel, catchweight coils are an absolute necessity, which is why they are so heavily relied upon by steel stockholders. It goes without saying that carrying a lot of heavyweight steel from one location to another could be potentially dangerous without the guarantee that the steel was safely secured in place, which is where the catchweight coils come in. They can safely and efficiently secure the steel in place, which makes it much easier and safer to transport, store and handle.

  Cut and looped wire and manual work

Also used for packaging, cut and looped wire allows for that precision and care of hands on work when it is required. If, for example, it was necessary to secure a valuable package in place, the ability to fasten the packaging by hand would be important. The cut and looped wire has been designed to be fastened by hand as opposed to with a machine, which gives that peace of mind that the package is secure and safe. Of course, the manual use of the wire also means it’s a product that can be used around the home and in the garden for basic repairs and DIY work, useful for fixing materials together and mending things like a broken fence, so it’s well worth considering in your home life as well as your professional.

  Cut bars and galvanised wire

The strength and density of cut bars mean that they are an important factor in the manufacturing process. When galvanising wire, it is dipped into a molten solution. Cut bars are a part of this process that allow for the wire to be securely dipped into the solution. Few other products would be able to withstand the process, which is why the cut bars are so important.

The properties of the wire, the ability to customise it to your exact requirements and the many forms it comes in means that black annealed wire really is a product that can be vital to any number of people and industries. 

The story of the three little pigs and their silly houses usually makes most people giggle. After all, why would you build a house made out of straw? Even areas of the world where thatched roofs are still common, you would be hard pressed to find a structure whose walls were straw. Obviously, something stronger is needed. 

And that is the prevailing idea for good reason; permanent structures should be built using the materials that are the most durable and the most weather resistant. No one, shopping for a new home, would consider a house made out of straw if they could afford one made of sturdier materials. That means homes built from wood or bricks (or a combination) and joined together with steel. Indeed some structures are primarily steel – like shopping centres.

Image Courtesy of sritangphoto / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Steel also transcends architecture; it is also found in cars and trains. People do not eat steel, but without it, our diets would consist of solely local produce. After all, that delicious fresh fruit in winter needs to be transported to our shop shelves somehow.   

Steel practically holds our lives together. But along with steel, the world also has weather. That means sun, snow, wind and rain. And the UK is home to all of those. Unfortunately, weather, such as rain, causes steel to rust, which weakens it. So, before steel can be used to build new parking garages, to replace old bridges and to form part of trains and aeroplanes which bring our food, it must be treated somehow.

Galvanised Products

Galvanised Formers / Image Courtesy of D R Baling Wire Manufacturers

In 1742, the French royal Academy was presented with a scientific paper by the chemist, Paul Jacques Malouin. In his work, Malouin detailed a method of coating iron with zinc, which is more resistant to the effects of weather (and water). His idea was to dip iron into a molten bath of zinc. Nearly a century later, another French chemist, Stanislas Sorel, patented his method of coating iron with zinc (as well as his pre-treatment methods). Interestingly, the word “galvanise” and its offshoots come from an entirely different scientist, who was hardly concerned with metals at all.

But, while the process may have been discussed and developed centuries ago, it was hardly as easy as having an idea. After all, it is not easy to dip one metal into a molten bath of another metal, and then retrieve the coated metal from that bath. The sturdier metals, that will not melt at the same temperature as zinc, had to be considered first.  After that, the process had to be refined so that the metal dipping arms did not affect the final product. And that is exactly when black annealed wire entered into the picture.

A (Very) Brief Introduction to Black Annealed Wire

To create annealed wire, carbon steel wire is annealed with various other metals through a heating process. This is done, because the process of drawing the raw material into wire form often strips or reduces the qualities found in any metal. Annealing assists the wire to regain its initial properties - whether those are strength, resilience or flexibility. Typically referred to as “black annealed wire” the first word is very simply a colour description from its earliest forms.

Black Annealed Rewound Coils / Image Courtesy of D R Baling Wire Manufacturers

Black annealed wire has many different uses, within many different industries. And, each one of these different uses and industries specifies different standards and cut lengths required from wire manufacturers. In the case of the galvanising industry, cut bars are the forms demanded. This is decidedly different from the other forms of black annealed wire typically in use.

The Different Forms of Black Annealed Wire

In some cases, the differences in black annealed wire have mainly to do with the form in which it is sold. In addition, the industries using the wire may develop different certifications and subtleties that impact the qualities of each type of wire.

Rewound Coils – These are smaller coils of black annealed wire that are primarily used in automatic baling machines. Coils are primarily distributed on pallets.

Formers – Black annealed wire plays a pivotal role in waste management, recycling, and waste incineration for power.  Formers are used to contain waste within these industries.

Catchweight Coils – Larger construction materials, such as steel must be stored and transported in highly specific ways to comply with safety and security.  Catchweight coils answers this need.

Cut and Looped – These are shorter lengths of black annealed wire, sold with looped ends for manual tying. 

Black Annealed Wire – Cut Bars

Black Annealed Wire Cut Bars / Image Courtesy of D R Baling Wire Manufacturers

The black annealed wire used in the galvanising process is typically sold as cut bars. Pieces are cut to client specifications, including the diameter and length. There is no such thing as an industry norm as the specifications for each product and machine vary widely. That, however, does not mean that there are no standards or industry indicators.  Indeed, the British Galvanising Association plays and influential role in regulating the industry and the wire supplied to it.

In order to be effective, cut bars require a flawless and sale-free surface. This must go hand in hand with the dual requirements of pliability and strength. If these needs are not met, the finished product is not the only concern. Small imperfections could jeopardise safety and security within the galvanising factory. 

D R Baling Wire Manufacturers test for precision and compliance of all our cut bars and we provide their clients with test and compliance certifications for each order. 

Steel, and indeed other galvanised metals, hold our lives together, just as they hold our homes in place. After all, rusted metals are more than just unattractive; they are also unsafe.