WIRE MATERIALS & ALLOYS

At California Fine Wire Co., we specialize in the supply of specialty wire and ribbons. By cutting, straightening,annealing, finishing, testing, packaging, and spooling metal materials, we produce a broad selection of fine and ultra-fine wire products, including:

• Drawn Wire
• Insulated Wire
• PTFE Insulated Wire
• Electroplated Wire
• Flat Wire
• Stranded Wire
• MP35N Alloy

These products are available in round and flat shapes as well as a variety of metal alloys to suit different customer needs.

Wire Material Options

We maintain a large inventory of raw materials to produce our wire products. Below, we highlight our wire material offerings.

Aluminum

Aluminum is an excellent electrical conductor. It is also lightweight, non-toxic, non-sparking, and non-magnetic. Alloying it with other elements, such as chromium, copper, and zinc, further improves specific properties such as its strength or elasticity.

We offer high-purity aluminum as well as aluminum alloys. They can be drawn to diameters as small as 0.0005 inches, shaped into various configurations (e.g., flat or stranded), coated in copper, gold, nickel, silver, or tin, and insulated with PTFE or other enamel materials.

Composite-Clad Materials

Clad materials are combinations of two or more dissimilar metals that have been metallurgically bound together. Therefore, components made from them, such as wires, exhibit a combination of properties from the base materials.

We offer a number of clad materials, such as copper clad aluminum, copper clad steel, and copper clad niobium 48% titanium, dumet, and 27% nickel clad copper. They can be drawn through dies to produce round wires or rolled through mills to produce ribbons. Additionally, they can be insulated or plated, depending on the type of wire and clad material.

Copper

Copper is one of the best electrical conductors, second only to silver. It is also highly ductile and malleable, which makes it easy to form into wire.

We use high-purity copper and copper alloys to produce round and ribbon forms. The former can be drawn to diameters as small as 0.0005 inches, while the latter can be rolled to diameters as small as 0.00025 inches by 0.0010 inches. The wire can also be plated with different materials such as gold, nickel, silver, tin, or solder.

Gold

Gold is the third-best electrical conductor (behind silver and copper). This quality, combined with its low reactivity, makes it suitable for use in harsh environments where precision, stability, and durability are critical.

We offer 99.99% pure gold alloyed with small amounts of beryllium for enhanced strength. It is used to produce standard wire, precision round wire, and ribbon wire.

Nickel

Nickel is characterized by its excellent resistance to corrosion, oxidation, and high temperatures. It also exhibits specific electrical resistance values that make it suitable for use in wires.

We stock nickel and nickel alloys, all of which have excellent formability. They can be drawn to diameters as small as 0.0004 inches and formed into various configurations. We can also insulate the wires with PTFE or enamel and electroplate them with copper, gold, nickel, silver, or tin.

Precious Metals

Precious metals is a broad term for metal materials that are available in limited quantities, low in chemical reactivity, and high in value. It includes gold, silver, and platinum. The low chemical reactivity of these materials, combined with their good electrical properties, make them suitable material options for many demanding applications.

We maintain an extensive inventory of precious materials. They can be formed into flat wire, stranded wire, precision round wire, or coated wire.

Refractory Metals

Refractory metals refers to a metal family that includes molybdenum, niobium, rhenium, tantalum, and tungsten. These metals exhibit high strength and stiffness and excellent resistance to corrosion, wear, and heat. Additionally, except for iridium and osmium, they have the highest melting point of all metals.

We can produce wires down to 0.0002 inches from refractory metals and alloys. They are available in plated variations with our standard range of coatings.

Stainless Steel

Stainless steel exhibits a high strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance, fire and heat resistance, impact resistance, and recyclability. These characteristics, among others, make it a suitable material for many industrial and commercial applications.

We use stainless steel to produce round and ribbon forms. Round wires can be drawn to diameters as small as 0.0003 inches, while ribbon wires can be rolled to diameters ranging from 0.001 inches by 0.005 inches to 0.010 inches by 0.050 inches. They can be plated or insulated as needed.

Other Metals

While the above represents some of the most common wire materials, it is far from an exhaustive list. We have over 900 metals and alloys in stock, including non-stand metals and alloys such as titanium, zinc, and more.

Industrial Applications for Fine Wire

Our fine and ultra-fine wires find use in applications across a diverse set of industries. Some of the most common industrial applications include:

• Medical: We produce round, flat, core, braided, and stable wires for a variety of medical equipment. Some of the devices and machines our products are used in include ventilators, neural prostheses, muscle stimulators, medication dispensers, pacemakers, and catheters.
• Aerospace: We manufacture wire for various electronic devices and systems in aircraft and other aerospace equipment. Our products are found in communication, navigation flight control, collision detection, and weather monitoring systems in airplanes, space probes, and satellites.
• Electronics: We make wire for a wide range of electronic devices. For example, we produce wire for entertainment devices such as phones and DVD players as well as critical devices such as hearing aids and analytical instruments.
• Research: We supply wire to researchers and developers working on new products and processes. The quality and consistency of our wires, whether in small or large quantities, is ideal for even the most critical research applications.
• Temperature Measurement: We offer fine wire for thermocouples and resistance temperature detectors (RTDs). They have standard resistance tolerances of ±3%, but we can achieve closer tolerances if needed. For high-accuracy RTD applications, we can supply materials such as DIN grade platinum, pure TC platinum, high or low TCR nickel, and high-purity copper.
• Semiconductor: Bonding wire is a key component of many integrated circuits. We produce fine-drawn bonding wire from gold, aluminum, and other materials as needed.
• Resistance: Resistance wires are used in the electronic devices of a wide range of industries, from aerospace to marine to medical. We can draw almost any other type of material to produce suitable resistance wires for customer applications.

Conflict Minerals

Pursuant to compliance with Dodd-Frank Section 1502 requirements, California Fine Wire Company makes all reasonable inquiry of our supply chain to ensure the origin of the metals used in the manufacture of all our products are conflict-free.

Please contact us for our current Conflict Minerals Reporting Template (CMRT) and/or our Responsible Sourcing of Conflict Minerals Policy.