First, you will have to have a candle, a tack or brad, the spool of wire and a small weight of some sort. Shove the tack into your desk and wrap the end of the wire around it a couple times while it is still attached to the spool. Light the candle so it will be ready when you are. Stretch out as much wire as you need and draw the spool tight in your hand. Sometimes I find hooking the wire in the notch in the end of the spool helps so the wire doesn't move. While holding the wire taught, run the flame of the candle along the length of wire. Don't pause for long on any one spot, as this will tend to burn through the wire (brass has a low melting point). After a few passes, tape the weight to the spool, then let it hang down off the edge of the desk overnight. This will straighten it enough for the next step.
The second part requires a glass cutting board, a small metal ruler and some practice. I cut a length of the now straighter wire from the spool. It will still be pretty wavy, but make it as straight as you can with your fingers. Next, hold one end of the wire and place the other end over edge of the glass and start pressing the wire down onto the glass with the metal ruler. Turn the wire slightly and do it again. Keep doing this and then move down the length of wire until the whole thing is as straight as you can get it. It will still be slightly wavy at this point.
Now comes the fun part. Holding the wire in your right hand (left if you are a southpaw), place an inch of the wire onto the glass and hold the rest off the edge. With the other hand, hold the ruler perpendicular to the wire and start rolling it over the wire and pressing it into the glass. IThe wire needs to roll, so hold it loosely. You might need to twist the wire in your fingers the first couple of passes to make it roll, but once the end starts rolling, everything else will fall into place. Continue rolling down the length of wire, while moving it further onto the glass. Do it slowly and the wire should start straightening out quite nicely. When you reach the end, move the wire into the center of the glass, and continue rolling more briskly, now. After a thirty seconds or so, you should come out with a really nice piece of brass rod. The result is:
I hope I have explained it well, enough. If you have any questions, please ask and I will try to explain better.
Rob
