Piano or safety wire

How to keep the Cessna 170 flying and airworthy.

Moderators: GAHorn, Karl Towle, Bruce Fenstermacher

Post Reply
User avatar
jlwild
Posts: 410
Joined: Thu Feb 13, 2003 5:08 am

Piano or safety wire

Post by jlwild »

A wire part broke today. It is called "Fastener - Baffle" and is PN 0450277-2 (Fig.53-43). It holds rear baffle assembly, with springs, to the rear cylinders. Have not found source for new part yet and now thinking of making it out of wire. But which type of wire? Piano wire or .041 SS safety wire? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks
Jim Wildharber, Kennesaw, GA
Past President TIC170A (2010-12) and Georgia Area Representative
'55 170B, N3415D, SN:26958, O-300D; People's Choice '06 Kelowna, B.C., Best Modified '07 Galveston, TX, Best Modified '08 Branson, MO.
User avatar
gfeher
Posts: 571
Joined: Fri Sep 26, 2014 9:19 pm

Re: Piano or safety wire

Post by gfeher »

Jim, i replaced my baffles going on a year ago and used piano wire to make the fasteners. I understand that piano wire will work harden when you coil it into a spring, which is what you want so the spring is durable and springy, so to speak. In any event, the piano wire worked very well.
Gene Feher
Argyle (1C3), NY
'52 170B N2315D s/n 20467 C-145-2
Experimental J3 Cub Copy N7GW O-200
User avatar
Bruce Fenstermacher
Posts: 10313
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2002 11:24 am

Re: Piano or safety wire

Post by Bruce Fenstermacher »

.041 safety wire has worked well on my 170 for 40 years. At my insistence, we "freshened" the wire up with new at overhaul but Leroy thought we could reuse some of the old stuff. :D We used commercial made springs from Leroy's personal 30 lb spring collection. If you don't have 30 lb of springs in the truck body laying at the corner of your property, well I'd check out the local Hillman Hardware at your hardware store.
CAUTION - My forum posts may be worth what you paid for them!

Bruce Fenstermacher, Past President, TIC170A
Email: brucefenster at gmail.com
User avatar
sfarringer
Posts: 309
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2005 10:49 pm

Re: Piano or safety wire

Post by sfarringer »

I used stainless steel music wire 14 years ago.
During the recent engine overhaul, it still looked like new so back in it went.

Pretty sure I can find the coil. Let me know if I can send you a piece.
Ragwing S/N 18073
User avatar
lowNslow
Posts: 1530
Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2002 4:20 pm

Re: Piano or safety wire

Post by lowNslow »

I'm showing the part numbers as 0450211-2 for the small wedges and 045211-1 for the larger wedges, which are available through any Cessna online parts supplier but at $31 a pop you may want to go with the piano wire. 8O
Karl
'53 170B N3158B SN:25400
ASW-20BL
User avatar
GAHorn
Posts: 20967
Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2002 8:45 pm

Re: Piano or safety wire

Post by GAHorn »

Compression-springs sourced from ACE hardware, ordinary AN washers and safety-wire works for me too. (I'm glad to know LeRoy also has traceable parts.) :lol:
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons. ;)
User avatar
sfarringer
Posts: 309
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2005 10:49 pm

Re: Piano or safety wire

Post by sfarringer »

By the way, the ones that I copied in 2004 (which I believed to be original, but who really knows) were .051 diameter wire, and seemed to be tempered spring wire. I have no doubt that safety wire would work, but I would use tempered wire again if I were doing it.
Ragwing S/N 18073
User avatar
jlwild
Posts: 410
Joined: Thu Feb 13, 2003 5:08 am

Re: Piano or safety wire

Post by jlwild »

Thanks guys for the fast input. Piano wire was not available locally, but had stock of .041 SS safety wire that is now wrapped around the back two cylinders and out through the rear baffle. That took a bit of time threading the wire with all the baffles in place. As for springs, like Bruce's friend Leroy I also have a small stash of springs left over from other baffle work. As luck would have it there were 4 matching springs. Since I am using the safety wire, in place of Piano wire, my Annual will include checking them very closely every inspection.
Jim Wildharber, Kennesaw, GA
Past President TIC170A (2010-12) and Georgia Area Representative
'55 170B, N3415D, SN:26958, O-300D; People's Choice '06 Kelowna, B.C., Best Modified '07 Galveston, TX, Best Modified '08 Branson, MO.
Post Reply