Hey guys, is there a place where I could get a lot of different colors of wire? I don't need an entire spool of it like they have at Smallbear, but I find myself having to substitute colors a lot. Anyone know of a place where I could get smaller quantities of red, yellow, blue, black, etc wire? Thanks.
Ryan
All depending on the kind of wire you want, try your local hardware store. Most places have cable by the foot and you can often find something in there that work, but maybe not with as many colors as you want. Some cable is made up of many little colored wires. This is probably your best source for new stuff.
If you don't care about having solid wire, ask a phone crew if they have any scraps of "25 pair". That will give you 50 different color codes. Other common sizes are "12 pair", "6 pair", "4 pair", and "3 pair". When I was doing wire installs, if anybody asked for some cable I was more than glad to give it to them.
When old businesses are being renovated, you can sometimes find phone wire of both stranded and solid in the junk. Old phone systems often used "25 pair".
Old appliances can be a good source too if you only need limited quantities.
I hope that helps,
-Peter
I use "rainbow" ribbon cable for hookup wire all of the time. For about $2 per metre, it's cheap, too.
Old computer printer cables usually have 25+ different colored wires. Look for the more flexible cables - the wire is stranded. You can get the older types ("Centronix"/parallel printer) REALLY cheap at salvage places, etc.