also see: conductive yarn
Conductive threads are usually manufactured for anti-static, electromagnetic shielding, intelligent textiles, wearable technology, data transfer and heating purposes. Most threads are metalized with an alloy of various metals, which can include silver, copper, tin and nickel. The core is normally cotton or polyester.
Conductive threads are uninsulated and sewing them tightly to metal usually makes for a good connection, though this connection tends to loosen over time where movement occurs. One way of avoiding this is to include a squishy material, such as stretch conductive fabric underneath the stitches, or a non-conductive material, so long as it does not obstruct the electrical connection.
see also: Syuzi Pakhchyan’s summary of conductive threads on Fashioning Technology
>> http://www.fashioningtech.com/page/conductive-thread
About
Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine.
Example: 117/17 2ply thread
– 117 is the Denier weight (grams per 9000 meters)
– 17 is the number of filaments
– 2ply is the number of strands
Karl Grimm
>> http://karl-grimm.de/
These threads have thin flattened wires wrapped around them to make them conductive. this makes them stiffer and less sewable than metallized yarns, but you can solder to them!
Kupfer blank 14/ooo versilbert 3981 7×1 fach verseilt:
Kupfer Blank 3981 7×1 fach verseilt:
High-Flex Nr. 4355 Kupfer blank
Verseilung: 7×1
Lahnumspinnung: 1-fach
Länge: ca. 2100 m/kg
Durchmesser: ca. 0,55 mm
Widerstand: ca. 1,3 W/M
Reißfestigkeit: ca. 5,0
Kupferquerschnitt: ca. 0,025 qmm
1Kg cone of High-Flex 4355:
Here some photos of their sample sheets:
>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/3450531172/sizes/l/in/photostream/
>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/3449716377/sizes/l/in/photostream/
>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/3450531656/sizes/l/in/photostream/
>> http://www.flickr.com/photos/plusea/3449716527/sizes/l/in/photostream/
Silver Plated Nylon 117/17 2ply
100 Ohm / 20 cm
Manufactured by Shieldex, distributed by LessEMF and Sparkfun.
Silver Plated Nylon 234/34 4ply
17 Ohm / 20 cm
Manufactured by Shieldex, distributed by Sparkfun.
>> http://www.shieldextrading.net/
Sparkfun writes that they have worked with their supplier to reduce fraying.
Right photo from Leah Buechley’s Flickr >> http://www.flickr.com/photos/leahbuechley
Shieldex Conductive Threads
Manufactures both Silver Plated Nylon 117/17 2ply and 234/34 4ply threads and many more variations thereof, that I have yet to test…
Resistive thread 66 Yarn 22+3ply 110 PET
4 K Ohm / 20cm
Distributed by LessEMF, great for sewing resistors and nice to sew with.
Lame Life Saver
20 Ohm / 20 cm
High conductivity, a bit thick, but okay to sew with by hand and machine.
Close-ups of thread Lame Life Saver (photos taken from the Lame Life Saver Website)
Stretch Conductive Thread
800 – 1.8K Ohm / 20 cm
Manufactured by Fine Silver Products. The conductive part of the thread is not stretchy itself, but it is wound around a stretchy fiber. It is nice, but annoying to work with.
>> http://www.fine-silver-productsnet.com/elcoya1.html
Electrisola
Enameled copper wire. Very conductive, very thin, quite flexible (not in sewing machine), isolated!
>> http://www.elektrisola.com/de/home.html
Metalo Koper Bouclette
>> http://www.bart-francis.be/index.php?action=article&aid=860&group_id=50&lang=NL
Inox
>> http://www.bart-francis.be/index.php?action=article&aid=282&group_id=50&lang=NL
Gunze & Mitsufuji (ETC SI30)
6 Ohm / 20 cm
The highest conductive thread i’ve tested so far. Wonderful to work with, hard to obtain and expensive.
Baekert bekinox
Some more Bekinox samples provided by The Swedish School of Textile
Bekinox VN12/1*275/100Z
When current is applied, it emits heat. (we tested with 5V 400-500mA to change the thermochromic textile paint. This will differ with kinds of thermochromic paints and environmental temperature)
Bekinox Yarn 20% stainless steel fiber 80% polyester (the tag was missing and not for sure)
very similar to Schoeller Nm 50/2 conductive yarn.
Micro-Coax
X-Static
>> http://www.x-staticfiber.com/
Offray
Offray is a company that makes narrow fabrics and some of these include conductive traces.
Offray >> http://www.osnf.com/ (USA)
Jumbo
This German company makes stretchy conductive traces inside narrow fabrics, but I have not been able to obtain any samples.
Make your own conductive thread
>> http://www.instructables.com/id/Conductive_Thread_Wind_up/
Above photo by Lynne Bruning >> http://lynnebruning.com/
Suppliers
Less EMF >> http://www.lessemf.com/fabric.html (New Jersey, USA)
Gunze >> http://www.gunze.co.jp/e/english/index.html (Japan)
Mitsufuji >> http://www.mitsufuji.co.jp/e/index.html (Japan)
Sparkfun >> http://www.sparkfun.com/ (Colorado, USA)
Karl Grimm >> http://karl-grimm.com (DE)
Bekaert Bekinox >> http://www.bekaert.com (Belgium)
Shieldex >> http://www.shieldextrading.net (USA)
Lame Lifesaver >> http://members.shaw.ca/ubik/thread/order.html (Canada)
Fine Silver Products >> http://www.fine-silver-productsnet.com/pycoya.html
http://www.shieldextrading.net/ (USA)
X-Static >> http://www.x-staticfiber.com
http://www.noblebiomaterials.com/category.asp?itemid=51
Statex >> http://www.statex.biz/ger/index.php (DE)
Micro-Coax Aracon >> http://www.micro-coax.com/pages/technicalinfo/aracon/aracon_about.asp (USA)
Ajin Electron >> http://ajinelectron.co.kr/eng/index.php (Korea)
Syscom Advanced Materials – Amberstrand >> http://www.amberstrand.com/ (USA)
StaticFaction Inc. >> http://www.staticfaction.com/products-yarns.html (MA, USA)
Offray – Specialty Narrow Fabrics >> http://osnf.com/ (USA)
>> http://www.mutr.co.uk/index.php?cPath=6_572 (UK)
>> http://www.3ltex.com/ (China)
I’m trying to find a clear-coated conductive thread or non-kink wire for using as the string of a beaded LED necklace (so the wires need to be twisted together, hence the need for them being coated). It also needs to be solderable. Do you know of anything like this? Or of a very flexible clear coating I can use to coat my own thread/wire? This needs to be able to fit through a 1mm bead hole. Right now I’m using guitar string and slicing it where I attach the 0603 smt LED, but this obviously weakens the necklace. So I’m looking to use two twisted coated wires and not cut them, merely strip the coating where I solder on the LED. Any help would be great. Please e-mail me. Thank you. aliasjanedoe@hotmail.com
+100
[…] there is also good introduction at kobakant. This entry was posted in Workshops. Bookmark the permalink. ← […]
Hey,
I’d like to do some test myself on Jumbo’s Elastic Conductive Cord.
May I know how I can get some?
Teck Koon
I was only able to receive a sample of the Jumbo elastic cord. Try writing them and ask for some or where to purchase!
i want to get a fabric which has property of liquid transfer and after spreading the liquid ,it will be evaporated by supply of electricity. i.e the fabric have capability of heat transfer and liquid transfer through out the fabric.
[…] Conductive Thread: How To Get What You Want has short reviews of many kinds: http://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=379 […]
I wanted to produce a wearable garment and thought about using conductive thread, i came across a website http://www.possytronics.co.uk by accident and purchased a sewable amplifier for ipods. you simply sew it into your clothing and attach the speakers using conductive thread and plug in your ipod.
I have made various garments which included flashing leds and music.
A brilliant website with video demonstrations. I use these kits within my textiles lessons.
it’s a really interesting website but the web design (and also the name ‘possytronics’) are rather off-putting. i don’t want to criticize the content, i think it is great! but they might want to think a bit more about the look and feel of things.
neat page, lots of links.
Has anyone managed to find a foolproof way to connect SMD LEDs to thread?
about the only technique that could work is durite tyre repair cement (from the £1.50 or so bicycle repair kits) mixed with graphite lubricating powder from any good lock shop.
I got mine from Island Lock & Safe, comes in either a black or red bottle and either will work for this application.
Only problem is that it can short out if used on fine interconnects.
ideas peoples?
-A
Leah Buechley has a great way of soldering crimp beads to SMD LEDs to make them sewable:
>> http://web.media.mit.edu/~leah/grad_work/diy/diy_tank.html#construction
and somebody designed a rig for doing it:
>> http://www.instructables.com/id/LED-Bead-Jig/
another option would be to sew with a thread that you can solder to (for example Karl Grim threads)!
wondering if anyone knows of suppliers for conductive fabrics/tapes in canada?
Our company is professional dealing with the conductive fabric We can offer you many kinds of conductive fabrics with best price. Such as: Plain weave / Rip-stop / Non-woven /Mesh/ Black coating / Flame retardant / Halogen free flame retardant and so on. The fabrics can be used for EMI gaskets, EMI foams, Conductive tapes, Tents, Garments and so on.
Our products comply with RoHS, REACH, and UL 94V0 standard，and have been used widely in IT, War industry, Individual protection and so on.
You can completely trust in us. We have done business with FOXCONN, Parker Hannifin and many other companies for years. Our products are now used by many famous companies: Apple, Samsung, Dell, Matsushita, Quidway…
If you want to know more about us, pls. visit: http://www.saintyoo.com
If you want samples, we can send you for free.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
i wonder what thread is the best in the end. I bought sum 4ply from shieldex, cos 4ply is probably sturdier than 2ply, and it cost me bout 35€ (20€ for the thread and 15€ for shipping, which is their standard billing) and now i found out, that it’s too thick for the needles of my (standard) sewing machine. It just gets stuck in the needle’s ear while sewing. I guess, i will have to use it on the machines in the saddlery i work for, but that was not the way i wanted it to go. If only there were sum really good test results on which threads are good for sewing and which ones are not on this site (or somewhere else). That would be a great addition to these conductive-threads articles (i would do it myself, if i could afford the material costs with my low-cost-life i live in)
try using it as the bobbin thread in your sewing machine! i’ve been able to sew with it no problem, even on not so great quality sewing machines.
hmm, now that you mention it, it sounds like a good idea, thanx…
(Btw: My plan, as first E-project, is to build the ultimate tool bag for my best girlfriend who is a fire-juggler; build from fire-resistant plane/molton enhanced with LED-stripes so that a firejuggler find’s his/her tools in the darkest nite, heeheehee…)
finished my jugglers’-bag sum months ago now and have to say that it’s kinda pain in the butt for the connectivity while using the shieldex yarn. for connecting threads and wires, i punched small holes into the material and passed screws that hold washers to have a broader “area” to ensure the connection. And i had to run several tests till every line worked fine. But as any tightened material “works”, connection can get lost. And after two months of use, that’s yet the reason why the bag i built is half way out of current again.
The shieldex yarn is not fully connective as it consists of a mix of nylon and the conductive material itself and one has to find a conducting area by turning around the wire while holding it onto the connection of the circuit.
I’m looking forward to seeing how Grimm’s yarn works as their nylon thread fully coated with conductive material sounds much more stable than shieldex’ is at the moment. I wouldn’t suggest to use shieldex for projects that are moved.
Hi I have a product that i have to intertwine the conductive string that has elastic properties. Can u help me?
I am looking for a conductive thread to sew into the fingertips of gloves which will allow them to be used with a touch screen phone. I found a kit on vogue fabric store, but I want to be able to buy it in bigger quantities.
Thank you!
Hi!
IMATTEC (France) http://www.imattec.com also produce a very large range of yarns including stainless steel fiber (pure and blends) and other metals (fiber, fialements…).
Tom
[…] For more info, please see the following post >> http://www.kobakant.at/DIY/?p=379 […]
Dammit, admin, i really wonder why this is called “how to get what you want”. This is just a product-list. This way i can order tons of samples from different suppliers in different countries. I know what i want: i want a thread that i can machine-sew and that is conductive. You got all the samples and all the info – so why don’t you start givin us suggestions on what’s the best thread to use? This really drives me MAD. I’m a tinkerer, not a capitalist; i can’t afford spools of each yarn. I tried statex, which is basically crap when you use it for e-clothes. Then i ordered samples from Karl Grimm: they sent me 15cm-samples, not enough to try it out on a machine, they told me, a cone of copper yarn is almost 90€. So what do i do? Trial and error until bankruptcy? That is definately not “how to get what i want”, so come on and help me finally.
Lukas/Luzi,
You don’t sound like a very nice person. Try to be nicer, will you please?
Here is conductive thread:
http://www.canakit.com/conductive-thread-117-17-2ply-dev-08544.html
They also have 4 ply.
It really wasn’t that hard to find.
Sorry, bout being so nasty, but here’s a ton of various threads listed here, but without any recommendations. Conductive threads are damn expensive for private use and there’s definately a need for shared experience to avoid frustration with unusable material and to keep costs low as possible. This list exists for years and even growing bigger, but there’s no such info. Neither are you providing such info. I don’t need a link to sellers – there are tons of such links on this page (and i appreciate that), what i need is the experience of the ones who already bought, used and jugded these threads. What’s so diffy about that? i need to know, if a thread’s conuctivity is good, if it hooks in the needle’s ear of a machine, things/qualities you learn by use. Don’t tell me there’s no elaborate info. I want you to share it to make me capable to distinct the different threads and to apply this info onto different projects of different materials: You already used a certain thread? Great, would you, with sugar on top of it, lemme know the pros and cons in your humble opinion?
You provide me a link – there are links above already, each pic got a link, and no, it’s not hard to find (i can click on any listed link i want), but it does not show any qualities. Am i so abstract?
Right now, i just got the option to buy any listed thread using the even listed links and find out what it’s all about by myself. And when i’m done, i’m broke. I don’t wanna be broke. See, i don’t wanna harm you, i just need more info.
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[…] heavy metal bead strung on conductive thread and surrounded by conductive fabric petals, makes for a simple six way digital tilt switch. When […]
[…] Hilo Conductor ( Cooking hacks ). Mas informacion sobre este material: Kobakant – Bateria 3V ( amazon) – Adhesivo de cobre ( Ebay, Farnell, Sparkfun) – Leds de colores […]
[…] Hilo Conductor ( Reflexiona, Ultra-lab, Cooking hacks). Mas informacion sobre este material: Kobakant – Bateria 3V ( amazon) – Adhesivo de cobre ( Ebay, Farnell, Sparkfun) – Leds de colores – […]
Hello
I am interested in using conductive thread as suture (for my research experiments on muscle stimulation). I was wondering if you have suggestions on suture-like conductive threads that are easy to work with tissue. From your list, it looks like mitsufuji is the best option.
Thank you
[…] conductive from lessEMF) Heat’N’Bond Conductive Thread (from Adafruit, but there are many, many others) Lightweight woven cotton 10k […]
Hi, thanks for the post and list of suppliers. I am looking for insulated conductive thread, do you happen to know any manufacturers that offer this product?
Thank you again.