If I received a dollar for every time I can remember hitting the green in regulation (GIR) on the par 3 Hole #7 at the Golf Club of Newport (Newport, NY), in over 15 years of playing the course at least once a year, I think I would have exactly $1.
From the blue tees, the hole usually plays around 125-130 yards to the center of the green with roughly 10-15 feet of gradually increasing elevation from tee to the putting surface. It should take a nice, easy pitching wedge to land safely on the large green, but a putt for birdie typically eludes me as I find myself chipping out from the right rough near the cart path to the eighth hole, or attempting a sand save from the left greenside bunker (or in the woods looking for my ball...). Is it spring in Central New York yet?
But I digress. What does this have to do with flux-cored solder wire? Well, if I were to take that dollar and lay it on a flat surface and measure its height, it would be roughly 0.0043” (0.11mm). This is slightly thicker than common copy paper at 0.004” (0.010mm). Go ahead, take a dollar bill out (if you still carry cash) or a piece of paper and hold it so as to observe the thickness. Really thin, right?
That is how thin Indium Corporation can manufacture flux-cored wire. Imagine how thin that wire is; now imagine a flux core going into that wire! To be able to size an alloy down to this diameter and then spool it requires top-notch engineering, manufacturing, and quality control.
For another point of reference (besides my singular dollar bill from GIRs on my home course), a human hair is on average 0.003” in diameter. Indium Corporation is producing a wire that is nearly as thin as human hair, and with a core.
Applications for such a product continue to arise as pitches become finer and the need for ever-precise amounts of additional solder are required to produce a reliable electronics product. The proliferation of robotic soldering only aids in the expanding number of applications we will see that require fine-diameter wires. When those applications arise, Indium Corporation will have a full suite of wires and capabilities to meet the assembly needs.
I am excited to see where the future of electronics assembly takes this wire!