High-quality black-and-white photographs of large old machines and tools

[Frank S]

I like the multi-meter solution. It will also start screening broken conductors.
1st priority remains building the straightener to respool the wire for storage an eventual use.

Also with the multimeter if you know the length & gage +the ohms the wire should be, if they are off by a large margin it means the wire has been overloaded not fit for installing in a circuit