Sonds like a fun project. SMD LED's are great, the only problem is once you get a hang of wiring them, you never want to stop using them!
Why do you want to stay away from magnet wire? I wish someone would have told me about this stuff sooner. I find it much easier to solder, and easy to hide. I'm hooked on that as well! ;)
BTW, I think Ngineering or Miniatronics offers what your looking for.
Radio shack has wire wrap wire (30 gauge) that will work fine.
http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=30%20gauge%20wire&origkw=30%20gauge%20wire&sr=1
Springfield PA
Not sure what you mean by 'magnet wire'. Here are some DigiKey offerings that should meet your needs. I have dealt with them many times and their service is great.
http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll
Dave
Edit - sorry I can't seem to post the right link. In the above catalogue index, look under 'cable/wire' for 'Wire Wrap' and filter through the offerings. I selected '.010", 'roll' and then 'white'. There is a 50' roll for $9.97 CDN.
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
You might try some wire that is used for "wire wrap" circuit building. It is solid copper about 30 G with polyethylene insulation. I think that it still available. You could try Mauser or Digikey.
Joe
Do you think wire used to connect decoders would be thin enough? Litchfield Station has some 30g wire at the link below:
http://www.litchfieldstation.com/xcart/home.php?cat=171
Good luck!
I am in the process of rewiring a bunch of Street lights and replacing the bulbs with Surface mounted devices (SMD) light emitting diodes (LED), and for this purpose I will need some very small solid wire about 1/64th, 2/64 with insulation. I had a sample that came on a LED with a rectifier bridge, I used the extra lenght and it worked perfectly. Does anyone know where I could possibly get this kind of wire. I rather not use magnet wires. Many Thanks
Richard