Metal 'Wire Wrap' Repairing Tools

[MacGyver]

I'm hoping someone can help me...

Has anyone ever used or heard of these? Not the electronic variety, but a small metal tool used to install, tighten and tie off a light gauge of metal wire, like clamping a hose, or repairing a broom handle, etc.

Once upon a time there was a thread here about tools & where to buy them, but I can't get the CPF Google search to pick it up
Any assistance appreciated, I can't even find a site that sells the stuff, am I calling it the wrong thing?

 

[B@rt]

Something like this?

Safety Wire Pliers

 

[bfg9000]

Perhaps this one?

I would've thought MacGyver could rig up something from common household items though.

 

[Sigman]

I've got both pictured tools (oh and puuuuhlenty of paperclips too!). Safety Wire Pliers definitely come in handy for a lot of tasks and absolutely required when working avionics!

The ClampTite is a handy tool as well, small & practical! I need to get some of the stainless steel wire though...
​

Roger's a good guy to deal with! We were talking about a group buy at one time (waaaaaaay back) for the HitchMaster that he sells as well - another handy & practical gadget to have on hand!!

 

[Rzr800]

Thanks for those two links, sigman. I'd be interested in getting in on a group buy for either one or both if there were ever any interest again. As mentioned; we became very familiar with the safety wire tool when into powered parachuting back in the late 90's (Buckeye Dream Machine).

 

[Sigman]

Thinking back a bit...I was in contact with Mr. Anderson (he lives about 120 miles north of Anchorage), a fellow on the East Coast, and a guy in Australia as well on the HitchMaster. I didn't get the "feel" that a group buy could be worked out.

Roger demos his products here & there in Alaska (He's got that HitchMaster down -well he sells it, he should!- You should see him hoist that engine block!). I've seen him at several trade shows. Maybe someone else could be more successful than I was. Maybe I didn't present it well enough. I should have got a list together first to present those numbers to him and then see what resulted...:thinking:

 

[gadget_lover]

That's a clever Idea. I think I'll look at making a similar technique using a lever and cam in place of the screw. The whole reason it works is the way it holds tension on the wire while folding the ends over. That can be accomplished in many ways.

I've done similar repairs using baling wire and vice grips. Wrap the loop around the piece, putting the ends through the loop. Grab both wire ends in the vice grip jaws (straight in) as close to the loop as possible, and tighten by rotating the vicegrips back across the loop. Snip and tuck the wire ends down securely.


Daniel

 

[MacGyver]

Ah, bfg9000 thank you that's the one I was thinking of

That paperclip pack is great :laughing:
I can rig up a lotta stuff, but that Clamptite tool looks like something that belongs right next to the duct tape.

I've never tried the safety wire pliers, do they work well?

 

[mahoney]

If you want to twist wires together tightly and easily, safety wire pliers are the tool. Be carefull though, almost any wire will break from too much twisting, and it's usually at the bottom of the twist forcing you to start over on whatever it was you were trying to secure. The Clamptite is pretty usefull too, especially for ad-hoc hose clamps.

 

[TedTheLed]

Gadget, I discovered the same thing after i bought a small clamptite; the "locking" mechanism referred to in their literature was just the slight bend in the tips of the wires..my dentist showed me how to use the clamptite, at first I expressed dismay at the "lock" method; it didn't seem very secure -- (one could leave a piece of wire right at the ends to 'tie down' the folded-over wire tips, but this would interrupt the continuity of pressure on hose clamp-type arrrangements..) -- but the doctor assured me he had made many bindings on his boat with this locking method (wihout the aforementioned 'tie down' method) and they all have been holding for many years..

now I'm interested in the LARGE clamptite used with 1/4 inch wire to bind structural beams, and posts, and stuff like that..using the clamptite does seem to afford the tightest bind possible..