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Got a ton of name tags that a friend needs putting on bundled firewood. The name tags have the thin wire that goes through the name tag loop. Twisting them by hand onto the bundles, gets tiring after a while. Is there some sort of tool that can be used to speed up that process ?
I wonder if safety wire pliers could do the trick somehow? Not exactly how they're supposed to be used, but they do twist wire...
10 bucks from Harbor Freight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPy0JzpZuvY
edited to add: or $15 for the bigger ones:
https://www.harborfreight.com/9-inch...ers-45341.html
You can do the same thing that these pliers do with your portable drill. Just put the two ends in the chuck, tighten the chuck and press the trigger until the desired amount of twist is obtained. I needed a twisted pair of wires that was over 30 feet long for the wires leading from our dog fence transmitter to the loop around our yard. The twisted pair cancels out the signal. I stretched out 70 feet of wire folded it in half length wise and put the small loop over a bolt in a vise. I straightened the wire out and chucked the two free ends into my cordless drill, pulled it tight, pressed the trigger until the amount of twists in the wire looked like the short piece that came with the transmitter and I was done in less than a minute.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom M King
Or rebar wire twisters:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExFB-mbvt9k
I like the drill idea.
How about this:
Using the simpler version of Tom's rebar tie tool shown above,
pass tag wires behind firewood band, fold 4 strands over tool hook, twist.
Attachment 491991Attachment 491992Attachment 491993
A pair of locking jaw pliers (aka “vice grips”) works well for this task too. Just lock the jaws on the wires you need to twist and then spin the vice grips. Much easier on the fingers than doing it completely by hand and usually with a nicer, more even, twist.
For a long length of twisted wire, chucking the wire up in a drill is pretty efficient. I believe I’ve seen someone doing this with an eggbeater drill too (maybe for older telephone wires). For just a couple of twists though, locking jaw pliers are pretty hard to beat.
The cheap solution is to drill a couple of holes on the opposite sides of the head on a cariage bolt to feed the wire through. Chuck this up in your cordles drill and twist away.
jtk
You might give the wire gage or diameter and the length of the wire ends. If these name tags are similar to the small tags I’m familiar with from where I used to work the wire is pretty thin. Some suggestions might be more appropriate for thicker or longer wire, for example wire used to bind.Quote:
Originally Posted by Clarence Martinn
I use one hundred pair telephone wire for my Christmas ornaments every year and twist them with my battery drill. This works ok but it is still a little slower then I would like. The safety wire pliers might be faster.
Some may have missed the "got a ton of tags" aspect of the OP's post.
This illustrates the painful reality:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCYB-VT4SLE
100pr for ornaments? You mean separate/several pairs for the hangers or actually using the 100 to make ornaments?Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith Outten
Since we are talking firewood bundles, why not use a staple gun to attach the wire tags. Straighten the wire out, Hold the wires against the wood. Two staples about an inch apart, then fold the ends back over the first two staples and add a third staple. Quick and easy.
Yep, I order three feet of 100 pair telephone wire and cut it into three pieces. This gets me 600 twelve inch long multi-colored wires, enough for about five years of ornaments for just a few bucks. I spin them with my battery drill and end up with about five inches of hanger tag on each ornament.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee Schierer
Excellent idea.