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View Full Version : Tool for twisting the wire on name tags ??



Clarence Martinn
12-19-2022, 5:37 PM
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 ?

Daniel Culotta
12-19-2022, 5:48 PM
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...

Tom M King
12-19-2022, 5:52 PM
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-safety-wire-twisting-pliers-45341.html

Lee Schierer
12-19-2022, 6:15 PM
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-safety-wire-twisting-pliers-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.

Tom M King
12-19-2022, 6:20 PM
Or rebar wire twisters:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExFB-mbvt9k

I like the drill idea.

Cameron Wood
12-19-2022, 10:25 PM
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.

491991491992491993

Andrew Nemeth
12-19-2022, 10:45 PM
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.

Jim Koepke
12-20-2022, 2:16 AM
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

John K Jordan
12-20-2022, 6:24 AM
… The name tags have the thin wire that goes through the name tag loop. …

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.

Keith Outten
12-20-2022, 10:24 AM
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.

Cameron Wood
12-20-2022, 2:22 PM
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

Russell Nugent
12-20-2022, 11:50 PM
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.

100pr for ornaments? You mean separate/several pairs for the hangers or actually using the 100 to make ornaments?

Lee Schierer
12-21-2022, 7:55 AM
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.

Keith Outten
12-21-2022, 8:54 AM
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.

Cameron Wood
12-21-2022, 11:00 AM
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.



Excellent idea.