Anybody know what these are for?

[BanjoSavesTheDay]

I picked these up at a yard sale and am totally confounded as to their purpose. The only thing I can find that is stamped on them is "Made in USA". One of the handles has a latch that clasps into a spring loaded trigger on the center piece, so you can lock them closed with pressure on the handles. The silver knob unscrews but not all the way out. If anyone knows what these are for, I would greatly appreciate their input. Thanks!

 

[A_Pmech]

Safety wire twisters.

 

[BanjoSavesTheDay]

Aha! Thanks!

 

[Fedwrench]

http://www.tooltopia.com/sk-hand-tool-7729.aspx

What he said. After threading the wire through a hole in a bolt head, you can grip the two free ends of the wire in the plier jaws, lock them, and pull out on the silver knob twisting the wire to the desired length.

 

[freebeer]

jeeze, I haven't seen a pair of those in years. The set you have is most likely military surplus as they were used extensivley on aircraft components. Can't have that stuff flying apart you know!

 

[pirana]

Also used on every motorcycle that roadraces.

 

[Toolhorder]

jeeze, I haven't seen a pair of those in years. The set you have is most likely military surplus as they were used extensivley on aircraft components. Can't have that stuff flying apart you know!

not just aircraft use them, many times in racing applications they are used.

 

[BanjoSavesTheDay]

I need to get some safety wire now and try them out. Thanks guys .

 

[Red Green]

Speedwaymotors has the wire and a drill fixture.
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Produ...ext|12/6/2009 2:45:45 PM=saftey+wire&deptId=0

 

[banzaitoyota]

there is an "art" to safety wire. Read: Carroll Smith's excellant book on fasteners.

And there is a "quality spec" to doing this also, as a former SUBSAFE QA Inspector I had fun inspecting others attempts at safety wiring

 

[daveblank]

Also used on every motorcycle that roadraces.

During high school I worked at a motorcycle shop. The owner specialized in tuning & race prepping bikes. My main job was drilling & installing safety wire.

 

[Moose-LandTran]

During high school I worked at a motorcycle shop. The owner specialized in tuning & race prepping bikes. My main job was drilling & installing safety wire.

What was that nickname the owner gave you?

 

[66HertzClone]

there is an "art" to safety wire. Read: Carroll Smith's excellant book on fasteners.

Looks interesting, but WOW$$$$$$ Fasteners

 

[nissan_crawler]

safety wire

start at page 19

 

[BanjoSavesTheDay]

These things are amazing! I've been twisting all kinds of stuff together around the house. What a pleasant surprise to discover that something I bought just as a curiousity has a very specific purpose and is designed perfectly to do it's job. Now if I can just get rid of the box full of HF **** I had to buy just to get my pliers...

 

[daveblank]

What was that nickname the owner gave you?

I see you remember the thread where I mentioned it.

I was "scheissekopf"

 

[Moose-LandTran]

I see you remember the thread where I mentioned it.

I was "scheissekopf"

I remember the nickname, i just think it's funny.

(I hope you see i mean this as a joke. I think you're a great guy, Dave. )

 

[ZRX61]

I see you remember the thread where I mentioned it.

I was "scheissekopf"

At least it wasn't pimmelkopf..

 

[Toolhorder]

I remember when I took a 2 year motorcycle repair program at the community college they had this CBR900 with a bunch of safety wired parts and the coolant cap was safety wired backwards in the counterclockwise position. I'd like to learn how it's done and safety wire all my bikes bolts.

 

[930dreamer]

I used them to wire M60 machine gun gas tubes and bipod parts in the Army.
930