page airframe mech or anyone that uses safety wire a lot

[terabyte]

I use safety wire quite a bit for my race bikes. I'm looking for a decent set if twisting pliers.

I found an SK reversing for $60

what do you guys think about this brands safety wire pliers?

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Only US company that makes safety wire pliers is Milbar. The ones you show look like Milbars, its difficult to tell, as there are very good Chinese copies out there, I can tell the difference when I handle them. I suspect the SK ones are probably Milbar, relabeled. I know the Snap-On ones are.

The ones you show are the reversible ones, they will twist right or left, but if you twist left, they will reset to right twist after that.

The very best Milbar ones are called "tiger wave" as they do not have the knurling on the faces of the jaws, but rather use a smooth wave machined into the two faces so they grip the wire very well, but don't nick the wire with the knurling........ Well, after reading, it appears the "tiger wave" is no longer manufactured as it is not mentioned in the materials referenced below. The only other safety wire plier company, Robinson, who for years made the "Jet Twister" was absorbed by Milbar several years ago, but the Robinson plier was still manufactured, it also appears that they too have disappeared (my first safety wire pliers were Robinson's and I really liked them, I'm on my third set of Safety wire pliers now in 30+ years of professional maintenance on aircraft)

http://www.milbar.com/tools/wiretwisters/wiretwisters_02.html

http://www.milbar.com/tools/wiretwisters/wiretwisters_01.html

Hope this helps. If they are not genuine Milbar or a private labeled version made by Milbar, I would not waste my time with them.

Charles

 

[nissan_crawler]

If they are not genuine Milbar or a private labeled version made by Milbar, I would not waste my time with them.

Charles

That's all you need to know. The tiger wave is cancelled unfortunately, pissed me off when I broke mine and had to get a normal pair for warranty.

Mine are "Snap-On", but as Charles said, they're just rebadged Milbar.

 

[Crank1]

We have two sizes of SWAP's at work, but I prefer the smaller size. The ones pictured above, I've used, but the plastic "Keeper" thing feels cheap to me. I like the type like this: http://www.quickcar.net/tools/tl_wire.html But thats my personal opinion.

Also, as far as the Tiger Wave ones or whatever they're called, I HATE Those type. They never gripped safety wire or cotter pins worth a damn, the knurling on them really helps them grip the wire better. As far as I know, any piece I may somehow nick with the safety wire pliers, I usually end up pulling that piece, then pig tailing and cutting that off. So it doesnt matter to me.

But all in all. Safety wire pliers are nice, but they're not anything you CANT LIVE WITHOUT, a good pair of needlenosed pliers and even your trained hands can twist safety wire just fine. Good luck.
Brandon

 

[Crank1]

Here's ya a good reference. Go here and read pages 19-27: http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgAdvisoryCircular.nsf/0/99c827db9baac81b86256b4500596c4e/$FILE/Chapter%2007.pdf

 

[eschoendorff]

Terabyte... sorry, I don't have anything to contribute.

Just wanted to say that your avatar is cool!

 

[Merkava_4]

I've always wanted to try the little 6 inch Milbar's.

 

[kartracer23]

Take a look at the Craftsman pair. I think they're just rebadged SK (which are apparently rebadged Milbar). But, the pair is close to the same price as the large single pair of SK.
I use the cheapos from HF. They ****. I've gone to mostly barry clips where I can. Obviously doesn't work where you have to wire a nut to a bolt, but if you're just using them as a retainer, they're so much easier.

 

[nissan_crawler]

We have two sizes of SWAP's at work, but I prefer the smaller size. The ones pictured above, I've used, but the plastic "Keeper" thing feels cheap to me. I like the type like this: http://www.quickcar.net/tools/tl_wire.html But thats my personal opinion.

Also, as far as the Tiger Wave ones or whatever they're called, I HATE Those type. They never gripped safety wire or cotter pins worth a damn, the knurling on them really helps them grip the wire better. As far as I know, any piece I may somehow nick with the safety wire pliers, I usually end up pulling that piece, then pig tailing and cutting that off. So it doesnt matter to me.

But all in all. Safety wire pliers are nice, but they're not anything you CANT LIVE WITHOUT, a good pair of needlenosed pliers and even your trained hands can twist safety wire just fine. Good luck.
Brandon

I'm going to have to disagree with a lot of that. The ones you posted have never seemed to spin smoothly at all to me. As for the tigerwaves not gripping, they grip tight enough to snap .040 stainless wire when you jerk on them, how much more do you want?

I HATE HATE HATE my knurled milbars. They're junk, they ****, they damage EVER SINGLE PIECE OF WIRE they touch. If you have to safety wire one thing to another, where the teeth are HAS to be twisted at some point, and IMHO, you have a compromised safety. It tweaks my berries every time I have to do it.

I guarantee if you fold a length of safety wire over, then clamp the knurled pliers down in one spot, release them, put the folded end of wire in a vice, and clamp on the other end with your pliers and spin, the wire WILL fail where the pliers were clamped the first time, almost every single time you try it.

If you do the same with tigerwaves, it'll just about become one fused piece before the wire breaks, and it will break with no correlation as to where the pliers had been.

As for cotter pins...well, I'm not too sure why you're using SAFETY WIRE pliers on COTTER PINS.

 

[Merkava_4]

I don't know if my Milbar's are knurled or not.

 

[nissan_crawler]

they either have teeth like a meat tenderizer, or nice round waves that go across the width of the jaw.

 

[terabyte]

That's all you need to know. The tiger wave is cancelled unfortunately, pissed me off when I broke mine and had to get a normal pair for warranty.

Mine are "Snap-On", but as Charles said, they're just rebadged Milbar.

GREAT! Thanks for making me want something I can't even have!

We have two sizes of SWAP's at work, but I prefer the smaller size. The ones pictured above, I've used, but the plastic "Keeper" thing feels cheap to me. I like the type like this: http://www.quickcar.net/tools/tl_wire.html But thats my personal opinion.

Also, as far as the Tiger Wave ones or whatever they're called, I HATE Those type. They never gripped safety wire or cotter pins worth a damn, the knurling on them really helps them grip the wire better. As far as I know, any piece I may somehow nick with the safety wire pliers, I usually end up pulling that piece, then pig tailing and cutting that off. So it doesnt matter to me.

But all in all. Safety wire pliers are nice, but they're not anything you CANT LIVE WITHOUT, a good pair of needlenosed pliers and even your trained hands can twist safety wire just fine. Good luck.
Brandon

Dude when I'm at my pit changing my own tires and I have a race in a 5 minutes and I have to safety wire even the pinch bolts on my front axle i HAVE to have twisting pliers.

I have the ones you list. They are OK but I am not really all that happy with the. Like stated elsewhere they are not all that smooth.

Terabyte... sorry, I don't have anything to contribute.

Just wanted to say that your avatar is cool!

LMAO! Thanks dude. I guess in light of that I'll ***** out the race bikes number

 

[kartracer55]

The cheap chinese ones from HF/swap meets/ racer supply places are all the same and they ****. The blade on mine isn't even sharp for half of it. Couldn't justify 80$ for something I would rarely use, I wish there was a better alternative.

 

[terabyte]

The cheap chinese ones from HF/swap meets/ racer supply places are all the same and they ****. The blade on mine isn't even sharp for half of it. Couldn't justify 80$ for something I would rarely use, I wish there was a better alternative.

Yep I know. And I paid like $25 for mine before I knew HF existed.
I just won the auction for the SK I posted about for $61
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320321122949&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:US:1123

The china-man-chepo will get relegated to backup duty.

 

[ZRX61]

It tweaks my berries every time I have to do it.

I think you're using them incorrectly...

 

[G1K]

A little late now, but make sure what ever pair you get has the auto return on the spinner/plunger. I have an old set of proto's that don't and they're a PITA.

R

 

[kartracer23]

The cheap chinese ones from HF/swap meets/ racer supply places are all the same and they ****. The blade on mine isn't even sharp for half of it. Couldn't justify 80$ for something I would rarely use, I wish there was a better alternative.

Yeah, try to cut through one strand of wire with those - let alone a twisted part.
I've gone to barry clips or cotter pins on almost everything but my flex wrap. Like Dismore told me one day 'You shouldn't have to wire this sh*! up anyway - just make sure it's tight to begin with.' .

 

[terabyte]

Yeah, try to cut through one strand of wire with those - let alone a twisted part.
I've gone to barry clips or cotter pins on almost everything but my flex wrap. Like Dismore told me one day 'You shouldn't have to wire this sh*! up anyway - just make sure it's tight to begin with.' .

I feel a little guilty here. Mine will cut stainless like butta. I think I'm going to go to barry clips on a lot of things too.

 

[bomber]

My ancient proto's work fine, though I'd love to have the auto-return -- they cut wire (twisted or not) and create a nice, even twist, though, so I ain't complainin'

 

[Crank1]

Well thinking about it, I guess I do put the knurled part of the pliers on the wire before it goes thru the secound bolt or hole. So I am nicking it at some point, but I've never seen a safety wire job I've done fail. But you also have to remember, I do not purchase my own tools, they're provided for me, and with many people using the same pliers for many different purposes, it's easy to see why a pair of pliers wouldnt have any grip left. But I'm just more favored to the ones with metal clasps, I cant remember where the pairs we have with plastic clasps spin any better. Any for cotter pins, we dont have anything in our boxes that works better than safety wire pliers, what are you using?

 

[nissan_crawler]

They won't fail under normally twisting. The problem is, if it gets stressed, that is the first place it breaks. That's why I said if you twist it to failure, it'll break there every time.

If you guys are using them on cotter pins, the tigerwaves are probably bent, which is why they don't work. I use cotter pin pullers on cotter pins. Technically, mine are water pump hose ones, but they work better for what I do.

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item...group_ID=17606&store=snapon-store&dir=catalog

If nothing else, side cutters work better for pulling them than safety wire pliers.

 

[Crank1]

Well I'm talking about installind and removing them. And sometimes you just cant get a cotter pin puller into places. Like the 4" boxes of the inside of a flaperon. And other precarious places. I have been known to cut the curl off a cotter pin with a pair of dykes and pull them out the opposite way you normally would.
Brandon

 

[kartracer23]

I have been known to cut the curl off a cotter pin with a pair of dykes and pull them out the opposite way you normally would.
Brandon

LOL! Is there another way to get them out?

Actually, I've got a pair of needlenose vise grips that do a good job of clamping over the curl and rolling them sideways to pull the pin out.

 

[Crasen]

When I was an aircraft mechanic in the Air Force we all used safety wire pliers to remove cotter pins. They were the most effective tool in the tool box to remove cotter pins.