How to apply a twisted wire grip wrap
Jan 27, 2008 14:14:46 GMT
Post by Brendan Olszowy on Jan 27, 2008 14:14:46 GMT
This is posted elsewhere but I thought I'd make a thread so it's easy to find.
To wire wrap:
Get 26 guage beading wire in the colours you want. You may have seen I like to mix 2 colours.
Allow 1 metre run of each piece of wire per centimetre of grip (and maybe 1m for safe). So for a 10cm grip do the following:
Hammer 2 x 6inch nails into a surface to act as spools for the wire spool thingies.
sit the rolls of wire on them, put the two outie ends into the chuck of your drill. I made up a Y shaped bent coathanger to put into the drill to separate them slightly.
Walk backwards 11metres and put the drill down.
Go back and tie off the wire to the nails, trying to keep even tension on each piece, if one is looser you can wrap it round the nail.
go back and pick up your drill and make sure the tension is even.
keep some tension on the wire throughout the entire job. Start twisting the wire at about 4-6 revolutions per second. Start super slow in other words. What you'll find is if you go too fast it will start whipping back and forth and could snap.
You'll need to be twisting for about 10-15 minutes, so if its a rechargable make sure its fully charged.
Alternatively I've discovered thanks to my wife that if you can spare an extra person to support the wires in the middle so they don't start whipping, you'll be able to run the drill at high speed and have it done in about 4 minutes.
Once you're happy with the tightness of the twist; this is paramount : Keep tension on it. If you suddenly release tension it will twist up like a phone cord does and get crimps in it.
Put the drill down to keep tension on it. Get a hammer or similar that you can reel it onto, and keeping tension on it reel it nicely around the rod.
Once its on the hammer tie it off and you're ready to wrap.
Don't try a riser, it wont work, unless its really flat.
I've heard of drilling and poking the end in with epoxy, but I just cut the end and glue it down.
When wrapping I used slow set epoxy and just apply it to one third of the wood, wrap around, next third, wrap etc. To stick the ends down an hour or so later I use 5 minute epoxy and stick them in tight, then wrap over with another piece of cord to keep it in while it sets.
To wire wrap:
Get 26 guage beading wire in the colours you want. You may have seen I like to mix 2 colours.
Allow 1 metre run of each piece of wire per centimetre of grip (and maybe 1m for safe). So for a 10cm grip do the following:
Hammer 2 x 6inch nails into a surface to act as spools for the wire spool thingies.
sit the rolls of wire on them, put the two outie ends into the chuck of your drill. I made up a Y shaped bent coathanger to put into the drill to separate them slightly.
Walk backwards 11metres and put the drill down.
Go back and tie off the wire to the nails, trying to keep even tension on each piece, if one is looser you can wrap it round the nail.
go back and pick up your drill and make sure the tension is even.
keep some tension on the wire throughout the entire job. Start twisting the wire at about 4-6 revolutions per second. Start super slow in other words. What you'll find is if you go too fast it will start whipping back and forth and could snap.
You'll need to be twisting for about 10-15 minutes, so if its a rechargable make sure its fully charged.
Alternatively I've discovered thanks to my wife that if you can spare an extra person to support the wires in the middle so they don't start whipping, you'll be able to run the drill at high speed and have it done in about 4 minutes.
Once you're happy with the tightness of the twist; this is paramount : Keep tension on it. If you suddenly release tension it will twist up like a phone cord does and get crimps in it.
Put the drill down to keep tension on it. Get a hammer or similar that you can reel it onto, and keeping tension on it reel it nicely around the rod.
Once its on the hammer tie it off and you're ready to wrap.
Don't try a riser, it wont work, unless its really flat.
I've heard of drilling and poking the end in with epoxy, but I just cut the end and glue it down.
When wrapping I used slow set epoxy and just apply it to one third of the wood, wrap around, next third, wrap etc. To stick the ends down an hour or so later I use 5 minute epoxy and stick them in tight, then wrap over with another piece of cord to keep it in while it sets.