Originally Posted by marc s

Re wire pliers.

I have built loads of jets for customers in the past and have always found safety pliers to be too bulky for use on our kits, often access is tight and the need for a more agile tool in needed. I made a safety wire tool which I have used for 10 years without fault and its cost me a few cents.

Find a steel solid rod around 4mm in diameter, file or Dremmel one end to a flat, about 20mm in length so it resembles a flat head screwdriver when looking on end - about 1mm thick should be fine. Then drill one hole near the tip (round off the tip edges) about 1.5 - 2mm in diameter (enough to pass two pieces of safety wire through with some spare room) - thats it.

To secure pass the safety wire round your connection, forming the loops round a pencil etc before can help, then the two tail ends need to be passed through the hole in the tool in opposite directions, one in from the left and one in from the right, pass the tails up along the rod shaft and hold with your fingers as you rotate the tool, once the wire twists a few times the wire self locks in the tool. Twist until you have the desired number of twists and use a small wire snipper to free the tool. Dress the ends around the pipe as required and remove the cut ends from the tool and you are ready for the next. The tool will get into the tightest spaces and will never break as there are no complex moving parts.

Hope that has explained it OK, may be able to find a picture of my tool if needed.

marcs