is it worth getting twisting pliers to do the wilwood brakes for $14?

[toadster]

for $15 this seems like a steal...

Diagonal Cutters, 9‘ ’Aircraft Safety Wire Twisting Pliers Set Ironworker Pliers Lock Twist Twister Electrical Tools Precision Pliers Set $14!
117413
(https://amzn.to/2O5aIEi)

[Robodent]

Yes it’s worth it. I bought them to do mine and glad I did. I don’t know how I could of done my rotors with out them.
Just my opinion but maybe someone knows how to do it without.

[Jetfuel]

They're worth every penny..but get the 6" long... they'll fit where the others won't...
If you need to twist wires for whatever reason they're it.
I've been using them for over 45 years now

Jet

[TMartinLVNV]

They will be one of the cheapest things you buy for this project! :p

[NAZ]

These pliers make the job way easier. Safety wiring is not complicated but you should use best practices. The US Army taught me safety wire procedures and I find myself still following these to this day. Here's a link to a US Army Aviation Technical Manual that will give you some examples of safety wiring a variety of items. Notice that in some situations the twist direction makes a difference. Start on P99 (2-77) for safety wire but the manual is also a wealth of info on a variety of different things you may encounter. https://www.liberatedmanuals.com/TM-1-1500-204-23-6.pdf

[BluePrintEngines]

for any 2 piece rotor, I would recommend 100%.
And if wilwood doesn't supply drilled bolts...buy some.

[Aircontroller]

Spiffy little manual you posted there NAZ....not just about the safety wire instructions. Many thanks for this one!


These pliers make the job way easier. Safety wiring is not complicated but you should use best practices. The US Army taught me safety wire procedures and I find myself still following these to this day. Here's a link to a US Army Aviation Technical Manual that will give you some examples of safety wiring a variety of items. Notice that in some situations the twist direction makes a difference. Start on P99 (2-77) for safety wire but the manual is also a wealth of info on a variety of different things you may encounter. https://www.liberatedmanuals.com/TM-1-1500-204-23-6.pdf

[Sdonnel]

Best way to find out if you need them is to give it a shot manually. As a former aircraft mechanic, they made the job 10x easier than doing it by hand. We were forced to safety wire various components by hand and when we made a mistake, our instructor simply cut the wire and made us start over. By the end of the week, we all had bloody fingers and zero patience. The following Monday, they gave each of us a set of those pliers shown above and we had everything done in 2 hours and we could all still feel our finger tips.

Save yourself the frustration. Get the pliers.

Scott

[Papa]

Don't take this the wrong way, but you spent $1,500 on the front brakes. A $14 tool to do them right is a drop in the bucket when you look at the full build cost. I think I easily spent more than $14 on bandaids and pain killers over the course of my build. :cool:

[Garage Guy]

My instructors in the Army we're not nearly as brutal as yours were they taught us only to use pliers for our safety wire install. Personally I don't know how you could do them by hand and get a quality installation like you can with the players. Like Papa said at 14 bucks it's a no-brainer

[Boydster]

If you're not experienced in doing safety wire by hand, get the pliers. 35 year aircraft mechanic.

[KDubU]

Yes

[Jdauble]

Hey Todd,
I just made this minimal investment as well and plan on tackling the rotors this weekend... kind of wish in hindsight that we had spent some hands-on training time on this skill during Build School. Thanks everyone for your responses and knowledge sharing, much appreciated for this noobie.
Thanks, Jeff

[Jetfuel]

All I can bring to this conversation is a small pointer in the use of this wire-twister:
When grasping the wires with the pliers make sure the two wires are parallel to each other and not over each other and close to the tip, about 12 to 14 twist per inch makes for a beautiful job.
This pliers apply quite a bit of force that will weaken the wire at the pinch point where they crossed even cut/ brake the wire

Jet

[DavidW]

I love reading these post, I felt the same way. I never used twist pliers before and had to have them. At $14 thats a great deal jump on those. Dont be upset if you never use them again, mine have sat in the tool box ever since. I'm sure as soon as I get rid of them I'll need them.

[toadster]

how much safety wire is needed?

from what I could find, 1/4lb of .032 safety wire is ~90ft long

Stainless Steel Twist Safety Lock Wire $10
117846 (https://amzn.to/2QGoaBA)

[NAZ]

1/4-lb will last a long time. I prefer to purchase it in the 1-lb containers as it stores better in my toolboxes and is easy to dispense: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/qcr-64-015/overview/

The wire is not expensive and if you work on motor vehicles a lot you will find lots of uses for it.

[lewma]

for $15 this seems like a steal...

Diagonal Cutters, 9‘ ’Aircraft Safety Wire Twisting Pliers Set Ironworker Pliers Lock Twist Twister Electrical Tools Precision Pliers Set $14!
117413
(https://amzn.to/2O5aIEi)

Yes, recommended

[RJD]

You'll find other uses for them as well.

117854

117855

[Jetfuel]

A pound of .032 is $9.80 at wicks aircraft.....$15 at summit racing????... geeeeeees

Jet

[NAZ]

I sure picked a bad example for safety wire. But Summit is less than Sporty's and Aircraft Spruce has it for $8.95 a pound. Guess it pays to shop around...

[JRL16]

You might use them on your spinners too. Makes for a traditional look.

[Papa]

You might use them on your spinners too. Makes for a traditional look.

Just don't forget to keep a set of wire cutters in the car.