Wire twister

[Dan Krager]

Made this little widget that's been on my wish list for a long time. Now that I'm unlikely to need it any more...how ironic. A 5/8" x 1 1/2" bolt gave up it's drawer retirement for this.

DanK

 

[rabler]

Nice job Dan, I like the idea.

 

[Bi11Hudson]

A well done gizmo, with very good results. As an electrician, I have worked over 50 years with my 'Kliens' to twist wires. My Kliens reside in a pocket (the same one for all that time) in my pouch. A battery drill has only been around for 20-30 years. The trouble with keeping a drill handy in the field makes the gizmo useful for home but impractical for field work. The pictured device I have seen as both machined metal and 3D printed plastic. The home made version looks better than most, but I still wouldn't use one in the field, or even at home. Old habits are hard to break. . .

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[Dan Krager]

After actually using this to test it on 4 #10, I can see why Bill (and others including me) might pass on using it in the field. See the other straggly end? First effort. While wiring in my shop I struggled with twisting 4 #10 wires together well enough for a wire nut, so I thought this would be the cats meow. Not so much now. Though perhaps with practice it would become slicker. Some commercial ones strip the wire AND twist it, but I stripped the wire ahead for cleaner results. Since a very slow speed works best, it could be used with a handle that allows twisting by hand like a tap. I may try that.

DanK

 

[rabler]

How much did you trim off the better end after you twisted it?

 

[Dan Krager]

About 1/4". So I stripped 1" instead of the usual 3/4". Actually thought of all the wiring you're going to do with heavy wire.... you want it? I can easily make another one.... and so can you, but I'm already set up!

DanK

 

[rabler]

I wouldn’t mind giving it a try. I just put the in-slab conduit and boxes down today. I’m planning on the excavator tomorrow to run the feeder the last few feet into the edge of the building.

 

[MikeInOr]

I like the idea and the ingenuity! It looks like all 6 holes are drilled perpendicular to the bolt head and parallel to each other? Would it work better, with less waste wire to cut off, if the holes were tapered to near touching at the center of the bolt head? Maybe a 5 or 10 degree angle? Just a thought!

 

[Dan Krager]

This is not an original idea. OK so I've never seen one made out of a bolt before... LOL. The holes are not parallel to each other nor the axis of the bolt. They taper outward from where they enter the face of the bolt head to exit beneath the bolt head just outside the body of the bolt, an angle of perhaps 15° from the bolt axis.

Yes, I wondered just how close together the holes should enter the face. With no special pattern to go by, it was a guess that worked reasonably well until the ends slipped out of the holes leaving about a quarter inch of stragglers. If I make another I'll reduce the entry circle diameter untill the wire holes almost overlap hoping that will possibly eliminate the need to trim the twisted wires. A smaller chamfer would be used or eliminated to keep them from overlapping.

Here's a thought but don't know how to do it. Suppose a shallow hole (say 1/4" deep) of diameter equal to six #10 bare wire bundled is drilled into the face first. This would form the exiting twist to the hole diameter. Fewer wires wouldn't be squeezed so tightly. Then how would I drill the six angled holes through the end of the forming hole?

Nother thought. Six shallow holes of max wire diameter could be drilled at the perimeter of the forming hole before that hole is drilled which would leave six "flutes" to continue the twisting until fully exited.

I really think just shrinking the diameter of the hole spacing until they nearly overlap is worth trying.

Any more suggestions will be entertained. Yes. Indeed I'm overthinking it. But it's fun.

DanK

 

[rabler]

Any more suggestions will be entertained. Yes. Indeed I'm overthinking it. But it's fun.

DanK

I think you're on the right track. And to me that's what this hobby is about, not just being able to make things, but being able to make things that you think up. To have the larger common hole, drill the individual holes first, then use an appropriate sized endmill to plunge cut the common hole.