Does anyone have a good writeup or link on the how to's to safety wiring? I got the pliers and wires, now I need the know how. thanks!
It is good to hear that someone is interested in doing it RIGHT and not slapping locktite on it... Used to do it in the machine shops, and thought about doing it on my rear end during that rebuild (I didn't, i used locktite )
I did a bunch on the plane that we built but it has been awhile so I will let fresher minds tell you. It wasn't hard though.
The navy method requires the pliers.Remember that the portion of wire clamped in the jaws of the pliers is not to be used for fastening as it has been crushed.Now the basic principal is to use the wire to secure bolts/nuts/screws in a fashion that will allow the fasteners to keep each other tight and tighten fasteners that try to loosen.With this in mind it works better when you are securing groups of fasteners.When using on a single fastener there needs to be something rigid(unmoving) to tie the fastener too with the safety wire.This is where this gets difficult.(Visual aids are really necessary for this) Lets say you have a group of 2 bolts side by side about 3 inches apart to secure(All ways try to work in a clockwise direction)I am assuming you are using aviation grade fasteners that have holes drilled for safetywire.If you dont you can buy a jig that will allow you to drill your bolts/nuts/screws for safety wire.Starting with the bolt to the left put the end of the wire through a hole that will allow the end of the wire to point toward the next bolt.Pull enough through to allow you to reach the next bolt.Now pull about another third through(like threading a needle).Take the loose end and clamp it to the end of the wire attached to the spool using your pliers.Cut the wire off the spool.Now pull the wire tight wrapping the end of the wire not passing through the bolt around the side of the bolt.Holding the wire snugly against the bolt,Slowly twist the wire untill you have a twist of wire starting where the wire exits the hole in the bolt.Now for the theory part:You want to attach this bolt to the next in a fashion that will cause either bolt to tighten the other if it starts to come loose.I hope you are good at visualising because this is hard to explain in text form.Basically the wire when done will look like an S attaching 2 bolts togeter.Continue to twist the wire untill you have coverd the distance needed to reach the desired hole in the next bolt.Un clamp the wire from the pliers and put one loose end through the hole in the bolt wrapping the other loose end around the side of the bolt like you did on the first one.Now re clamp the wire ends in the pliers in the same place you had them originally.Once again twist the wire untill you have a twist of wire about 1/2 inch long at the bolt where the wire comes out of the bolt.This is called a pig tail.Cut off the excess leaving a pig tail about 1/4 of an inch long,Bend the end over so it wont poke you or snag anything and your done.Note: you want your wire to be snug at the bolt heads and snug along its length to the next bolt.You want to twist enough to reach the second/third /fourth fastener snugly but not over shoot your next bolts wire hole.If the wire is loose between bolts it will require excessive movement of the loosening fastener to grab the next fastener and stop moving.Do not allow kinks to form in the wire ANYWHERE as these will weaken the wire causing it to break.Dont get any nicks or gouges in the wire as these will weakin it also.No sharp bends either.God I hope this helps you understand safety wireing.If you still have questions please ask and I/we someone will try to clarify it for you.Practice on some junk before you do it for real. It takes some practice to get the feel for it but its not difficult.Good luck
Check these sites... http://www.eaa590.org/home-builders-articles/Safety Wire Techniques.pdf http://www.ultralightnews.com/pilotslounge/safetywire.htm http://www.whizwheels.com/Tips/safetywiring.html http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_0002_hand/ https://www.irvansmith.com/tech7.htm
Nice job Hawkco,plenty of visual aids on those sites.Wish I knew about them before I gave myself carple tunnel.Zoom should find what he needs now I think.
