i have aircraft stainless steel lock wire .032 and it breaks as soon as i give it some tension i know and ive seen people have their safety wire pushed to the limit and holds very nice and secure anyone recommend any brands and where to get them thank you:up:
How tightly are you winding it? I've never really noticed grades of strength among safety wire. However, if you wind it too tightly you will stress the wire unduly and it'll become brittle.
I spent years working on Tomcats and I've used miles of safety wire. It's not meant to apply torque to fasteners, it's a SAFETY measure to ensure that a fastener doesn't turn. The only time I've ever seen it break was when it was applied improperly. The wind should not touch the fastener and should never exceed 10 turns per inch. 6 turns per inch is optimum with 4 being absolute minimum.
Listen to TheX. Anyone who has done military duty safety wiring knows what they're doing. If you're breaking the wire, it's not being done properly.
When it comes to safety wire: slow is fast; the more you do it the faster you get. The safety wire doesn't have to be guitar string tight nor do you want it jump rope loose. Its not there to hold torque, just prevent loss of the fastener if it should come loose. Figure about 1/4" - 1/2" of movement for every 2 inches of twisted wire. With .032" you want 7-10 twists an inch whereas with .020" you typically are looking for 10-12 twists per inch. I will generally use .020" wire where it is less critical for wiring or if I am wiring something I know the wire will pull through the hole with .032" wire. You want the twist to go to the hole but not in it. Make a "Z" shape so you know that you are twisting the right way. Most of the time someone breaks the wire is when they are making the "pigtail." I cut my pigtails about the thickness of the safety wire pliers and but a simple bend in it. You don't want to get your finger stuck on it. Take your time and you will get it. I hope this helps. I used to teach people how to safety wire when I was an MOS instructor. We used to learn by safety by safety wiring a T64 engine (jet engine on the CH-53E) over and over again until we got it right. Sucked, but that was the only way to learn.
make sure when you grab the wire with the pliers that the 2 pieces are side by side inside the jaws....If you put one on top of the other and clamp with pliers it will break every time.
If it's breaking you're twisting it too tight. I usually prefer to safety wire by hand instead of using the pliers. I learned how to safety wire on Blackhawk helicopters and had a 3 day block of instruction on safety wire alone.
Make sure the holes you drilled have the edges rounded off.. use a bit larger bit to than the hole to create a ramp. Sharp edges seem to break the wire easily.
