Re bar tie tool

[Russell griffiths]

Has anybody used one of the auto type tie tools

i used to do a fair bit of re bar but always tied by hand

i have a large amount going in my footings and wanted to speed things up

looked at the manual long handled version, or thinking of a battery one. 

Any thoughts. 

[Alexphd1]

we have never worked with rebar so we bought the machine off ebay. was impressed with it esp on slab we had a lot of steel work to do!

[Jeremy Harris]

I have a pair of locking wire pliers bought many years ago and they are useful for loads of things, including twisting rebar wire.  The ones I have are an age-old design, and were even in the very first aircraft tool kit I was issued with back in the late 70's.  Looking around you can get them for less than £15: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Blackline-7-Lockwire-Safety-Locking-Pliers-With-Cutter-Tool-Twist-Wire-Twisting/331543672387?hash=item4d318af643:g:xnQAAOSweW5VQ32F

 

The ones I have are American made, and came from an aviation supplier, so were a lot more expensive, but probably not a lot different in terms of use or life, I suspect, but they are finished in a nice hard chrome plate..............

[MikeSharp01]

1 hour ago, Russell griffiths said:

Any thoughts

I believe that with the permission of your slab designer and BCO you can use plastic tie wraps. So much easier than wire tying. Although when you watch a pro doing wire tying they go so fast tie wraps would be much slower.

[Alexphd1]

we used tie wraps on UFH  pipes to steel mesh and where we couldn't get the gun into, not a fan.

 

Edited March 9, 2018 by Alexphd1

[MikeSharp01]

28 minutes ago, Alexphd1 said:

 

 

Very tidy work with the dpc, what is the tape you are using and is it double sealed along both edges or one double sided and the upper edge over taped? I guess there is a rising section of EPS in the centre to be fitted as well. Why were you not a  fan of the tie wraps?

[Alexphd1]

i cant remember what tape it was the stuff from the dpm manufacturer.

 

TBH tie wraps was fine for UFH but for the steel it didnt really bite to firm up the structure.

[Mr Punter]

I have hired a MAX rebar tier before as I am not experienced at wire tying.  It is very fast but the wire is expensive.

[Jeremy Harris]

Some of ours in the retaining wall was fixed with pre-cut iron wire with loops on the ends, and twisted up with a pull tool with a hook on the end.  I had to go in and buy a pack of these wires for the guys when they ran short, and IIRC it was around £20 for 1000 pre-formed wires from the local BM. 

 

Seemed a neat system to me, no need to cut wire and the tool was like one of those spiral screwdrivers, but in reverse.  They just wrapped the pre-cut wire around the rebar, hooked the loop of the tool through both wire eyes and pulled, and the act of pulling the handle of the tool neatly twisted the wires up tight.  I've no idea how much the tool was, but it was so simple that I doubt it was expensive.

[ToughButterCup]

Get yourself a twisting tool as suggested by @JSHarris. I have had one for years and I use it regularly. You can more than double the strength of wire when you use it to twist a long length, or just tie off the short ends super quickly.

It takes a bit of a knack getting used to, initially you break (over strain) a few strands, but you soon get a feel for  when you're going to break the wire. 

[JOE187]

Bought mine off ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-1000x-Double-Loop-Metal-Wire-Cable-Tie-150mm-200mm-Rebar-Multipurpose-Tool-/322446914545?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l4275.c10&var=511421592005   

As mentioned above really quick and efficient. 100mm tie normally good for most situations!!

[Russell griffiths]

Thanks everyone 

to clarify, I have the handled tool that twists the pre looped wire and this is what I am fairly quick at, what I was more thinking of was the battery powered ones 

hadnt thought of hiring. 

[Russell griffiths]

 

Any thoughts on this, apart from how much is the wire. 

I don’t mind spending good money on a good tool, but I hate feeling shafted buying the consumable bits when you have no choice. 

[Construction Channel]

The things to consider are 

 

the price of the tool ( usually a lot of money although I have never seen the one in the video before)

 

how often do they jam and how hard are they to “unjam” 

 

how tight do they get the fixing 

 

realistically how many ties are you going to have to put in. 

 

We have always used the pull twisty things everyone else has linked (locally called potato sack tiers) 

 

it all depends on available money and how much you want to use the fancy tool. If I could afford it I would get the best tool I could get and potentially sell its afterwards  ( realistically it would just end up on a shelf.) 

[Miek]

I used the loop ended ties with the ratchet twisting tool for some steel work, but I found the cheap ties are very thin wire and not strong enough for walking on the steelwork without being careful. They are good for basic work but if your steelwork is heavy/multi layered, then look for something heavier. Possibly you can get heavy gauge ties but I haven't looked. Proper tying wire is much thicker and really strong but requires more skill to use... 

[Declan52]

I used to use both of the hand twisters and the drill type when I made up piling cages and to be honest there isn't much in it. The drill type does jam up but it's usually because the wire it's bent so misses the guides where it feeds in and bends. 

[Russell griffiths]

So I think hire one of the battery ones for a day and see what difference it makes, and if it’s considerably then buy one and sell on afterwards. 

 

[Construction Channel]

Or just keep it for the week and get the job done and pay the extra pittance on the weeks hire over the one day 

[Russell griffiths]

13 hours ago, Construction Channel said:

Or just keep it for the week and get the job done and pay the extra pittance on the weeks hire over the one day 

True. ?

[Alexphd1]

I am a big fan of the machine. Wire is more expensive which is a negative.  We didn't have much wire jams in fact I can't remember any (maybe selective memory) but we only used it in dry weather I do remember somebody saying it doesn't like wet maybe that's something to do with wire slipping jamming? 

 

[Bitpipe]

The two guys who did our basement rebar (all 16t of it) just used special pliers and twisted by hand  - they were amazingly fast but I guess that's what they do all day!

[jamiehamy]

Because of the way I built our reinforced icf garage walls -  creating the mesh from vertical and horizontal bars - , I needed to do around 1500ties. Wasted so much time at first until I hired a machine. Was worth the money for the significant time saved. I'd go so far as to say to anyone with over a couple of hundred ties not to waste time doing them by hand. You could spend two days just doing manual ties or less than half a day with the machine. And get a better tie with no effort. 

[Pocster]

Must admit I did about 3000 wire ties by hand with pliers !

once I was done SE then said could of used zip ties ?

so with hind sight use a battery tool ! 

Edited March 10, 2018 by pocster

[Triassic]

Great advice, we start our reinforced foundations and basement walls tomorrow, so will hire a machine to up the pace.

[Russell griffiths]

So the hire shop near me has a re bar tieing tool for £100 a week. 

 

Who wants to buy one and I will have it off them. 

I wont need it for about 6/8 weeks

after I have finished I will sell it on to the next person.