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Safety Wire Pliers

bill.hutchison

Well Known Member
I bought the cheap HF safety wire pliers and I hate them with the passion of a thousand flaming suns. I'm - on a GOOD day - successful at getting them to lock about 1 in 7 attempts.

Are there better ones? If so, which ones? Because I am willing to pay for good ones at this point.
 
I bought the cheap HF safety wire pliers and I hate them with the passion of a thousand flaming suns. I'm - on a GOOD day - successful at getting them to lock about 1 in 7 attempts.

Are there better ones? If so, which ones? Because I am willing to pay for good ones at this point.

I have the same cheap HF. To make it lock, you have to manually lock it. That requires a fair amount of grip strength to engage the grip handle while manipulating the locking slider. I am too cheap for the aviation grade stuff.
 
I have the same cheap HF. To make it lock, you have to manually lock it. That requires a fair amount of grip strength to engage the grip handle while manipulating the locking slider. I am too cheap for the aviation grade stuff.

I have the grip strength but the #%@## sliding lock won't engage, or when it engages, it engages for a second and then the little catch pops loose.

Milbars ordered. :)
 
Funny I was just watching an EAA video last night on safety wiring, and the guy said there's nothing that'll make a person want to go spend $130 on a Milbar set quicker than using the HF ones for 30 minutes.. :)
 
I can attest to the fact that the HF safety wire pliers are very durable. After throwing both (yes, I went back and bought another) against my hangar wall, they continued to operate (?) the same. They now reside in a trash dump somewhere I am living happily with my Milbar set.
 
I bought a Milbar for a mechanic at work. Just yesterday I needed to use them and was a thinking how I much prefer the one I got from ACS.
 
I have both sizes from ACS and ground and polished the clunky jaws for better access. They work just fine although it would be nice sometimes to have reversing...
 
I was about to order some Milbar ones at my last condition inspection. Couldn’t decide on the size. Spruce has several models listed. I have some cheap ones from spruce. Better than HF, but not perfect.
 
After using HF for 5 years, I purchased the small reversible Milbar...... and they are GREAT!
 
Milbars are very good -- but Robinsons's were/ are better -- jaw grip architecture is superior.
IF you can find some outside some-old-guy's-toolbox.
 
Bought the 6" milbar a few years ago and I'm very happy with them. Never used anything else so I can't compare but it sounds like I avoided a lot of frustration by following the pack.
 
weird results

I've never really paid attention as to which brand my two pliers where. I've had for the last 30 years.
But, I can tell you I grab the smaller set all the time, Because, they just seem work better.
This blog got me to thinking, what do I have. Went and looked.
The smaller set is "Milbar" and the larger set is no name.
My brain and hands knew the better set and I was really unaware what or why
Buy a good set and you'll thank yourself.
Life is to short to be cussing all the time.
My three cents worth Art
 
I have a Milbar pair and I love the reversing feature, but the locking mechanism is the same as any old pliers. I see now that newer Milbar units have a greatly improved locking feature. Oh no, this thread is going to cost me money...
 

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Design flaw

I've bought several types of safety wire pliers and someone could make a lot of money by designing them right. Locking these is ridiculously hard, and requires a 2nd hand - which you usually don't have at that moment. Why don't they just lock when you squeeze them? Srsly? :confused:
 
I have a Milbar pair and I love the reversing feature, but the locking mechanism is the same as any old pliers. I see now that newer Milbar units have a greatly improved locking feature. Oh no, this thread is going to cost me money...

Reversing *not* in the wrist?! Might have to look at that.
 
I've bought several types of safety wire pliers and someone could make a lot of money by designing them right. Locking these is ridiculously hard, and requires a 2nd hand - which you usually don't have at that moment. Why don't they just lock when you squeeze them? Srsly? :confused:

Yes, that's what I was getting at... Milbar now has a model with one-hand locking.

This is a Snap-On video but I'm 99% sure the pliers shown here are actually made by Milbar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnocxjAS_7Y
 
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The new Milbars just arrived. I can already tell they're superior to the HF ****. The grip for the locking mechanism alone is worth the cost.

Now, if Sporty's could hurry up with my oil....Spruce was out of the Victory XC and backordered until July 16.
 
Yes, that's what I was getting at... Milbar now has a model with one-hand locking.

This is a Snap-On video but I'm 99% sure the pliers shown here are actually made by Milbar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnocxjAS_7Y

I would like to identify the equivalent Milbar pliers. I don't need to spend money to get another pliers that still requires a second hand to slide the lock in place. The automatic locking feature is key. So...how do I tell which model has that? ACS doesn't mention it as a feature.
 
I would like to identify the equivalent Milbar pliers. I don't need to spend money to get another pliers that still requires a second hand to slide the lock in place. The automatic locking feature is key. So...how do I tell which model has that? ACS doesn't mention it as a feature.

Milbar model 7W is what you want (or Snap-On WTG8A if you want to spend even more).
 
Hmmm... interesting and thought-provoking observations here.

I purchased a couple of sets of cheapo made-in-China pliers. They work, ok, sort of.

I also have a pair of 6" reversible Milbar pliers. They work, ok, sort of.

I find the lock on the cheapo ones is MUCH easier to engage, and its engagement is much more reliable. Definitely better than the Milbar lock.

The rotation of the cheapo ones isn't as smooth as the Milbar.

The jaw shape of both the cheapo and Milbar pliers leave a lot to be desired. In fact I'd like a set with no wire cutter function as more than once I've managed to destroy the wire by inadvertently getting it far enough into the jaw to contact the cutting surface.

Oddly, my cheapo pliers open and close easily while my Milbar pliers are almost "two hand operation" stiff. I've oiled them and spent an hour in front of the TV just cycling the handles open and closed - they're still too tight for practical use. Clearly they will stay tight for more than my lifetime.

I always hand-twist in a clockwise direction - the Milbars let me match that direction when continuing the twist with the pliers. The reversible function of the Milbar pliers make them a clear winner.
 
I was about to order some Milbar ones at my last condition inspection. Couldn’t decide on the size. Spruce has several models listed. I have some cheap ones from spruce. Better than HF, but not perfect.

Joel,

If you only have one size make sure it is the short one (6"). They can be used in much tighter areas than the 12". As a case study I have both lengths and the 12" rarely get used.

Jim
 
I am not sure that Milbars are what they used to be. I bought these brand new and used them about 5 times and then....

O0njac0.jpg



Dang.
 
Yes, that's what I was getting at... Milbar now has a model with one-hand locking.

This is a Snap-On video but I'm 99% sure the pliers shown here are actually made by Milbar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnocxjAS_7Y

I got a set of those. I don't think they are made by Milbar as they are made in France. When they say one-hand operation, you still have to slide the lock down manually, they are implying you can do it with the holding hand, just like the Milbar slider. Just in case anybody thought they were similar to the Milbar 7W Tigerwave Jaw auto-locking twisting pliers which toggles the lock/unlock with each squeeze cycle.

So These fancy new 8" Snap-On WTG8A safety wire pliers are a real disappointment as the jaws do not clamp both wires well, even if crossed well. They can't seem to clamp both wires with the equal clamping force so one end of the wire always comes out of the jaws after a couple of turns. They were super expensive too ($250!). Maybe I just got a bad set.

Going back, the aforementioned Milbar Tigerwave Jaw auto-locking type drive me and my friends nuts because the locking system is designed to automatically toggle from unlocked to locked and back to unlocked with each squeeze. Turns out that more often than not the human hand tends to squeeze a little when turning the pliers so they are always unlocking at inopportune times, requiring repositioning and re-locking the pliers to re-start the twisting. This might be a more prevalent problem with folks used to using legacy safety wire pliers for years but I find it maddening.

Jim
 
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Are there better ones? If so, which ones? Because I am willing to pay for good ones at this point.

Also consider Proto safety wire pliers (made by Stanley Black and Decker). The reversing mechanism on my large Milbar safety wire pliers broke. Milbar "lifetime warranty" experience was painful and slow. I bought the 6" Proto reversing pliers to avoid having to deal with Milbar customer service again in the event of a tool failure. The Proto plier performs fine.
 
I've twisted a mile or two of .032" wire in my 35 years working at the prop shop. I've always just used Snap-On duck bill pliers and pair of good dikes. Reversing action is done manually. Now if your in a confined area I could see using the fancy ones but most of the time, duck bills.
Try it you may like it
TwONNx.jpg
 
Since I started this thread I figured I'd post the update....

Milbar. Life-changing. I can actually operate one-handed in some instances.

Now, I'm still not the greatest safety-wire guy out there - I suspect miles of wire and months of practice and more than a few skin punctures will improve my technique, but it's SO MUCH EASIER to use the Milbars than those crappy HF pliers.
 
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