It’s good! Really great in really tight spaces like on jet engines, BUT…the replacement cables are a buck apiece!This is one of the best safety wire tools out. Lycoming and Pratt & Whitney use now. (And no more bloodshed)
The pain with these comes when you find out that the hand operated gun is $500, while the powered versions running between $1,500 and $4,000. Plus you need a separate gun for each diameter of cable. And yeah, depending on diameter, the cables can run upward of a buck each.This is one of the best safety wire tools out. Lycoming and Pratt & Whitney use now. (And no more bloodshed)
You used to not need a different gun for each size, but rather different noses. Until we got enough kits in at work, we had one gun and six noses to cover the three sizes we use. It only took about 30 seconds to change a nose out, but you also had to do a calibration check every time you did. That was the hardest part about converting over to the cable system, getting guys to do the cal check every time.The pain with these comes when you find out that the hand operated gun is $500, while the powered versions running between $1,500 and $4,000. Plus you need a separate gun for each diameter of cable. And yeah, depending on diameter, the cables can run upward of a buck each.
Mine 25W's just went stupid. Won't twist or retract. (the urethane inserts fell off years ago) I've been trying to find the actual company for a warranty claim and it's a wild goose chase. Seems that the product has been sold off multiple times. The website is for a closed factory, and the supposed parent company phone goes nowhere. I think they are made in Taiwan now? (lady at Spruce seemed to think so) Anyway, they are also very backordered. Love them when they work!Milbar 25W's.....They have the urethane inserts to capture the cut tails. Safe-T-Cable is great and almost all we use these days at work, but like rocky says, the cables and ferrules are a bit expensive for general use. On top of that , a tool, with both nose pieces and the calibration check block is a quite expensive acquisition.
You used to not need a different gun for each size, but rather different noses. Until we got enough kits in at work, we had one gun and six noses to cover the three sizes we use. It only took about 30 seconds to change a nose out, but you also had to do a calibration check every time you did. That was the hardest part about converting over to the cable system, getting guys to do the cal check every time.
Also remember - you’re not working on spacecraft, tactical military aircraft, or airliners….you’re working on your simple experimental. How do you check the tension on your safety wiring job? Do you?Our kits have the tension check block within and we are supposed to do a tension check every time to kit gets check out. Don't know the cost to have one of the fixed tension ones calibrated. Factory calibration is listed as a flat 100$ on the website. If you have the check block, you might never have need to send the tool in for calibration. If you are destructive on tools, all bets are off....
Also my favorite.6" reversible Milbar. love em.
I can see if you are building a turbine engine recalibrating every use might be needed but that is probably for the unit that you can manually adjust the tension? For an extra 50 bucks you can get the one with factory preset tension. The tool as expected is very robust.Our kits have the tension check block within and we are supposed to do a tension check every time to kit gets check out. Don't know the cost to have one of the fixed tension ones calibrated. Factory calibration is listed as a flat 100$ on the website. If you have the check block, you might never have need to send the tool in for calibration. If you are destructive on tools, all bets are off....
I called and asked Daniels if I could buy different diameter nose pieces to use for different diameter cable on my 032 handle and was told NO! Glad to hear you can use different size nose diameters on the same handle without issue. Are you using the manual set tension (black wheel on the side) or the preset cable tension version?You used to not need a different gun for each size, but rather different noses. Until we got enough kits in at work, we had one gun and six noses to cover the three sizes we use. It only took about 30 seconds to change a nose out, but you also had to do a calibration check every time you did. That was the hardest part about converting over to the cable system, getting guys to do the cal check every time.
I'm fairly sure you cannot use different diameters in the same main tool. You can change nose lengths, cable lengths but not diameters. 032 seems to be ok in 95% of the applications on the RV. (Beringer disk brakes calls for 1 mm or 040)I called and asked Daniels if I could buy different diameter nose pieces to use for different diameter cable on my 032 handle and was told NO! Glad to hear you can use different size nose diameters on the same handle without issue. Are you using the manual set tension (black wheel on the side) or the preset cable tension version?
Like a lot of tools, the Safe-t-cable are not necessary but man are they nice to have. I have cheap HF wire pliers that spin one way and they are horrible. I have a 6” set (not sure brand name) that are reversible and they are a step in the right direction. The Daniels product make wiring the finger screen a ten second event. Same with the oil filter. Do the cables and ferrules cost more than 1lb spool of wire? Of coarse they do but for the time they save (and blood) I don’t regret paying for them. But once, cry once.
Paul: Except my daily use is on tactical aircraft...that's what pays the bills and buys parts and materials for the airplane projects at home.... Our tension limits for cable or wire is .1" of deflection for close spacing of hardware and .25" for long spacing.Also remember - you’re not working on spacecraft, tactical military aircraft, or airliners….you’re working on your simple experimental. How do you check the tension on your safety wiring job? Do you?