Lockwire Pliers

[matt_the_blat]

I feel a right spaz asking this but you have to start somewhere.....

I've got some lockwire pliers (and some lockwire!) but the instructions (a couple of small diagrams on the (squashed) box) aren't much help.

I'm sure it's not beyond the wit of man (or me) to figure it out, but could one of you kind people possibly take a picture of yours so I can see where the wire is meant to go, and give me a brief description of how to use them?

Thanks in advance,

Matt

[roastdinajima]

http://pbmagforum.co.uk/index.php?showtopi...p;hl=lockwiring

[Number 6]

The pliers have a slide lock on them, squeeze the pliers together and slide the bit in the middle to lock and unlock. The knob on the end is the spiral bit that you pull.

Cut off a length of wire and feed it through your bolt, bring both ends together. Grip ends in the nose of the pliers and lock them then pull on the knob to twist the wire don't over do it as the wire will snap. The ideal is to have the wire pulling against the bolts thread direction so in effect pulling it tight

It takes a bit of practice to get it right so be prepared to waste a bit of wire at first.

Make sure you always pick up any bits of waste and believe me when I say that bloody stuff hurts when you stick it in your finger and sooner or later you will.

Thats probably not the most thorough 'How to' but it should get you started.

Damn my slow fingers!!!

[Cibbersicks]

believe me when I say that bloody stuff hurts when you stick it in your finger and sooner or later you will.

Oh yes...... very +1

[will#224]

I do it as part of my job, sometimes spending 24 hours lock wiring a week. I find it quite enjoyable, specially the hard to get ones. There are some videos on you tube that show it pretty well.

A little tip i can offer, long nose pliers and a small flat blade screwdriver make it lots easier to manipulate the wire. There is a guide to how many twists per inch depending on the gauge of wire, if you aim for that when practicing your less likely to brake the wire. I use 0.9mm Inconel lock wire at work and use 10 twists per inch.

Shrink wrap (the electrical stuff) adds a nice finish over the twists if you want to protect a painted surface.

If your setting up to wire lock a race bike. Get yourself a few R clips for the oil filler and similar. Wire lock from a bolt to the R clip then use the R clip to lock the oil filler. Lots easier on race bikes when you might top up the oil over the weekend.

K&N do an oil filter for most bikes with a drilled nut welded to the end. Makes wire locking easy and makes it real easy to tighten and remove them when its oil change time.

If you have a Brembo radial master cylinder or similar then just under the pivot you'll see a little metal clip. They are well known for coming off, allowing the pin to fall out and then you have no brakes. If you wrap a bit of wire through the hollow pin and around the whole pivot its a secondary measure that you'll have brakes when you need them. Belt and Braces i know but you might one day need it.

Good luck.