Fingers Hurt with all of the zip ties I've been installing!

[GaryMartin]

JBullard wrote:

GaryMartin wrote:

Greg Young wrote:

I have a metal one, which I purchased for around $40. Not only does it save your fingers, it saves considerable time!

It's hard to believe folks would skimp on spending $40 when they are installing hundreds (or more) of zip ties, especially considering the time savings....

I guess some folk just don't get it and don't want to Greg.

I agree with you Greg and Gary.

That's why I made the first reply to the OP comments.

I don't care if I'm doing 10 or a 100 zipties. Until you've used a GOOD one, you can't imagine what you're missing. One of the best $100 I've ever spent on this hobby about 4 years ago.

Last night I wanted to put more tension on my megatree strands. I decided to ziptie them together where they attach to the base ring. That's 96 zipties to do. Using my Panduit gun, I knocked that out in about 10 minutes. It made the tree look a ton better, no slack.

[BaldEagleChristmas]

I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to spend $250 for a cable tie thingie, but Uline appeals to me since it is in between HF and Panduit. I think I'll have to do something since my fingers were so sore this fall that they hurt when I used a computer the next day.

[Guest guest]

My tywrap gun arrived, surprisingly, on Saturday, so I had a chance to use it this weekend.

Incredible! I am a convert..a believer...it really did save time, and, amazing how much nicer it makes your cord bundles look with good tight tywraps and no tails..

I definitely recommend the ebay seller I got mine from..last check, he had more..I can't speak to the uline or HF tool comparatively, but I am more than satisfied with the tool i got for 65 bucks..my humble opinion only, I'd probably pay up to 100 for a used one of this same model based on my experience with it so far.

[medman2000]

Ok the video link totally helped me understand this. You can load your zipties into the tool (mine are in my top pocket and fall out every time I bend over!)? It looks like it makes them pretty tight - I ziptie my lights to the branches in my trees/bushes, winds up to 40mph in rural Minnesota - have to tie em. Does the tool make them too tight to cut off in the spring?

Thanks!


Or does it not load them in automatically? Do you have to load the tie into the tool each time? I need one hand to hold the lights and branch, and the other hand the zip tie. Don't have a third hand to hold a tool and load a tie (or maybe I'm still missing something?).

[Greg Young]

Tim Fischer wrote:

Greg Young wrote:

I have a metal one, which I purchased for around $40. Not only does it save your fingers, it saves considerable time!

Once you have the zip tie on, slide the gun over the end of the tie, and squeeze the trigger. It tightens the tie (you adjust the amount of tension you will be using based on the size and capacity of the ties being used with a rotating adjustment knob).

It's hard to believe folks would skimp on spending $40 when they are installing hundreds (or more) of zip ties, especially considering the time savings....

I think once folks try one, they will never go back to the manual route!

Greg

Greg,

Do you have recommendation for one in the $40 price range?

Otherwise I'll probably try to find a used one for $65 as noted above. But at this point I might as well wait until next year or at least until I come up with a build that uses a lot of zip ties. I'm assuming my little side cutters is still an ok way to take them apart

Sorry Tim. Just got on the forum today after a bit of an absence...

I will check the gun out when I get home. I purchased it 6 or more years back, so I don't recall off the top of my head where, but I do remember it was around $40 or $45.

Let me see what I can find out.

Greg

[Guest guest]

this is not the tool in the video..this is purely a tool that pulls the tywrap tight, and cuts it off. You install the tie hand tight, then use the gun to tighten and cut the excess off.

[beeiilll]

medman2000 wrote:

Ok the video link totally helped me understand this. You can load your zipties into the tool (mine are in my top pocket and fall out every time I bend over!)? It looks like it makes them pretty tight - I ziptie my lights to the branches in my trees/bushes, winds up to 40mph in rural Minnesota - have to tie em. Does the tool make them too tight to cut off in the spring?

Thanks!


Or does it not load them in automatically? Do you have to load the tie into the tool each time? I need one hand to hold the lights and branch, and the other hand the zip tie. Don't have a third hand to hold a tool and load a tie (or maybe I'm still missing something?).

Well if you watched that video you were a little mislead by it. Yes the system in the video is an automatic system but watch it again and right in the beginning you will see a big reel on a table to the right of the guy using it. That reel is the tywraps and the machine on the table feeds them to the gun through the cable that is attached.

That is a multi-thousand dollar system for production facilities that build wire harnesses. I used one once in a place that I was doing some repairs for. Sweet system but bulky.

A regular Panduit gun is simple to use.

You first go and put your tywrap around the wire and insert the end of the wrap into the socket of the tywrap. I have a holster that goes on my belt for the tywraps to ride in. Pull it up snug or close to it. I use them to hold my mega tree strands to the base ring (96 strands) so I go through and "hook" all the tywraps onto the strands and ring first. Then I can go back around and tension the strand of lights and use my other hand with the Panduit gun to clinch down the tywrap and cut it. The gun has a slot on the front end so you don't have to slide the whole tywrap into the mechanism. You just slide the gun onto the tywrap right were the socket is and pull the trigger.

I have seen the Panduit guns on eBay for $50 and up quite a few times now.

I only use the Panduit because it is what I have been using for many years and I do have 3 of them. Plus I use them almost everyday for many things.

Something else to watch for as mentioned here though is be careful of "cheap" tywraps. Even a good gun like a Panduit won't help with cheap straps. They will break easy or not clinch onto themselves and loosen up or when you go to tighten and cut them with a gun they will break. Pay a little more and get good ones and save yourself the aggravation.


Bill

[beeiilll]

Well here is a link for current eBAy auctions on Panduit guns. A nice GS4H one on there for $10 so far.

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=Panduit+gun&_sacat=See-All-Categories

But watch for them and you will find them on there quite a bit.

Bill

[medman2000]

beeiilll wrote:

medman2000 wrote:

Ok the video link totally helped me understand this. You can load your zipties into the tool (mine are in my top pocket and fall out every time I bend over!)? It looks like it makes them pretty tight - I ziptie my lights to the branches in my trees/bushes, winds up to 40mph in rural Minnesota - have to tie em. Does the tool make them too tight to cut off in the spring?

Thanks!


Or does it not load them in automatically? Do you have to load the tie into the tool each time? I need one hand to hold the lights and branch, and the other hand the zip tie. Don't have a third hand to hold a tool and load a tie (or maybe I'm still missing something?).

Well if you watched that video you were a little mislead by it. Yes the system in the video is an automatic system but watch it again and right in the beginning you will see a big reel on a table to the right of the guy using it. That reel is the tywraps and the machine on the table feeds them to the gun through the cable that is attached.

That is a multi-thousand dollar system for production facilities that build wire harnesses. I used one once in a place that I was doing some repairs for. Sweet system but bulky.

A regular Panduit gun is simple to use.

You first go and put your tywrap around the wire and insert the end of the wrap into the socket of the tywrap. I have a holster that goes on my belt for the tywraps to ride in. Pull it up snug or close to it. I use them to hold my mega tree strands to the base ring (96 strands) so I go through and "hook" all the tywraps onto the strands and ring first. Then I can go back around and tension the strand of lights and use my other hand with the Panduit gun to clinch down the tywrap and cut it. The gun has a slot on the front end so you don't have to slide the whole tywrap into the mechanism. You just slide the gun onto the tywrap right were the socket is and pull the trigger.

I have seen the Panduit guns on eBay for $50 and up quite a few times now.

I only use the Panduit because it is what I have been using for many years and I do have 3 of them. Plus I use them almost everyday for many things.

Something else to watch for as mentioned here though is be careful of "cheap" tywraps. Even a good gun like a Panduit won't help with cheap straps. They will break easy or not clinch onto themselves and loosen up or when you go to tighten and cut them with a gun they will break. Pay a little more and get good ones and save yourself the aggravation.


Bill

Ahhh.. ok gotcha. Definitely can see how this would be useful for many of our applications. Thanks for the additional info!

[beeiilll]

Your welcome for sure.

Yes, tywraps are so useful for a lot of things in this hobby.

Use them to fasten lights to wireframes, bundle cords together, hold lights to arches, you name it.

[BaldEagleChristmas]

Has anyone had an issue with the guns rusting? I was out doing some cable ties the old fashioned way and noticed that my side cutters (new this year) are rusted already. I've given up on worring about rust since I do a lot of work in the rain and snow but if I bought a gun I'd hate to have to replace it in short time period because of rust like I do sidecutters now.

[beeiilll]

BaldEagleChristmas wrote:

Has anyone had an issue with the guns rusting? I was out doing some cable ties the old fashioned way and noticed that my side cutters (new this year) are rusted already. I've given up on worring about rust since I do a lot of work in the rain and snow but if I bought a gun I'd hate to have to replace it in short time period because of rust like I do sidecutters now.

I have had some tools rust a little on me if I don't get them taken care of quickly enough.

For my cutters and a lot of tools, I have a bucket with sand and motor oil in it that I dip the tools in and leave for a few days after I dry them off. It works wonders at keeping the rust at bay.

I also have oil cloth that I wrap tools in that works the same way.

Best defense against rust is still to dry off the tool as soon as you are done working in wet conditions and then put a light coat of WD40 or motor oil on it.