Another take on Twisted Wire Bundles

Steve W. wrote in to share his improvement on the method for making wire bundles we wrote about:

 I’ve used the bend-it-over-and-stuff-it-in-the-chuck approach, but was not fully happy with it.

Binder clip on wood piece for drilling

So I drilled a 1/8″ hole in the back of a binder clip.  The drilling is easy if you clip a ~3/8 scrap of wood.

Wire twisting jig in drill chuck.

A 4-40 SHCS screw long enough to allow me to actuate the clip was not threaded all the way to the head, so I used a 1/4″ spacer between the binder clip and the 4-40 nut.  (Pan head screws are usually 100% threaded, but I would have had to look in the dreaded ‘other’ box to find one of those). Having the nut up against the chuck acted as a lock-nut.  I had been surprised when I first tried this that I did not have to work harder to keep it from loosening.  I had expected I might need a lock washer, and/or a second nut to lock the first.

Just grabbing the wires with the binder clip (my original plan) was not secure.  So I wrap the wires 180 degrees around a screwdriver bit and put that in the clip.

Works great, and it is quick to pop in and out when twisting many groups of wires.

Thanks for sharing your hack and sending the photos!