Safety wire pliers

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TAILspin38
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Safety wire pliers

Post by TAILspin38 »

Looking for advice on a good safety wire pliers to aid in my owner assisted maintenance. Does not have to be the top of the line as it is something not used every day but of course want to be satisfied with the quality as I am looking to get some MILEAGE out of it. Lots of brands out there. All experience is greatly appreciated :bow
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Steve
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Re: Safety wire pliers

Post by Steve »

I have several. Initially I bought a Harbor Freight el-cheapo 9" which I used for a dozen years, and still works OK. I found out that a shorter pliers would be useful in certain circumstances (like safety wiring the sump screen cap at the rear of the engine), and bought a Milbar 6", which is much better quality, but also much more expensive (about $125). Two years ago I bought a Milbar 9" reversible, which is like a Cadillac. The reversing feature is nice to have in certain applications (like the brake caliper bolts safety wiring and some on bolts on the FCU and prop governor). I now use only the 6 and 11" Milbar tools in the hangar, and put the Harbor Freight tool in my tool bag in the aircraft for emergency repairs away from home base.
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Re: Safety wire pliers

Post by AirHog »

Like Steve, I have the cheapo Pittsburgh from Harbor freight. It is 6 years old and still works kinda sorta ok. But this past December I splurged and ordered a reversible, made in USA, Matco for $150. I can't tell you what I think of the $150 Matco because it is still on backorder with no expected delivery date! So, also in December, I ordered a 7" candy apple red BikeMaster from Amazon for only $26.68 after tax. I'm very happy with it, it works very well. It is inexpensive enough to order another one as a spare and throw away the old Harbor Freight. Seeing your posts has reminded me to cancel the Matco order.
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TAILspin38
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Re: Safety wire pliers

Post by TAILspin38 »

The Bike Master was what I was kinda leaning towards. Bruce, is it reversible? Was looking at that feature just for the reason Steve had mentioned.
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AirHog
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Re: Safety wire pliers

Post by AirHog »

No, the BikeMaster is not reversible.
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Davestation
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Re: Safety wire pliers

Post by Davestation »

Milbar 25W. If you can find a used one with the “tiger wave” jaws which are no longer in production.

The big tool brands just stick their logo on the milbar so you’d be overpaying from them. Snap-on now has their own version but it sucks.
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Re: Safety wire pliers

Post by CFIDave »

I bought this safety wiring kit from Aircraft Spruce years ago -- it comes with a durable carrying bag, and the pliers work just fine for my owner-performed maintenance:

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/ ... wister.php
Epic Aircraft E1000 GX
Former DA40XLS, DA42-VI, and DA62 owner
ATP, CFI, CFI-I, MEI
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