[Al Skierkiewicz]

When twisting your own wire, a simple technique works very well. One student holding the drill, two students holding the opposite end of the wire and one student following the twist with their fingers. The students at the far end of the wires, should allow the wire ends to spin naturally in their hand. The student walking the twist should lightly clamp the twist in their fingers. This will set the wire as you twist. #22 wire works very well for this. You are trying for about 1-2 twists per inch. As a final step, chuck one end of the pair in a bench vise, and then stretch the wire out and give it a good pull. That will stretch the wire a little and set the twist. Taking this last step will prevent the wire from self twisting and kinking up as well preventing it from untwisting. We generally will twist about 30' at a time.