A wire is a single cylindrical string of metal. Wires are used for lots of different jobs from wire ties, too carrying electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate and standard sizes are determined by various wire gauges.
A tie is any strong component designed to keep two objects closely linked together. Plastic coated wire ties are often used in gardening to hold plants to a cane to keep it growing straight up. They are also used to tie plants to trellis fencing to make them grow up a fence, wall or house.
Cable ties are also used a lot for similar applications but are a use once option due to the ratchet. Cable ties were invented by the electrical company Thomas & Betts in 1958 under the brand name Ty-Rap and was initially designed for airplane wire harnesses. The original design was made of a metal ratchet instead of nylon but they later changed this to a plastic design.
In its most popular form a cable tie is made of a Nylon tape with an integrated gear rack and on one end a ratchet within a small open case. Once the tip of the cable tie has been pulled through the case and past the ratchet it is stopped from being pulled back. Its most common uses allows several cables to be bound together into a cable tree or to be used as makeshift handcuffs as in the UK and USA. Cable ties are also widely used to prevent wheel trims from falling off cars.
A cable tie tension tool can be used to apply a cable tie with a set degree of tension. The tool may cut off the extra tail flush with the head in order to avoid a sharp edge. In order to increase resistance to UV light in outdoor applications, a specific grade of Nylon containing a minimum of 2% carbon black is used to protect the polymer chains and extend the cable tie’s service life. Stainless steel cable ties are also available for flameproof applications. Coated stainless steel ties are also available to prevent galvanic attack from different metals.
How to Wrap Cables without Cable Ties
