How to load a tie wire reel

Tie wire is a pliable steel wire used to secure items or bind them together. The wire is used in a wide variety of applications from agriculture and gardening to building and construction. It is also known as binding wire.

Steel tie wire in the construction industry

In the construction industry, steel tie wire is commonly used by workers to strap together the steel reinforcing bars, or rebar, used in concrete and masonry applications.

In this context, the wire is purchased in coils that load into a reel worn on the belt of a worker. The reel dispenses the wire. The reel allows the wire to be easily spooled-off in a controlled flow. The worker uses a pair of pliers specifically designed to cut and tie the wire around adjoining sections of rebar.

How to tie rebar together

The standard tie is to loop the wire twice around the rebar and then, using the pliers, secure the tie with a double twist. The entire action takes no more than a couple of seconds. There are many ways to tie rebar together. There are plenty of videos on YouTube demonstrating various methods.

Each technique in the angle or direction the wire is looped around the rebar, the number of times it is looped, and the number of times the wire is twisted to secure the tie.

All these different methods can be achieved by dispensing the tie wire from a coil in a reel.

Steel tie wire uses in many other applications

In addition to steel fixers and concrete workers generally, steel tie wire is also used by many other building tradesmen for all sorts of tying and securing jobs. In some of these applications, zip or twist ties made of synthetic material has replaced standard steel tie wire. But steel tie wire remains dominant in the construction industry.

Tie wire packaged in standard size coils

Once it is manufactured, steel tie wire for use in the construction industry is coiled around a plastic core. The coil is prepared to a standard size to fit standard size reels. The standard coil contains about 95m of wire.

The wire is made in a variety of diameters or gauges, ranging from 12 to 18 gauge. The weight of the full coil is around 1.59kg, making it easy for a worker to carry around in a reel clipped to a trouser belt.

Tie wire is dispensed from a reel

A tie wire reel is normally made of durable, lightweight aluminium with steel wear parts. It has built-in loops or clips that fix to the belt of a worker. The reel is circular in shape with a diameter of about 170mm and a length or depth of 110mm. Reels are designed to have a smooth winding – coiling or uncoiling – action. For the comfort of the worker, each unit is designed for either left or right-handed use. Similarly, the reel has a well-designed, easy-to-grab wind knob.

Several brands of reel are available including the Jaybro brand and the RapidTool brand, an image of which can be found here.

Loading a coil into a reel

Steel tie wire reels are designed so that new coils of wire can be inserted swiftly. Fiddling around trying to load in a new coil is annoying, wastes time and damages productivity.

The key feature to look for on the reel is a removable cover plate that permits quick, convenient reloading. Inserting a new coil into a reel is simple. No tools are needed - you begin by twisting the cover plate off the reel with your hand. Most cover plates have an ‘off/on’ label cast into the aluminium, with arrows pointing in the direction you twist the plate, so there can be no mistaking the right way to twist the plate.

Once the plate is off, the replacement coil is simply inserted onto a central sprocket in the reel. The next step is to lead the free end of the coil through the dispensing track. Finally, the cover plate is twisted back on the reel.

After that, you are good to go!

Shop for tie wire and other steelfixing supplies at Jaybro

Contact our friendly team for great pricing, or browse our selection of tie wire in our online store.