: I've passed a good point in my building, flipped the hull over and she's
: ready for epoxy in the seams.

: So, after converting many meters of wire to sharp little darts, I started
: thinking. With all the wire ends exposed and revisiting them at least once
: or twice, how does one avoid the inevitable puncture wounds? Does anyone
: have a clever way of cutting the wire so it isn't quite so sharp? I
: remembered this from my first boat and have been extra careful, but one
: still finds my finger occasionally.

: Please share your avoidance technique or tip. (other than the obvious = strip
: built)

Hi there, Shawn.

Give this a try:

Regular pinching type pliers squeeze the wire thin to the point where it breaks apart, and they leave sharp ends. Cutting at a right angle to the wire reduces the end effect, but there is still a pointy bit there in the middle. Cutting at an angle, of course, makes it even more of a pointy thing.

It may be a small mis-use of the tool, but try using a shearing type cutter, such as the lesser expensive kind of cable cutters, or a pair of Wiss snips which are really made for cutting sheet metal. Either of them used at a right angle makes for a better 'blunt' cut end which has a lot less penetrating ability than the sharper cuts made by the conventional wire cutters.

Below, starting on the left and going to the right:

Right angle cut with regular pliers. I think you can see the little chisel-shaped tip in the middle.

Angled cut with regular pliers. Like the first, but even sharper.

'Blunt' cut made with cable cutters.

'Blunt' cut made with Wiss shears.

Regular diagonal wire cutters.

Cable cutters, with cutting edges that pass each other.

Wiss shears, a sort of compound-lever kind of sheet metal scissor.

Having said all that, you can still poke yourself; it's just a little more difficult with the blunter ends. It doesn't make threading the wire into the pre-drilled holes harder, either.

Cheers,

Pete Roszyk,
in Snohomish, WA