: Anyone ever used these to do the "stitching" and if so
: which size did you use and how successful were they?
: Seems they can be bought in 6" and 9" sizes that may fit
: the bill.

I have the small size from Harbor Freight, and I use it regularly with aviation grade stainless steel safety wire (doesn't rust and not oiled, Bill) for safety wiring things on a truck. I wouldn't use it for a S&G build. It fills niche of something stronger than a nylon cable tie, but lighter than rope or chain.

The tool is slower to use than a conventional pair of pliers. You need to get the two wires close to parallel, pinch them in the jaws, and while holding the jaws tight, slide the locking catch to hold the jaws shut. It is a two handed operation.

The tool gives a tight twist, and more powerful clamping action (with steel wire) than you want to use with plywood. It can tear through the plywood, and make the holes very messy.

To get the tool to twist, you need to give a very firm pull on the knob which lets the pliers slide along an Archimede's Screw. The amount of tugging will pull your light wood parts out of alignment.

You can untwist these, but not easily. I consider anything I connect with this to be a permanent but disposable connection, Twist it on, cut it off. Making adjustments on boat parts would be a problem.

Faster easier and cheaper to just use a plain pliers, or a pair of electrician's pliers for S&G.

PGJ