Waxed string wiring done

Just thought I'd share a few pictures of some double cord lacing done on this wiring harness Gary is building for the roadster.

Gary layed out the wires and I took it to our buddies at the local airport/plane repair shop to have the wax stringing done.

 

Clean. Excellent detail.

 

Very nice work. Cool to see this vintage fabric wiring...

http://public.fotki.com/redlinetoys/

 

Impressive

 

is "waxed string" a wierd name for lacing twine?

 

The stuff I got from the telephone switchboard guys back in the 60s wasn't that heavy, but it too was waxed. The wax is necessary to keep the 1/2 hitches from immediately loosening up and moving as you go along. Without the wax it's a real PITA. The art comes from the eye that keeps the spacing uniform and neat.

 

Very nice !!!

 

nice!

 

Very cool stuff! I don't want to hijack this thread but where do you guys buy the vintage wire and the waxed string? Who are the good suppliers?

 

damn i thought this post was about waxing for real I guess we will have to wait till me you and aaron get together at detroit. hahaha looks good man

 

Same question.That shit is cool.

 

A lot of detail there, very clean.

 

I think little details like this really set HAMBERs apart from the rest! Excellent job!

 

Not only the wiring, but everything there is beautiful. NICE WORK !

 

if you google for

lacing twine

you'll find the twine, and the tools used to sew it.

If you know anyone who used to be in military communications (lots of them around here, since Ft Huachuca is the home of the old Communications Command) then you can find an expert at sewing up cables.

 

Very impressive, nice work. It reminds me of a wireing job a guy did on a Delahey dack in the late 1970's. He said it was "cat gut" don't know if that was just a term or the real deal.

 

Looks great!! The Wire comes from Rhode Island Wiring

http://www.riwire.com

They should have all the supplies we'll need!
thanks John

 

When I was in the military (mid 1960's), I was in ground communications, and we used waxed twine to harness cables all the time. Keeps them in order and is simple to do. Stu

 

Great minds think alike Matt. The guy doing the wiring on the coupe is gonna do the same thing...looks great.

 

Did lots of waxed string work when I did voice and data cabling installs in NOCs and the like. It is a little more time consuming as the work progresses, but you always end up with a lot less mess and cleanup compared to (shitty looking IMO) zip ties. Plus no sharp edges.

That is excellent work. It does look like aircraft industry work. Also, where did you get that NEW cloth wire? I don't think I've seen an automotive source for it before?

 

Great post ! Very neat and clean job. Thanks John for the info. on Rhode Island Wiring. I ordered a catalog. Nice folks, and very quick response. He didn't know about the wax twine though. But he did say after i made my harness, if i would send it to him he would put cloth braiding over it.

 

Gonna give this a bump, some classic old fashioned HAMB how-to.

 

one of my not-so-great career choices early in life was working at at company that made wiring harnesses for pinball machines.All the harnesses were laced with what was closer to waxed dental floss,hands would bleed for days until you built up the callouses

 

Niely done.

 

Which one, oldtom69?

Agreed on the bleeding part. I laced the harness when I rewired my '37 Chevy last year. Worked great, but ouch, my fingers.


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What, you guys have never heard of "suffering for your art" ??

 

Lot of work after one wire shorts out and burns. Bob

 

Waxed cord was exactly what was used on aircraft back in the day. No plastic zip ties at that time.

 

In case anyone is interested, we use waxed marlin (string) to properly whip the ends of line for boats. It can be bought at various marine supply houses

http://www.downwindmarine.com/Cord-Twine-amp-Whipping-p-1-c-444.html

 

best stick to plastic zip ties and that black corrugated gm shit I guess... lesson learned.