zip tie unlock key

[chop]

Looking for the little gadget that allows you to undo a zip tie but can't find the name for it so I can get one on aliexpress or ebay.

[invalid unparseable]

chop wrote on 1/24/2023 12:29 AM:

Use a good old 'safety pin'.

How-to unlock and re-use a zip tie

[micky]

I just use a small/tiny screwdriver.

You might have to put it in from the inside, and I've always been able to, but maybe that gives an advantage to the safety pin.

[chop]

Not as useful as the correct tool.

[chop]

Not as convenient as the right tool.

Still not as convenient as the right tool.

[The Natural Philosopher]

FFS how expensive is a fresh zip tie compared with your labour?

[Pancho]

Cable cutters, knife, scissors.

I do use a safety pin occasionally, but always forget the right direction to push it in. The YouTube will help me remember it as an orthodox procedure.

[micky]

They might not be a speedy or as effective, but if you have one of them and you don't have "the right tool", then they are much more convenient.

[wasbit]

I dislike re-using cable ties especially when they need to be really tight. The nylon stretches & weakens.

[alan_m]

Most are cheap chinese plastic.

Don't most people pull then through to get a tight fit and then cut off the excess length for neatness? It's probably impossible to reuse the ties once they have been cut to length.

[invalid unparseable]

It is better to reuse the same cable tie if you just want to replace one of the wires in the bundle. The original cable tie is already the most suitable size for the job. Or, if you are repairing equipment, you might not havecable tie of similar size.

[Thomas Prufer]

Zip ties are about 1€ (~US $1) for a hundred, if bought in packs of 100, less in larger amounts.

The only excuse to reuse one is if one doesn't have a matching one to hand...

Thomas Prufer

[SteveW]

It's usefult to re-use when used as temporary ties and repeatedly opened and closed - such as running a number of cables along a route and adding each one to the bundle as you go ... otherwise you end up with cutting a tie every few feet and fitting a new one, which leaves a lot of scrap ties to collect up and throw away and can take some time and effort to thread the new tie behind the bundle of cables and through the fixing point.

[Animal]

of course that's not the only reason. Cleaning up after you at events is one other.

[Ralph Mowery]

If the origional was pulled tight and cut off like many are I would like to see someone put it back on. Many times they are put on with a tool that tightens them up and cuts off the end flush.

[Andy Burns]

More usual for the end to be hacked off with a blunt pair of scissors leaving a razor-sharp end /just/ long enough to cut clean through your skin ...

[invalid unparseable]

You can leave the tail end alone if you do it yourself, especially if you use cable tie of appropriate size for the job.

[rbowman]

Assuming you're planning on adding to the cable bundle like in the usual computer workstation rat's nest, those Velcro ties are the cat's nuts.

[rbowman]

I've got an antique T&B Ty-Rap gun from my panel building days. They were very handy. Put the ties on the harness and then tighten them with the gun. You could set the tension for the tie size and it would cut the tail off flush. It was a one-handed operation so you didn't need to screw around holding the head, pulling the tail with a pair of needle nose pliers, and then snipping the tail off with micro-shears.

[Thomas Prufer]

All true... however, IME, a cable tie that is tight and trimmed can't be reused in that spot. No way to get it closed again, even assuming that the tied bunch of cables doesn't get larger. Two workarounds: either wrap the cable tie twice around, and use a single wrap when reusing. Or cut the tie so that most of the tail remains, and reuse where a shorter tie works.

OTOH, for holding cables together while adding, routing and removing cables, I'd go for a different solution. Velcro, twist of copper wire, something like that.

And for a plastic-free solution:

and I recommend the "spot tie" knot on the right of this

as a low-tech cable-tie substitute. And waxed dental floss works as an easily available substitute for waxed lacing cord -- and it's available in a pleasant mint aroma, too.

Thomas Prufer