Wooden wire crimper

It does not tension from zero. The wire has to arrive with a minimum tension already on it — the tension you put in by hand with pliers when you wire the frame. If it is completely slack, this crimper has nothing to work with and will do nothing.

01 · HOW IT GAINS TENSION

Crimping the wire is shortening it

The mechanism is simple and it never pulls on the wire: the two toothed wheels grip the wire and, as they run along it, leave it crimped in a zig-zag. That waving uses up length — the same wire has to cover more distance along a broken line than along a straight one — and the slack disappears. That is why it works without forcing, and why it does not snap the wire, which is exactly what happens when you try to finish the job by pulling with pliers.

02 · WHEN IT IS USED

Two specific moments

This is not a daily tool: it comes out for two jobs, and in both of them the frame is already wired.

The tension is not a nicety: a slack wire does not hold the foundation, and badly held foundation sags as soon as the colony starts drawing it or the extractor gets up to speed.

03 · WHICH OF THE FOUR

They all crimp; the body and the grip change

There are four tools on the shelf that do this job and not one of them tensions from zero. This is the wooden-handled one, the middle step; the plastic crimper is the cheapest and does the job if you wire few frames a year; the zig-zag crimping pliers have a screw to set the depth of the wave; and the PRO crimper with pinions is the workshop one, for anyone assembling frames by the hundred.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

Pine handle and metal wheels. It weighs 50 g, so you work it with one hand while the other holds the frame.