EAA Sport Aviation - September 2010

SURFACE
MOUNT
CABLE TIES

BY JOE NORRIS

YOU DON’T HAVE TO look too far on any aircraft to find a cable tie. Often called “tie wraps” or “zip ties,” they are used for a variety of tasks in a wide range of locations. But sometimes there’s a spot where a builder would like to use a cable tie, but no suitable location is available to apply it. Here’s a method for surface mounting the cable tie.

The trick is to use a ring-type electrical crimp terminal as the anchor for your cable tie. Select a ring terminal of a size appropriate to the fastener you’ll use to anchor it to the structure. The cable tie will go through the end of the terminal where you would normally crimp the electrical wire. You’ll need to squeeze the end down to an oval shape so that you can thread the cable tie through. Then simply anchor the ring end to a suitable spot on your structure, run the wire bundle, pitot-static line, or whatever you’re trying to anchor through the cable tie, and pull it tight. Bingo! You’ve created a clean, secure anchor for your cable tie.

ILLUSTRATION BY JOHN A. JOHNSON

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