gear tie question

[Zing]

Hey soap peeps! I watch YouTube videos where everything is perfect and the music sounds like a spa. The gear tie swirl tools are always at tight right angles. I can never get right angles which means both end cuts don't get swirled. Do yours look like mine too? If not, do you have a technique or brand name recommendation? Thanks,

 

[AliensrReal]

All those YouTube videos are made using AI technology and CGI. You can not convince me otherwise.

 

[TheGecko]

Hey soap peeps! I watch YouTube videos where everything is perfect and the music sounds like a spa. The gear tie swirl tools are always at tight right angles. I can never get right angles which means both end cuts don't get swirled. Do yours look like mine too? If not, do you have a technique or brand name recommendation? Thanks,

Before I developed my Drop/ChopStick Swirl technique, I used Nite Ize that was recommended by another soap maker. It can take a bit to get them dialed in...tight enough to the ends to swirl all the soap, but not so tight that you don't have smooth movement...especially with silicone molds. If you line with freezer paper you might be able to scrape the ends of your molds, but I don't mind sacrificing a bar...it's not going to go to waste. I can use them as Samples, I can use them at the kitchen sink or I 'glue' them together with water and then donate them.

 

[not_ally]

I could never figure out a way to get the gear ties at a 90 degree angle. I've gone back to hangers, I don't have a perfect angle with them either, but they are closer.

 

[dibbles]

I was given this swirl tool from Bramble Berry. It works pretty well, but can be hard to bend. I've seen somewhere along the way that using a pliers to bend it to shape is helpful, but I'm lazy and usually straighten it as much as I can and then put something on it to stabilize and hold in place while I bend it. It isn't 90 degrees, but I can get pretty close to the ends of my mold. I do the same for gear ties.

 

[Ford]

Clamp in a vise. At point of bend. Then bend it. First by hand. Then tighten up the bend with a hammer. Or other big massively heavy type object. Wrap with painters tape first to protect the chrome finish.

 

[KiwiMoose]

Same with my clothes hanger. No swirl in the last 1cm of each end. Those are my pieces ( or future confetti pieces).

 

[Shelley D]

I was wondering about this also. My plan was to bend using pliers to try to crimp/bend to fit my mold and then to show the best 3 slices from the middle and ignore the end pieces, keeping them for myself because I don't mind if they don't look pretty

 

[Jersey Girl]

I can get pretty tight angles, using a wire hanger. Wrap it in electrical tape and you can make it as thin or a thick as you want. I stay on the thin side for wispier swirls. Then I add some extra electrical tape for handles of sorts. I’ve been using this one for three years at least.

 

[not_ally]

That is a good looking hanger! Mine is like it's ugly, crooked cousin.

 

[Shelley D]

I can get pretty tight angles, using a wire hanger. Wrap it and electrical tape and you can make in as thin or a thick as you want. I stay on the thin side for wispier swirls. Then I add some extra electrical tape for handles of sorts. I’ve been using this one for three years at least.

Great idea with the electrical tape!

 

[Whillow]

I normally use a wire hanger. I have it bent so that one section is for the size of one mold and then a side piece does my smaller mold. It works ok but I need to slap it through that batter a bunch of time to get the swirls I want.

BUT recently I purchased a gear tie because I actually saw one for sale here in Canada, and know that I think of it; it doesn't do a tight bend. I haven't used it yet but I may need to just use my hanger.

@Jersey Girl I'm going to try the electrical tape idea to make it to be more "girthy" LOL. Good idea.

 

[dmcgee5034]

I also cut off slivers of each end and squish them together for “The Makers Cut” so I don’t worry too much about the design being perfect.
For this months challenge, one end has all the swirls and the other doesn’t. It’s just taken a lot of fiddling with the hanger to get it as best as it can be. I have the BB one, and agree it’s really stiff!

 

[Benjifrazer]

Adding supertight angles is great if you have one mould - but i have multiples so i try not to add really sharp corners as they are more likely to snap the wire

 

[Rick Jarvis]

I use a welding rod...bends sharp...indestructible.

 

[AliOop]

There ya go @Rick Jarvis you are talking mano-a-mano to @Zing now. See how his eyes lit up when you mentioned welding?

 

[Tammyfarms]

I use a welding rod...bends sharp...indestructible.

Interesting! What metal is a welding rod made from? My concern with metal is contamination.

I have two sizes of gear ties. The thicker one is a bit more difficult to get perfectly to the ends of the mold, but I get it pretty close and end up shaving a tiny amount off the end of the loaf anyway. The thinner, black tie, is easy to bend and gets right to the edge. I used the thinner tie for this months challenge as the goal was whispy swirls, but I prefer the thicker one.

 

[KiwiMoose]

I have three wire hangers - all shaped to fit different sized molds.

 

[Savage Daughter]

I use a welding rod...bends sharp...indestructible.

THAT is a stellar idea! My family is loaded with welders, yet for some reason this didn't even occur to me....

Gear ties with crappy bends are not something I wanted to use.

Thank you!

 

[Savage Daughter]

Interesting! What metal is a welding rod made from? My concern with metal is contamination.

Wrap it with something? Although, if I remember correctly, there are stainless welding rods....different metals for different welding applications. The welders in this thread can correct me if necessary

I just got a load of heat shrink tubing for fixing kinked / frayed charging cables & the like. They're spectacular, with a coating of glue on the inside & double walled material. Very much multipurpose.

Just slip over your metal rod, crank up the heat gun for a minute or so & away you go. The glue inside melts, so the tubing grips what's under it really well, and the tubing is impermeable. The stuff is really tough, and you can use more than one layer to thicken the hanger tool up, or layer something underneath the tubing to make it fatter.

Don't know how long it would last, but I'm assuming a fair length of time.