Today I want to talk about the ASTM specifications and how our Easy Twist tool and Easy Twist Ties meet the ASTM standard.
ASTM has a term of “three full twists.” This is where the confusion starts. Three full twists – ASTM’s definition for that is at F552. In there, it states it is “1 ½ machine turns.” They also show an illustration of what that actually looks like.
If you count the humps you’d see three humps on one side and three humps on the other side of the tie. That’s where they are talking about the three full twists.
The difference is the tail. In the twist, we always have one side that is cut off and where that actually shears off sometimes it will hinder that last hump that you’re counting. But, if it did not shear the tail off you’d have to cut them off which would shorten the tail even further. By shearing them off, it pinches so tight that it is very difficult, virtually impossible, to twist. I’d actually like to see the guy who can untwist them by hand especially with the 6 gauge.
A video goes too fast to count the turns. So we are going slow it down and you can count how many revolutions, how many turns, we actually have on this tie before the end of the tie shears off.
The slow motion video shows it goes further than 1 ½ turns before it breaks. Looking at the tie, you can count the humps – three on the top side and three on the bottom.
I hope this clears up what three full twists and the 1 ½ machine turns means. Easy Twist Ties are the easiest to use. They’re quick, simple and secure.
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