Problem making CRW cages

Pyrrho · February 19, 2011

I bought a 150' roll of concrete reinforcing wire to make some additional cages for my garden this year.

I've made cages before, and my method is to cut one end of the piece flush, and use the 6" horizontal pieces on the other end to make hooks to close it into a cylinder. Using the whole 6" allows me to make a big secure bend by hand. (I've seen people use a nut driver to make a smaller hook instead, which to me seems more difficult.)

Now to my problem. With the new CRW, when I try to make the bend, the 6" piece is breaking off about half the time. I realize that I don't need a loop at every possible point, but they like to break in really inconvenient places, like the three places on an end.

The first time I did this, I never had a problem with the pieces breaking off, so maybe I'm just dealing with inferior material (and CRW isn't really designed for these bends, right?).

Are there any suggestions for how to avoid this problem? I don't think the nut-driver method will help here, as it requires at least as tight a bend as what I do by hand.

Anyone with suggestions is eligible for some FREE* (slightly irregular) tomato cages!

*Does not include shipping and $499 handling fee.

February 19, 2011	#1
Pyrrho Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 75	Problem making CRW cages I bought a 150' roll of concrete reinforcing wire to make some additional cages for my garden this year. I've made cages before, and my method is to cut one end of the piece flush, and use the 6" horizontal pieces on the other end to make hooks to close it into a cylinder. Using the whole 6" allows me to make a big secure bend by hand. (I've seen people use a nut driver to make a smaller hook instead, which to me seems more difficult.) Now to my problem. With the new CRW, when I try to make the bend, the 6" piece is breaking off about half the time. I realize that I don't need a loop at every possible point, but they like to break in really inconvenient places, like the three places on an end. The first time I did this, I never had a problem with the pieces breaking off, so maybe I'm just dealing with inferior material (and CRW isn't really designed for these bends, right?). Are there any suggestions for how to avoid this problem? I don't think the nut-driver method will help here, as it requires at least as tight a bend as what I do by hand. Anyone with suggestions is eligible for some FREE* (slightly irregular) tomato cages! *Does not include shipping and $499 handling fee.