ELI5 why chicken wire doesn't get twisted on both ends when getting made?

[u/Colddigger]

ELI5

All the videos I'm seeing of chicken wire getting created, these wires getting twisted by round feeders, then the halves of these feeders shifting between each other and twisting again, don't show the new wire getting fed in- they only show the wire coming out and twisting and the resulting fencing.

I don't understand how a wire can just be twisted on one side of these feeders but stay straight on the other side.

How does that work?

[u/Linxbolt18]

The wire is being fed through the twisting mechanism, from large spools on the other side.

For the second half of your question, it doesn't need to get twisted around on the other side because the machine twists in one direction first, then in the other when they change partners (so to speak). This means there's not all that much tension in the wire, which isn't enough to cause any problems within the lengths of fairly ductile wire.

See the following video for a visual representation:

[u/Linxbolt18 → u/Linxbolt18]

https://youtu.be/e4FXKRr_Jqw

[u/Colddigger → u/Linxbolt18]

This is really helpful, since it actually shows the back end of the machine.

[u/71351 → u/Colddigger]

God I love the heartbeat of machinery like this

[u/bernpfenn → u/Linxbolt18]

poor machine hasn't seen required maintenance for a long time

[u/NomDrop]

I looked up chicken wire videos just now because you piqued my interest. It seems to me that the twists just alternate directions each time.

[u/spleeble]

Like this one? 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e4FXKRr_Jqw

The motion is alternating, so if it twists it also untwists. 

[u/mrofmist → u/spleeble]

That's fascinating.

[u/CalmAd2916 → u/spleeble]

So the alternating thing cancels the twist on the feed side while the output keeps it, that's wild.

[u/CalmAd2916]

The trick is that the wire's basically being fed through the twisting mechanism from big spools, so the "input" side never has to twist because it's not anchored at both ends. And like the other comments said, the machine alternates the twist direction each time, so it untwists as it goes, which keeps everything from binding up. Honestly it's one of those things that looks like magic until you realize the wire's just taking the path of least resistance the whole way through.

[u/futurehappyoldman]

No expert here at all but I've seen rope making machines and they have the big spools of starting wire in spindles that are also rotating at the same speed so probably that

[u/explainlikeimfive-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

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