GW vs. Homebrew Razorwire

[DavicusPrime]

Have any of you folks had a look at the razorwire GW is starting to sell as part of Cities of Death? What is the quality and is it really any better than what can be made using the technique described at the following link:

http://us.games-workshop.com/games/40k/terrain/defense/razorwire.htm

In the US Cities of Death has not been released yet, but the price for two coils of Razorwire is going to be $8.

Being price conscious I just bought $8 of wire from the local DIY store and started making my own razorwire. I am winding the smaller wire (24 guage, couldn\'t find 26) more tightly than that in the example, each having about an 8th of an inch gap. And I like the look of a denser coil of wire so mine probably uses about 50% more wire per 6\". So far I have successfully made two 6\" coils of razorwire. I have discovered that I have enough material to make another 30 coils. Good thing I use the same materials to produce trees. :)

Hint: When winding the wire, wear gloves... My blisters are healing nicely.

-DavicusPrime

[mark]

its extacly the same

[DavicusPrime]

:laugh:

Man... I should start selling it on ebay then.

I was wrong about the quantity of wire I use... I calculated it out and I use 62\" of the larger wire per 6\" coil. So only ~19 can be made per $8 spent on raw materials. Still, If I could get a couple bucks each I would make a nice return on the investment. Just have to rig up a gizmo to wrap the small wire more efficiently. Hum.... :dry:

-DavicusPrime

[lupusumbra]

a gizmo that works if your serious, is go get a peaces of daul(sp) rod, and a set of vice grips if your wire is soft enought you can just rape it by hand, or get a metal rod, and use a low speed power drill, make a rig to hold the spool, it works for making chain mail too, its what i use.

[DavicusPrime]

I use the same rig for making chainmail, only with a powerdrill to spin the rod (Very fast when it works, painful if I screw it up). Problem is that this has different requirements.

1) Take a 22 guage wire and wrap it with a 24 guage wire with an approx 1/8\" gap between windings.

With maile, you just have to wind the wire around a rod of the appropriate Diameter in a tight coil, no gaps. This lets the wire guide itself. Can\'t go as quickly if you have to trying to maintain a consistent gap.

The other problem is that you\'re wraping wire with wire. Not having a rigid rod as the core you\'re wraping means that the cainmail making techniques don\'t directly translate.

2) Wrap the resulting \"razorwire\" around a dowel or rod of the appropriate diameter... This is the easiest part and is exactly what us Maile makers are used too.

My biggest problem right now with this part is that I use a pen I had handy as the rod and it has a 3/4\" Diameter. It\'s a good size but the wire is too springy at this diameter so once the tension is off it expands to almost a full 1\" diameter which is a bit too large. I have been able to tweak things so that I can get it back down to size but it\'s not efficient.

In the end, I\'ve found that I can make a good 6\" section of razorwire in about an hour. Thus, as a business venture, it sucks. With a material Cost of $0.45 per coil and an expected selling cost of $2 means I\'d be making only $1.55 per hour of work.

-DavicusPrime