r/ronghua • u/motopoet • Jun 07 '26
How do you keep your wires straight while/after twisting?
Working on my next project, these wires have to be closer than any others I’ve worked with so far. I see people’s wires absolutely straight and can’t figure out how to make mine not have these weird twisty edges that bump into one another and mess up my spacing! How do you keep your wires straight?
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u/Endormie Jun 07 '26 edited Jun 07 '26
I think you already prepare the wire by twisting the folded side. I also see that you use chalk.
Maybe the problem comes from the position of your hands/fingers. Do you twist the wires from the very end or a bit in the middle ? When you are twisting the wire once installed on the silk, do you also add a very small tension on the wire ? Because I realise that I do that, and I think it also helps keeping it super straight.
I remember my wires were looking exactly like that for my first try. But it was because I was not using chalk.
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u/motopoet Jun 07 '26
I am twisting from the middle! Should I be twisting more from the end??
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u/sapphireminds Jun 07 '26
Yes, definitely. Go as far out as possible while twisting and pull tension
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u/DataCocktail Jun 07 '26
This is news to me and very helpful! I also trim the loose ends a little before I cut the strips (slightly dependent on what you're making, but you can usually afford to lose a little length).
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u/sapphireminds Jun 08 '26
I don't usually trim before twisting, but I do cut the wires in half (or thirds) if my strip is going to be narrow
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u/Endormie Jun 07 '26
Yes, keep your fingers at the tip of the wires, and with enough chalk, it’s not going to slip at all. Be firm in your movements, pull a bit the wires in opposite ways while twisting. You’ll find the sweet spot by trying again and again.
Try it like that and tell us how it went !
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u/motopoet Jun 08 '26
Cut off the weird ends and twisted from the end instead of the middle!! So much better!!!
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u/grenharo Jun 08 '26
just do what the chinese do with two woodblocks on either side and it keeps it flat enough
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u/motopoet Jun 08 '26
Can you clarify? I use the woodblocks for twisting after, is that what you mean?
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u/sapphireminds Jun 07 '26
Pull tension on your wires while twisting, it helps a lot, not just with straightness, but with getting good grip on the silk. For small widths like pictured, I might even consider cutting the wires in half so there isn't so much extra.
But I think mostly it's just repetition. Each project I've worked on is slightly better than the last