The trick to twisting wires is to spin the individual
> strands and let then rotate around each other. The Boy
> Scouts showed me the tool, made of two pieces of plank and 3
> bent sections of coat hanger wire, that they use to make
> rope, this way, from 3 strands of twine. But I have
> approximated the effect by turning the three strands,
> together, at one end, while letting the other ends rotate,
> individually. But it is hard to keep much of a length from
> tangling with three ends spinning around.
I used to twist cables by winding them backwards a few turns to pre-tension them before combining them , I'd tie one end to a suitabkle anchor (letterbox, doorknob etc) and hold the pre-tensioned wires in a clamp (bench-vise, teeth etc) and do the twisting by hand or with a hand-operated-drill with a hook in the chuck.
Bye. Jasen