How to tie rebar with nippers
Updated: October 2026
You have a cutting nipper and a coil of soft annealed wire, and the bars are still free to roll. How to tie rebar with nippers is the hand motion: catch the wire, twist until the crossing holds, cut, and turn the ends away from the face that will show. The listings we compared sit on the [binding pliers comparison](/hub/pliers/binding-pliers). This page does not rank them. Products Compared set the method out on 16 October 2026 from public UK fixing notes, not from a site trial. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You have a cutting nipper and a coil of soft annealed wire, and the bars are still free to roll.
You have a cutting nipper and a coil of soft annealed wire, and the bars are still free to roll. How to tie rebar with nippers is the hand motion: catch the wire, twist until the crossing holds, cut, and turn the ends away from the face that will show. The listings we compared sit on the binding pliers comparison. This page does not rank them. Products Compared set the method out on 16 October 2026 from public UK fixing notes, not from a site trial. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Cuts wire | Job | Length | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  KNIPEX KNIPEX 99 11 300 concreters' nipper | Yes, one pass | Twist and cut | 300 mm | 9.5 | about £26.99 | View offer |
| Best value |  Pissente Pissente 6 inch end-cutter nips | Claimed | Twist and cut | 6 in; 16.1 cm; 161 cm | 9.3 | about £10.46 | View offer |
| Alternative |  Zeromall Zeromall rebar wire twister | Not stated | Spin a loop | 305 mm hook | 6.9 | about £7.99 | View offer |
On this page
What you need in your hand
You need a concreters' nipper whose jaws twist and whose edges cut. Combination pliers tire the wrist across a sheet, and a pull hook still leaves the cut to something else. The wire should be soft annealed tying wire, around 1.6 mm or 1.4 mm, not hard fence wire. Hard wire fights the twist and can spring when it lets go.
Put eye protection on before the first cut. The Health and Safety Executive treats the eyes as a projectile risk, and a tying-wire tail is that sort of piece. Stand so the offcut flies away from your face. Do not slip a pipe over the handle: if the nipper will not cut, the wire or the jaw is wrong. Plastic-coated handles in the listings we read are not insulated for live work.
The slash tie
A slash tie is the ordinary diagonal tie for a crossing that only has to stay put while the concrete goes in. Wonkee Donkee sets it out as a short sequence. Lay the wire on the diagonal behind the cross, from one corner of the intersection to the opposite corner. Bring both ends up and pull them into a U, with the bars inside the loop.
Grip the two ends in the jaws, a short distance out from the bars, and roll the handles so the jaws spin. The wire should tighten onto both bars. Stop when the bars no longer slide under a firm push of the thumb, and stop before the wire necks and snaps. When the loop is tight, squeeze so the edges cut the tails close to the twist.
The figure-of-eight
Use a figure-of-eight where the bars can move in two directions, or where a single diagonal loop feels as if it will unwind. Next Day Steel describes a figure-of-eight or a double loop as the tie that holds position, and it is explicit that these ties are not the design strength of the slab. IMIX Concrete walks through the same idea: wrap so the wire crosses itself around both bars, then twist and cut.
You pass the wire so it loops one bar, crosses, and loops the other, then bring the ends together on the side you can reach. The twist is the same roll. The cut is the same squeeze. The extra wrap is what stops a round bar rotating inside a lazy U. On light mesh laid flat, a slash tie is often enough. On a bar that wants to spin, repeat the figure-of-eight.
Tails, cover, and when to stop
Bend the cut ends back into the cage, away from the form and away from a slab face that will be seen. Next Day Steel tells fixers to turn tails inward. A tail on the form can rust and can sit inside the cover the drawing asked for. The Concrete Society notes that tying wire left in the form stains the face, and that the stain is cosmetic rather than a structural failure by itself.
How many crossings to tie is the drawing plus a public reading of BS 7973-2:2001: tie the perimeter, and for bars up to 20 mm tie alternate intersections. This page will not give you a lap length or a cover depth. Hand the cage to a steel fixer when you have no drawing, or when the element is a beam, a column, or meant to hold water. Which length of nipper to buy is on the concreters nippers buying guide.
Common questions
How many twists before I cut?
Twist until the bars stop moving under your thumb, which may take several turns. Do not chase a fixed number. If the wire necks or snaps, you have gone past tight. Cut the broken ends clear of the form and tie that crossing again with a fresh length.
Which way do the tails point?
Inward, into the cage, and off the form. A tail left against the shutter can stain the face and can steal cover. The Concrete Society treats wire left in the form as a cosmetic rust mark. Bend the ends as part of the tie, not as a sweep you might remember later.
Do I tie every crossing on the mesh?
Public UK notes on BS 7973-2 say the perimeter is tied and, for bars up to 20 mm, alternate intersections are tied. They do not say the slab fails if an internal crossing is left. Your drawing can ask for more. Do not invent a cover or a lap to make up for crossings you skipped.
Can a hook twister follow this method?
It can spin a loop if you already have a tie to twist. It cannot do the cut, because a rebound hook is not an end cutter. You would still need nippers or pre-cut ties. The limit is the missing blade, not the colour of the handle.
What if the wire snaps while I twist?
The tie has failed. Snipped wire will not hold the bars. Clear the broken ends out of the form so they do not stain, and tie the crossing again. Snapping often means the wire was over-twisted, or it was harder than annealed tying wire.
When should a steel fixer take over?
When you have no drawing for cover and laps, when the steel is a beam or a column, when the concrete has to hold water, or when the visible face has no wire specified. A nipper will not supply those decisions. Eye protection still applies on the simple slab you tie yourself.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources from the research digest, last checked on 16 October 2026. Shelf prices and star lines are the amazon.co.uk figures for the three listings compared here.
- Knipex: concreters' nippers, including 99 11 300 (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- ISO 9242:1988, pliers and nippers for construction work (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- HSE: PUWER overview (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- HSE: using the right type of PPE, including eyes (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- Concrete Society: tying wire and clips (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- Concrete Society: fixing reinforcement (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- Wonkee Donkee: how to use concreter's nippers (retrieved 16 October 2026)
- Next Day Steel: steel reinforcement installation guide (retrieved 16 October 2026)