How to Make Cheap Fake Barb Wire

Intro: How to Make Cheap Fake Barb Wire

I needed some barb wire for a costume prop. Obviously I didnt want to use the real stuff because of the potentional for accidents. I could have brought some of the fake stuff but the cost of P&P and the item always puts me off buying them from online stores.

So I thought I'd make use of the things I have lying around the house then I dont have to wait for it to arrive and I could get on with my prop that same evening

It's a very simple and easy technique that I hope people will follow and use in the future.

STEP 1: The Materials

You will need:

String, roughly 2.5 times more string than you want barbed wire.
PVA glue, the staple of many a project
Grey Paint, I used grey poster paint, actually white and black mixed but anything that will mix with the glue will be fine.

Make up a pot of glue. I diluted mine down 1:1 with water, which means it dries softer and is easier to work with. I mixed the grey paint into the glue at this stage to ensure nice even colouring. Roughly 4:1 is my ratio of dilluted glue to paint.

STEP 2: Making the Wire

Take a length of string roughly twice as long as you want the wire to be. This string will have a natural twist from it's own construction. The string I have is twisted clockwise. Tie one end of the string to an object (I trapped mine under a weight on the table) continue to twist the string in the same direction as it's construction.

Now comes the trick for the wire. Carefully fold the string in half, it should start to twist around itself because of the extra twists you just put in the string. With a little nudge you can place these twists evenly along the length of the string. This will form the base of your barbed wire.

Next you need to dunk the string into the glue, make sure it is covered all over and none of the string shows through the glue. The best way to do this is just to accept you're going to get glue all over your fingers and enjoy it. Hang the string up to dry, or curl it up on a surface, just make sure it isnt touching itself or you'll have a gluey mess.

STEP 3: Making the Barbs

Each barb starts life as a length of string about 10cm long. Dunk this string in the glue and coat it thoroughly. Then wrap it around the wire section you prepared earlier. It will try to straighten itself out again so leave it resting on a surface until the glue has set a little.

Once the barb has dried completely then cut the ends at an angle to give it a pointed look.

Repeat this process to place barbs at your own preferred spacings along the wire, before you know it you'll have a long section for your own project

Comments

[DocW7]

BARBED wire! The points are "barbs" & a section of wire with them is likewise deferred to as "Barbed wire"!

[DocW7]

Sorry: referred

[James NixonS]

Amazing idea thank you!

[AlessandraM4]

I'm going to be making this (about 200' for a concert stage) as soon as my darling gets home from work with the string. Thank you so much. There was no way on this Earth or the next that I was paying $11.50 (CAD) for 7.5' of fake barbed wire. No freakin' way. I used stainless steel coloured metallic paint and darkened it ever so slightly with matte black for an oxidized look. Cost? Five bucks!

[JohnF363]

Out of curiosity, where did you find fake razor wire for that price? Looking for some right now (price is not an option and I've given up with the internet.

[Subjectv]

Party City is currently selling some at their store for a fairly reasonable price. I saw it in store (took the picture I attached just a few days ago) that looks pretty decent for the price. Unfortunately the packaging doesn't say how much you get, but you might be able to find more details on their website or in store if you have one close to you. Hope this helps!

[JimP29]

Thanks! Works great!

[Aluminum lake]

Looks great! Would be fun to make for Halloween , I'd love to put it around the door to freak out trick or treaters! Ha ha!

[ElizabethF1]

where did you get the PVA glue? :-|

[a66fordvan]

PVA glue is just elmers glue (white glue)

[msmont]

will this technique stand up to all weather if used outside does anyone know

[HamSandwich1]

this is brilliant for my wwe figures so they can hit each other

[susan.schaefer.758]

This. Is. Brilliant. In fact, the only improvement I can think of (and believe me, I KNOW MY CRAFTS) is to use Swellegant in Iron instead of paint, and follow up with Darkening and one of the other two patinas, which will rust the iron, though one looks like real rust, and the other looks like souped up rust from a dystopian graphic novel. You could even add some traces of Blood Red. Yes, their red is genuinely called Blood Red. That's what attracted me to the stuff in the first place. XD

I'm going to have to apply this to some jewelry. I wonder what would happen if I substituted different textures of string, twine, and yarn? Ooh, I wonder what would happen if I used different METALS? Copper barbed wire with green patina would be either Steampunk as hell, or reminiscent of Poison Ivy. (I am incapable of following directions or recipes as written. Usually, this ends well, but let's not talk about the time I watched $35 in candy ingredients turn to charcoal. It still hurts.)

[CompGeekie]

Wow! Just one question, would I be able to use Mod Podge instead of PVA?

[timingworks]

That's a great effect! Now I just need to figure out where to use it!

[Advar]

Ohhh, man! Great for my zombie Jesus costume for next year! (always planning a year ahead, just in case)
Nice job, and thanks! :)

[psiren]

This looks really good. I've had a go myself to make a headpiece for a Halloween costume, I could only get really rough string so it doesn't look as good and was tricky to work with but it looks OK. I brushed mine with a tiny amount of brown paint on a dry brush to make it look rusty and will probably add a bit of fake blood to the tips.
Thanks for the instructions :)

[joetubealong]

That is really ingenuitive and it looks cool!

[zac_9687]

this is beautifully made. i was looking for some alternative to the real thing for a bracelet im making, but when i looked i didnt honestly think i was going to find something that looked so good. major props for the fantastic barb wire and thank you very much for a great ible

[masterochicken]

"Obviously I didnt want to use the real stuff because of the potentional for accidents." This makes no sense to me