I sometimes plait very fine enamelled wire together for awkward bits of
signal ribbon connector that have to flex at a hinge or similar, but have
only used 3 way plaiting, which does not retain a flat aspect well. Dividing
the total number of wires into 3 or so and then plaiting. I recently watched
a TV heritage programme where someone was multi-plaiting straw, producing a
broader ribbon. Anyone ever use 3 ply plaits or ever tried wider plaiting,
for electronic kit repair purposes? Dividing into 13 would lead to a much
flatter wiring ribbon . Shame the below is OCR'd text only , without the
pics. The only source of the technique I could find is the below, anyone
know where there is a more visual guide?

http://www.archive.org/stream/cyclop...02tomlrich_djv
u.txt

The
straw of Tuscany, however, maintained its repute,
and was plaited by our workpeople after the Italian
method. This consists in first carefully sorting the
straws as to colour and thickness, then selecting a
certain number, frequently thirteen, and tying them
together at one end. They are then divided into two
portions, six straws being turned towards the left
side, and seven to the right, so that the two portions
of straw are at right angles to each other. The
seventh, or outermost straw, on the right hand, is
then turned down by the finger and thumb, and
brought under two straws, over two, and under tvro.
There are now seven straws on the left, and six on the
right, therefore the outermost of the left hand straws
is now to be turned down, and passed under two,
over two, and under two again. The plaiting is con-
tinued in this way, alternately doubling and plaiting
the outermost seventh straw from side to side, until
it is used up. Another straw is then put in under
the short end, in the middle of the plait, and by the
crossing of the other straws over and under it, the
fastening of it becomes secure. This kind of plait,
shown in Fig. 1133, of about double the real size, is
formed in pieces of great length, which are adjusted
according to the Italian method, in spiral coils, to
form large flats, as they are called, the edges being
adroitly knitted together in the manner shown in
Fig. 1134, which gives the plait, for the sake of dis-
Ftq. 1134.
tinctness, nearly four times larger than the real plait.
The dotted lines show how far the angular folds or
eyes of one piece are inserted into those of the ad-
joining piece. The thread which is run straight along
in the interior is entirely concealed, and the join can
only be detected by the slightly increased thickness
of the plait. The best plaiters use the second finger
with their thumb at their work, thus leaving the first
finger free to turn the straws.