Here is what a drag line cable looks like.
http://www.pittsburghwire.com/pdf/CatalogD19.pdf
The Space Elevator Cabling wouldn't be simple twisting of cables. The Space Elevator Cabling would need to have electrical and grounding cables part of the main cable as well.
You would have to have some type of system that would reduce the force on each cable as the elevator in orbit was basically pulled the Earth as the Earth made its daily rotation. Or will there be thrusters on the space elevator to help maintain its orbit?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragline_excavator#/media/File:TKI_Dragline.JPG
If you look at the drag line in the link above the same type of system would be used where pulleys would tighten a section of cabling to allow another section of cabling to relax to reduce wear and tear.
The space Elevator is like fishing for a 25 pound walleye. Using just one strand of fishing line causes all of the exertion from fighting the fish to be place on the same line. But if you have two or three smaller strands the exertion is spread out over all three fishing lines that reduces the stress placed on a single strand of fishing line.
You also have to think about the cable being in space as well. Metals contain small amounts of water that cause corrosion. In space the water would freeze cause the metal cable to become extremely brittle and break.
http://www.nawindpower.com/issues/N...le-Myths-All-Lines-Are-Not-Created-Equal.html
Diamonds burn when in the presence of pure oxygen. The atmosphere is not comprised of pure oxygen nor is there going to be an amount of heat present in the temperature range of 3,480 degrees to cause the diamond to burn.
The diamond nanothread cable could be used to secure the space elevator to the surface of Earth but at some point would be connected to normal cabling like the cable linked above once the metal cabling was below the height of water freezing in the atmosphere. The only method of keeping the water from freezing would be to have a strand of cabling that was heated running through the main cable to keep the water in the metal of the cable from freezing which would allow the metal cabling to reach further to the space elevator where the diamond nanothread cable would only be used for orbital connections.