hotponyshoes
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- Location
- Somerset. Uk
Seeing a thread on wire crimping yesterday reminded me of something I have been meaning to do for ages..
I have been crimping/swaging stainless end fittings onto stainless wire rope. Fittings like these
Using a cheap eBay tool like this
For the 3mm fittings/rope I am using the smallest die in the kit (marked "10")
The internal size of the hex on the closed die set is 5.8mm.
Spec of the fitting original o/d is 6.35mm
After crimping it is leaving a indent of 5.95-6.05mm.
The spec for the finished crimp is supposed to be 5.56mm.
The tool does seem to create enough pressure to close the die completely. I presume I am getting some spring-back of the fitting plus obviously the die is oversize to begin with.
I have found the correct die for sale but it is over £80. This just seems to be a copy of the dies in my kit but presumably the correct size and it looks nicely made. It is still a hex type.
One of the problems with my cheap eBay tool is that the dies are pretty slack in the holder so they need holding parallel when making the crimp.
I have thought about making my own on the following lines:
The dies I have are not particularly well mad so the dimensions all vary but they are about 11mm x 41mm. A pair stacked is 50mm high. So..
Find some 11mm x 25mm tool steel.
Cut into 2 bits 41mm long.
Tack weld or clamp together.
Drill a hole through the join, countersink both sides, ream to 5.5mm.
Drill 2 holes from the top to bottom of both dies and ream to 5.5mm for some guide pins to keep the dies parallel.
Give them a quick polish and harden them up.
First question: is there a reason why most dies are hex rather than round?
Am I going to get 'wings' on the terminals after crimping?
Next: am I going to have problems drilling across a join?
Also, I can't seem to find a small bit of tool steel in 5.5mm, I am thinking of cutting up a couple of drill bits and using the shanks.
Also, does a die size of 5.5mm sound about right?
I have been crimping/swaging stainless end fittings onto stainless wire rope. Fittings like these
Using a cheap eBay tool like this
For the 3mm fittings/rope I am using the smallest die in the kit (marked "10")
The internal size of the hex on the closed die set is 5.8mm.
Spec of the fitting original o/d is 6.35mm
After crimping it is leaving a indent of 5.95-6.05mm.
The spec for the finished crimp is supposed to be 5.56mm.
The tool does seem to create enough pressure to close the die completely. I presume I am getting some spring-back of the fitting plus obviously the die is oversize to begin with.
I have found the correct die for sale but it is over £80. This just seems to be a copy of the dies in my kit but presumably the correct size and it looks nicely made. It is still a hex type.
One of the problems with my cheap eBay tool is that the dies are pretty slack in the holder so they need holding parallel when making the crimp.
I have thought about making my own on the following lines:
The dies I have are not particularly well mad so the dimensions all vary but they are about 11mm x 41mm. A pair stacked is 50mm high. So..
Find some 11mm x 25mm tool steel.
Cut into 2 bits 41mm long.
Tack weld or clamp together.
Drill a hole through the join, countersink both sides, ream to 5.5mm.
Drill 2 holes from the top to bottom of both dies and ream to 5.5mm for some guide pins to keep the dies parallel.
Give them a quick polish and harden them up.
First question: is there a reason why most dies are hex rather than round?
Am I going to get 'wings' on the terminals after crimping?
Next: am I going to have problems drilling across a join?
Also, I can't seem to find a small bit of tool steel in 5.5mm, I am thinking of cutting up a couple of drill bits and using the shanks.
Also, does a die size of 5.5mm sound about right?