cable ends
03-01-11, 02:46 PM
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cable ends
Being overly anal about little things has me trying to find a prettier way to finish the ends of my brake and derailleur cables. Mine are stainless.
03-01-11, 02:56 PM
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Prettier than what? You could try super-glue to keep the ends from fraying. After I found bottles of ferrules, I just use those, since they're convenient and easy to use. At the bottom of the list is wrapping them with electrical (friction) tape -- that's ugly, but effective.
03-01-11, 03:02 PM
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Solder.
03-01-11, 03:26 PM
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03-01-11, 03:32 PM
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i have heard stainless solder and have tried the little furrels but dont like the look when you crimp them. Again not the end of the world just curious what others have tried
03-01-11, 03:32 PM
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super glue
03-01-11, 03:35 PM
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Clear heat shrink tubing (or choose from a rainbow of colors)
03-01-11, 04:01 PM
#8
You gonna eat that?
I leave mine nekkid. They rarely fray.
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03-01-11, 04:06 PM
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a drop of fabric paint.
03-01-11, 04:15 PM
#10
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If I were that anal about this I'd go with the heat shrink tubing shown above. Or maybe a drop of the thin superglue.
I tried soldering and solder just ran off the stainless. Mind you I only tried regular electronics solder with resin core flux and when that failed some Kester plumbing soldering flux which failed also. So I gave up on soldering. If anyone has an iron clad method and products for neatly soldering cable ends where the solder actually wicks in between the strands I'm all eyes.
In the meantime I've still got about 300 crimp ends to use up from the bottle of roughly 500 that I bought about 8 or 10 years ago.
I tried soldering and solder just ran off the stainless. Mind you I only tried regular electronics solder with resin core flux and when that failed some Kester plumbing soldering flux which failed also. So I gave up on soldering. If anyone has an iron clad method and products for neatly soldering cable ends where the solder actually wicks in between the strands I'm all eyes.
In the meantime I've still got about 300 crimp ends to use up from the bottle of roughly 500 that I bought about 8 or 10 years ago.
03-01-11, 07:10 PM
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I use end crimps, but I don't crimp them. I hot glue them. They can be removed and put back on with just the heat of a lighter.
03-01-11, 07:18 PM
#13
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Welding supply houses have a low temperature silver solder and liquid flux package.
You need the silver solder for stainless steel .
[rosin core tin-lead solder is for copper wiring,
acid core for galvanized and regular steel]
maybe higher heat than a soldering iron will work for you, but this 400 degree stuff
may work without marking , pulling the cable, doing the soldering,
then re installing the cable , before cutting it.
as always, clean metal is needed for soldering, the flux helps,
But greasing the cable, installing,
then soldering the end may not work together..
sequencing solder first, then pull and grease 2nd, I'd think the way to go.
You need the silver solder for stainless steel .
[rosin core tin-lead solder is for copper wiring,
acid core for galvanized and regular steel]
maybe higher heat than a soldering iron will work for you, but this 400 degree stuff
may work without marking , pulling the cable, doing the soldering,
then re installing the cable , before cutting it.
as always, clean metal is needed for soldering, the flux helps,
But greasing the cable, installing,
then soldering the end may not work together..
sequencing solder first, then pull and grease 2nd, I'd think the way to go.
Last edited by fietsbob; 03-01-11 at 07:24 PM.
03-01-11, 08:29 PM
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03-01-11, 09:59 PM
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My daughter has bags and bags of crimp beads for jewelry making, I just grab what I might need. Not particularly pretty but it works.
03-01-11, 10:16 PM
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Jagwire makes cable crimps in a variety of colors. The look of the `crimp` is entirely dependent on whats used to crimp them. I personall like a full length flat crimp myself because its barely noticable.
On the other hand - as suggested - guess you could just glue them on. Seriously hope you were just as fussy about setting up your cable runs and cutting cables.
On the other hand - as suggested - guess you could just glue them on. Seriously hope you were just as fussy about setting up your cable runs and cutting cables.
03-01-11, 10:20 PM
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I use the colored end crimps, but am not happy with how my crimps look (I use the park cable cutter). wish I knew of a better way. Might try the super blue with the crimp on top of it and just deal with the ugly crimping I do.
03-01-11, 10:27 PM
#19
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How about tool shopping? Go find a set of chain nose pliers. These are the needle nose pliers where the blades are a tapered round section. They do a great job of nicely crimping the caps with nice rounded dimples that don't "bend" the cap. It's still a cap but it sure looks nicer than a one sided crush.
Oh dear, Now I sound like I'm anal about how my cable caps look as well...
Oh dear, Now I sound like I'm anal about how my cable caps look as well...
03-01-11, 10:27 PM
#20
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Another crimped alternative is the sleeves sold by fishing stores for making wire leaders. Or you could get brass or copper tubing at the LHS and go for the contrasting metal look.
03-01-11, 10:35 PM
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My LBS will give me some extra cable crimps when I buy cables. I super glue them on instead of crimping.
The heat shrink tubing, post #7 above, looks like a good idea.
The heat shrink tubing, post #7 above, looks like a good idea.
03-01-11, 10:45 PM
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Clever bunch on this forum. Of course I knew that hence the post. Some great ideas. I think I will look for some colored shrink wrap and try some of that hot glue with colored furrels and see what looks best. I will post picks tomorrow or the next day.
03-01-11, 10:53 PM
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If you have a brazing torch, do what I do. Set up a small oxygen rich flame. Heat the wire quickly while keeping tension on it and it'll part nicely leaving a fused point that won't unravel. Not only does it look OK, you can strip and rethread the wire should you ever need to.
BTW- it might take a bit of practice to get the right touch, so put the cut off (throwaway) section in a vise and practice until you get it right.
BTW- it might take a bit of practice to get the right touch, so put the cut off (throwaway) section in a vise and practice until you get it right.
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03-01-11, 10:55 PM
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You need to use Silver Solder
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03-02-11, 01:47 PM
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Well I tried the shrink wrap in white and apparently I am not smart enough to use shrink wrap. By time it shrank well enough to grip the cable it had a charred look to it. I did see some liquid tape. Anyone try that?