Originally Posted by
RocketScott
That's true, but the point I was making is that heating the stainless cable too much will lead to corrosion issues. The video posted on the first page pointed that out as well. They recommended priming the end of the wire to protect it after 'welding'. That's also in an aviation scenario where the cable end is probably in an enclosed engine compartment, not the underside of a MTB
I'll just say that I have probably done about 50 stainless shifter and brake cables with this method. I don't grind the end down as shown in the video, just leave it as is and don't use any primer or coating, just bare metal. I once tried to separate the strands at the end of the twist with my fingernails and could not do it so don't feel the need to tempt fate with every other cable. Many of these cables were taken out of the housings and re-installed for various reasons and were easy to thread back through the housing with no fraying. The heat used doesn't travel far away from the heated spot on the cable so not nearly hot enough to weaken any other part of the cable. I live in sunny San Diego but still get out in a few rainy days a year and live 1/2 mile from the salty ocean air and a fair amount of time riding closer than that to salt water along my routes and corrosion has never been a problem using the twist welds. Just my experience.