Cable End Soldering?
 

Has anyone done this? Tell me about it.
Thanks!

I would only solder SS or galvanized cable. The coated cables are going to just not like heat and solder.

Cut the cable cleanly, use a decent soldering iron (I used to use a 100 watt iron but that's overkill), rosin core solder works well. A little flux helps it wick in but isn't necessary. Heat the last 1/8 to 1/4 inch of the cable and apply the solder to the cable not the iron.

Soldered ends look clean and professional, but I like the little aluminum caps on my old bikes because they look original.

Why solder? A piece of heat-shrink tubing over the cable end works great. Keeps the strands in check and is nice and neat.

I worked at a shop 35 years ago that soldered all the cable ends (Turin). They had a big electric solder iron with a trigger that was pretty fast, and the point was that you could pull and reinstall soldered cables - something you can't do with heat shrink or cable ends. So it made subsequent maintenance easier for the mechanics.

However, I thought it didn't work on stainless cables.

It will work on SS, just not well, it needs flux and it needs to be really hot. I get my cables with caps back through by pulling the caps off. I don't have a proper crimper that crimps well enough they won't come back off so I use my electrical crimpers. My Park 4th hand tool eliminates me pulling on them for occasional adjusting.

Twist welding. Yes, it's anal and takes a little longer than soldering or other methods but is the best IMO. I just install the cable, make sure cable is adjusted properly and instead of a using vise, the derailleur is the anchor (Don't burn your bike). You can also use one of those mini-butane torches instead of a big propane torch. This vid is from a small aircraft building and maintenance group. Should be good enough for bikes.

Usually I just use a short piece of heat shrink tubing. But the twist welding is interesting. I may give that a try…will have to test it first with some old cable on the workbench.

Dan

Yes, smart to do a test first. Key is to turn the drill slowly while pulling slightly. I once accidentally flipped my drill switch into reverse which turned the cable into a rats nest. :bang:

There was a "Turin Cycles" in Evanston, Illinois when I was growing up. Same shop? It was widely known to be a high-end store.
A quick Google search reveals some ownership changes and relocations about 12 years ago... looks complicated!
Good point about re-installation. I'm not sure, but I think with the right flux, stainless cables can be soldered. Sounds like an opportunity for a "field test". :foo:

The twist welding looks like a lot of trouble compared to caps, solder, shrink tubing, or super glue. But it would be bulletproof I guess.

Galvanized should be pretty easy to solder, but soldering SS is difficult and often doesn't give a good result.

That's the place. I thought they were completely gone.

Anyone that has iron soldered stainless cables, let's hear it.

I've soldered SS cable ends. When I worked in automation, we had cable operated encoders on some automated lifts. It wasn't pretty, but it served the purpose of keeping the cable ends from fraying while still being able to occasionally remove and replace the cable. The solder will not adhere to the SS, but it will setup well enough to prevent fraying. We used a 100 watt Weller iron.

I would have never thought in a million years about the twist welding shown above, But I don't know that it would have worked in that application due to the space it was in.

I tried, twice, and failed, twice. They say: "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome." So, I never tried a third time.

I tried it once, using standard electronics solder and iron on a stainless cable. The solder melted, formed a ball, and fell off or I flicked it off once it was cool. I've since read you need a special kind of flux, but cable crimps are so easy, why bother?

I have not been succesful with soldering stainless cable, not matter what flux or method i try

Too much effort with soldering or heat-shrink. I mix a tiny batch of epoxy and apply over the acetone-cleaned end.

Yep, still in Evanston, but under new ownership and signage.

Not to be confused with another Turin Bicycle further south, in Chicago.

More on topic... I soldered 'wire rope' ends decades ago with both acid-core plumbing solder and the rosin cored electrical kind with a WEN soldering gun. Before I discovered proper cable cutters, that was the only way I could manage to use diagonal or electrician's pliers to cut the stuff cleanly.

More recently used a propane torch and silver solder with a liquid (higher acid) flux for stainless cable. It's the stanless's oxide layer that makes soldering tricky, why the liquid flux works better than paste-type chloride stuff. Best to use bicarbonate of soda to neutralize any remaining acid too or corrosion is a very real risk.

I've forsaken soldering cables once I got comfy with epoxy. Now I use a cable cutter for a clean cut end, add a bit of epoxy then a crimp-on type aluminum end that gets crimped as normal while not hard enough to squeeze the epoxy out. Kinda 'belt and suspenders' approach but those ends stay on.

I've epoxied the cable ends a couple of times (My Ritchey and Hobbs). It seems to work ok.

I’ve moved on to these: https://www.yokozunausa.com/shop/yok...6#attr=279,996

Those reusable cable ends look sexy except for the photo of one on the rear derailleur. Hopefully they don't deform the cable like that and they just used a bad picture on the page.

Here's my "field test", fresh from the basement. I think a soldering iron might work; a soldering gun may not get up to a high enough temperature (I haven't used one of those for years).
I used a "Hanau Torch", which is used by dentists for festooning dentures in the wax-up stage, as well as for silver-soldering small appliances (space maintainers, etc.).
Outcome: Soldering stainless cable ends is possible. I haven't done this, but maybe will start, since it looks nice and I have the torch.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4e475fff2a.jpg
Here's a short piece of stainless cable.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...20212931b5.jpg
Paste flux applied.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...46573ef1d9.jpg
Hanau Torch. This is an alcohol-fueled device with a hand-powered air jet through the flame.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...56ecf9fd82.jpg
The final product. I should have wiped off the residual flux.


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0f05d488e1.jpg
Flux and silver solder suitable for home water plumbing.

Here is another one.

Heat up the end with a butane lighter to burn off residual oils and after it cools place a drop of super glue...

I solder all my cable ends. The majority are stainless steel. You need to use silver solder and flux that contains muriatic acid - I use Ruby Flux. The soldering iron needs to reach above 500 °C, and I even have a portable one that goes there, for working by the bike. I will try twist welding too - it may yield thinner cable ends.

Never tried stainless but I've soldered plenty of larger steel cables. Soldering the cable then cutting it gives a cleaner result. Keeps the strands together and avoids having a blob of solder on the end of the wire