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End treatment for 1/8" stainless cable

Bill D

Diamond
Joined
Apr 1, 2004
Location
Modesto, CA USA
I need to cut a 1/8" stainless steel multistrand cable. I assume cut it with bolt cutters. I would like some type of end treatment so it looks clean and not frayed. If it was steel bike cable I would soft solder it before cutting. I do not have TIG or MIG. Just a stick welder or a propane torch. I do not think I can solder stainless?
Maybe a piece of copper tube crimped on. This is a simple guy wire no movement. outdoors or I might try heat shrink tube.
Bill D
 
The standard thing is to crimp a ferrule, but that may look chunkier than you want, and buying the right size crimper for one use would be silly. Fortunately, if it doesn't need to hold a load, there are lots of ways to crimp a ferrule without the "right" crimping tool.
Black heat shrink usually holds up to outdoor UV pretty well, and you can probably find some HS tubing specifically rated for outdoor use.
You could also use your old Boy Scout skillls and "frap" the end of the cable with any outdoor-durable small gauge wire or heavy synthetic thread. This was the main technique for several hundred years to maintain a clean end on a cut cable.
 
I need to cut a 1/8" stainless steel multistrand cable. I assume cut it with bolt cutters. I would like some type of end treatment so it looks clean and not frayed. If it was steel bike cable I would soft solder it before cutting. I do not have TIG or MIG. Just a stick welder or a propane torch. I do not think I can solder stainless?
Maybe a piece of copper tube crimped on. This is a simple guy wire no movement. outdoors or I might try heat shrink tube.
Bill D
bolt cutters usually aren't sharp enough and will just squish the cable. Use a cut off disk or cable cutters
 
I wouldn't use silver "solder" (braze). it will make a bit of a mess, what with the flux and all, and anneal the cable unnecessarily, and that's coming from a stone cold MASTER at that technique. I'd cut with abrasive disk and GTAW (TIG) the end, but if you don't have that, crimp and cutoff, or shear IF you have a cable cutter made for such duty. the HIT brand Reis linked to is a good one.

forget soft solder, total amateur hour.
 
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Is it done yet ?
You've got a stick welder, stretch it out, strike arc in middle where you want it cut.
Easy peasy.
Is it done yet ?
 
I made some short cables to keep the doors on a shipping container open in the wind. I just used black tape and two years later it's still there in spite of being in the desert in Arizona. If it ever comes loose I'll just use another couple of inches of electrical tape.
 
I need to cut a 1/8" stainless steel multistrand cable. I assume cut it with bolt cutters. I would like some type of end treatment so it looks clean and not frayed. If it was steel bike cable I would soft solder it before cutting. I do not have TIG or MIG. Just a stick welder or a propane torch. I do not think I can solder stainless?
Maybe a piece of copper tube crimped on. This is a simple guy wire no movement. outdoors or I might try heat shrink tube.
Bill D
Crimp electrical terminations work. Use the bare un-insulated type for least bulk.

Most of us have wire pliers.

Don't over crimp.

A short length of copper tube works as well,

epoxy does the job.

Most all termination end up better if applied before the cut is made.
 
Tasks like this often boild down to "what do you have handy" to do it. So in addition to the many good solutions so far...

If you happen to have some marine heat-shrink (the kind with adhesive in it), you can install one sleeve a little long, shrink then fold over the end and put on another sleeve to hold the tail down. Marine will be UV rated, so it'll stand up a while.
 
If no tig, oxy acetylene to ball the end after cutting with a parrot jaw stranded rope cutter, or back twist the cable, heat and pour epoxy resin over and re twist before cutting.
Mark
 
Another method that seems to work well:
They used a mapp gas torch which are hard to find but suspect a propane would work with a little
longer heating time needed. FWIW propane torch works fine to silver solder stainless.
 








 
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