What to use for crimping brake cable?

[Gill]

I,ve been trying to use brake cable for a few wee projects,but i cant seem to find anything good enough for crimping it together secure enough.i used small alloy tubes that electricians use (i think) but they were not strong enough and came apart.any ideas or links please,i,ve been to B&Q and Halfords and cant see anything .

 

[scubapauly]

I'll be watching this one, I was struggling with that too.

 

[Miyagi]

I,ve been trying to use brake cable for a few wee projects,but i cant seem to find anything good enough for crimping it together secure enough.i used small alloy tubes that electricians use (i think) but they were not strong enough and came apart.any ideas or links please,i,ve been to B&Q and Halfords and cant see anything .

I've used those wee caps on gear cable.

What about using the anchor bolt that's threaded and cylindrical that's also used on bicycles?

Just a thought, as you can buy them as spares in halfords. Not very neat, a bit chunky too but don't know if they'll "ugly" up your project.

Edited to add, or the wee hanging anchor bolt that holds/supports the straddled brake cable?

 

[hiho]

was thining about using some copper brake tubing... but as with everything else i haven't got round to it.....

 

[livefast999]

You could take apart an electrical connector block, and use the metal connector to connect the cables. Never tried it but should work.

http://www.cosam.org/images/a1200t/connector_block.jpg

HTH

 

[Graham_S]

I used copper tubing I found in B&Q for the cable I used to replace my zebra billy bails.
I crimped it with a pair of pliers.
Seems nice and strong so far, no signs of failure.

 

[Gill]

I,m sure at some time i have came across tiny twin stainless tubes which would be great ,but i cannae think where.n

 

[Miyagi]

Are you crimping to prevent the cable ends fraying or crimping to try and join the cables.

If joining can you fold/loop them over and then crimp?

Edited for mongness, sorry just reread your post. if they have to take any strain you'll probably need to loop them back on themselves and crimp the ends parallel.

 

[Stew]

You could take apart an electrical connector block, and use the metal connector to connect the cables. Never tried it but should work.

http://www.cosam.org/images/a1200t/connector_block.jpg

HTH

That's what I've done before.

 

[hiraeth]

That's what I've done before.

Me too,
Just to tidy it up you can file off the grub screws after tightening.

 

[pwb]

The chock blocks work well but if it's something stronger your looking for what about the fittings used on yachts. Should be really strong and seem to be available for cables as small as 1mm.

http://www.sailboats.co.uk/Cat~Ferrules_And_Thimbles_4720.html

Cheers,
Pete.

 

[Gill]

Now those look like the very dab Puub,cheers buddy.

 

[Muncus]

I,ve been trying to use brake cable for a few wee projects,but i cant seem to find anything good enough for crimping it together secure enough.i used small alloy tubes that electricians use (i think) but they were not strong enough and came apart.any ideas or links please,i,ve been to B&Q and Halfords and cant see anything .

If you can go to your local bike shop I'm sure they'll do it for you. I had a similar problem and ended up taking them into Halfords - they did it for free.

James

 

[lee2205]

is this any good
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Wire-Rope-Acc..._Lifting_Moving_Equipment?hash=item25581e8cab
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Bike-Alloy-Ca...sure_cycling_bikeparts_SR?hash=item2a01557ad8
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Wire-Rope-Gri...tEquipment_Accessories_SM?hash=item518faff7c4
alternitively you can open up the cable abit /spread the strands and solder them together, its fiddly amd messy but it worked last time i tried it
lee

 

[Gill]

The first two are great Lee,cheers buddy.

 

[landyandy]

You could take apart an electrical connector block, and use the metal connector to connect the cables. Never tried it but should work.

http://www.cosam.org/images/a1200t/connector_block.jpg

HTH

yes i tried them and they work fine if you put the cables through so both screw's hold it .

 

[hedgerow pete]

try looking for something along the lines of a fishing trace crimp, some of the largessizes go over the 500 lb strengh make so should fit, i use the smaller 80lb crips for making snares

 

[Bushwhacker]

try looking for something along the lines of a fishing trace crimp, some of the largessizes go over the 500 lb strengh make so should fit, i use the smaller 80lb crips for making snares

^^^ What Pete said
+1

 

[Ben Trout]

I use some slightly larger diameter bowden cable for my rocket car guide wires. They can get pretty well thrashed about with an unstable car. What I've done at the permanently fixed end is this:

This has proven plenty good enough for the job. You will probably need one of the smaller sizes for brake cable. When you make the connections use a proper ratchet crimper like this one:

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/lrgimg_popup.jsp;jsessionid=BUNAFXWTBBCW0CSTHZOSFFY?productId=70036&imageNo=null&ts=50237

(From Screwfix website. Regular customer, no affiliation.)

The scissor type crimpers are a waste of time.

 

[Minotaur]

You could take apart an electrical connector block, and use the metal connector to connect the cables. Never tried it but should work.

http://www.cosam.org/images/a1200t/connector_block.jpg

HTH

Think with some added arldite or similar, would be very strong. Like a knife handle.