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Cable (Wire Rope) crimping

GregSY

Diamond
Joined
Jan 1, 2005
Location
Houston
I have a 50' length of 3/8 cable. I want to have the end crimped in a loop so a hook can be attached, just like the one in this photo.

Where can I get this done? In other words, what type of shop can do this crimp?
 

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Look up "Rigging Supplies" in the yellow pages... Should be plentiful in Houston.. We even have several in my area of SC.

Why not use cable clamps? Just remember to never saddle a dead horse.
 
"Crimping is deforming and ruins a wire rope. the pic shows a "swaged eye with a thimble".
Crosby clips re not as strong ( you can get a cert from a real rigging shop) and hang up on everthing ( I'm guessing this for a winch).
 
Just about any marine shop or rigger has the capabilites to properly swage an eye on 3/8 cable with a thimble. The construction of the cable will tell how tight a radius it will bend, and if it is possible with the type of cable you have.
 
Do NOT use Crosby clips if you are going to use for lifting/hoisting as they are not designed for that application. Crosby clips are acceptable for a pulling application however. If using Crosby clips please remember to space and torque them correctly and retorque after first use and occasionally thereafter. A Flemish mechanical splice would be the best but finding someone set up do this will be difficult.
 
Robert,

I have placed THOUSANDS of Crosby clips, and Fist Grip clamps on up to 1 1/8 inch wire in an industrial application. ALL overhead, as I was a Crane Repairman. Up to140 ton.

MOST of my cranes were with wedged sockets, some were with thimbles. NONE have failed at the connection with the Crosby Clips, nor the Fist Grips. I have seen and replaced MANY wires that parted elsewhere. Some three or more times per shift. NONE failed at the Crosby clips. Would you believe that an inch and an 1/8 wire could squish itself into a 1/4 inch gap between the upper sheave and the mating sheave, or the mating sheaves on a 16 fall block. My engineers couldn't either.

"That's impossible!" Yeah, well, tell me how in the Hell else it could have done that.

A wire rope is a mechanical device. The wires stretch and displace each other per revolution. This is why you get what is called "bird's nests". Stretched wires.

WORST thing you can do is burn the ends, or weld the ends, as that stops the mechanical part of the operation. Dead stop. MORE bird's nests.

Cheers,

George
 
When i worked mining i used a lot of Crosby clips and crimp Ferrules but in many cases i did them the way i was trained in the navy.

I would put a one or more ferrules loose on the wire rope and then do a Flemish eye splice (Molley Hogan).

Once i had the eye formed i would put the Thimble in and bring the ferrule up tight and crimp.
http://www.rasmussenco.com/Catalog/RasmussenCatalog_pg1-3.pdf
They would look just like your photo

If you leave a Extra long tail you can use Crosby clips Instead of ferrules.

The only time i did it without the Flemish eye splice was when i did the main mine host cable.
and it was man rated and had to be done as per MSHA rules and with Crosby clips.
 
Thanks all. I really don't want the Crosby clips if I can avoid them because... they are justa little clunky looking. I like the sleeker look of the swage/crimp/ferrule - plus I can just see these threaded ends of the Crosby clips hanging up on all sorts of the things.

It is for a simple winch (pulling) application.
 
Guys -

I have a question about how you would make a "Flemish eye splice" with a saddle in it. I need to make four of these for counterbalances inside the columns of drill presses whose heads weigh 65 lbs - not a very heavy lifting assignment. They each compress a spring, and the cable (3/16") rides up and over a pulley on top of the column, counterbalancing the weight of the head and motor. A pair of Crosby clips would hit the coils of the spring.

How do you set the saddle and are still able to braid the splice? The Rasmussen web page referenced above shows a couple of these Flemish eye splices with saddles inside.

Thanks for the help!

A.T.
 
From my sailboat days, I can tell you that I wouldn't attempt an eyesplice in wire rope for any use that could cause injury if it failed; my own attempts with 7x7 wire rope were shall we say, not too good.
That said, I'd use either nicopress sleeves or possibly sta-lok mechanical terminals-for overhead lifting, I'd try for a poured socket; if you have a swage terminal installed, make sure the machine used is large enough to do it in one go; if possible have it load tested-the sailboat folks have seen too many failures of swage terminals over the years. After you have a good swage, take care of it- the swage isn't watertight so if you're using galvanised wire, soak the whole length of cable, and especially the swage in cable lube every so often, it'll last nearly forever that way, wiping the excess off the surface'll make the cable better to handle, and will lessen its attraction of dirt.
 
When I was a kid in A&P school, they had an old Navy Biplane fighter they were doing pro bono work (by students) for some museum. All the control cables (5/32", 7 X 7) were to be eye spliced by hand. And to move the project along, they made this a part of the curriculum; everybody had to do one. When the splice was done, it was wrapped in copper wire, fluxed, and dipped in a solder pot. Talk about labor intensive.
 
Aye,

A splice can be efficient. It can't equal the strength of the rope, however. You have cut wires to make the splice, in one type, the one that has the same form. OR you splice and bulk up the cable in the other.

THAT requires you to use a marlinspike to weave the rope. Hand sledges to part the wires to weave.

Fids will do for Manila rope. Not for wire.

Mach????,

A poured socket is poured with spelter metal, AKA, zinc. Zinc is the preferred sacrificial metal in many applications, including underground pipelines, and water heaters.

It is low melting temp, and kind of hard, so it was the metal of choice for socketing cable terminations.

Cheers,

George
 
Step back in time.

The old Cable tool drilling rigs used a tapered socket with the wire end sort of frazzled and the socket poured full of babbitt. It made a strong nice looking connection that was good for 100 hours of very punishing operation. I have some of these sockets for 3/8 cable that have a simple pin type connection. They would not be that hard to make.
 
When George talks about a 16-fall block with 1 and 1/8 in inch wire rope, well, that's impressive! I think 1-1/8 inch wire rope is rated around 65 tons for a single rope. George, that's a honking big crane!

By the way, the venerable Fred Colvin's 1918 book "Aircraft Handbook" recommends splicing the loop around the thimble, ensuring no sharp edges, then wrapping with cord of some kind.

Jim
 








 
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