How to make a simple Cable End Mold.

i've been thinking about this idea for awhile, and decided to see if it'll work.

and it does.

i took a small piece of 1/4" thick aluminum plate and and drilled a hole into it the same size as the standard cable end. i stopped drilling right as the bit broke through, to leave me a small release hole.

then i took my bandsaw and cut a groove lengthwise through the plate. i had to use a small file to enlarge the groove so the cable would fit in. you could use a hacksaw, file, cutting wheel, whatever if you don't have a bandsaw.

then you simply lay the cable in it, melt some solder into it to fill it up, dunk the whole thing in some water to quench it and pop it out from the back with a small punch or something.

cut the excess cable off the back, and with some minor filing, you have a perfect end.

the solder won't stick to the aluminum, and the cable will heat up instantly, so the solder will stick to the cable, and not the mold. you want to melt the solder right in, not wait for the metal to heat up to melt it, so just stick the solder right under the torch.

i tried it with silver solder and flux, and acid core solder with no flux, and both types worked perfect.

to test it for strength, i clamped the cable into my vice, grabbed the new cable end with some vice grips, and almost pulled myself off the ground. it didn't budge. i think that's strong enough.

it took me about 20 minutes to make the mold, and it takes less than 5 minutes to make a cable end.

EDIT) there's a post below by "luketrash" who recommends "peening" the cable. basically hitting it with a punch or something to spread the wire strands so the solder flows into it and sticks better. this is a good idea, especially if you make an end for a brake cable. i did one for a drum brake, and with the amount of pressure needed for a brake cable, the end pulled off. after peening it, it's way stronger...

thanks doc

charles, my advice is buy a new cable. once it's frayed, the next thing it'll do is break. brake cables cost like 2.50 at a bike shop.

now, for the personal touch, check this out:

actually, it's in the brake, so the B stands for Bairdco. everywhere i go, people just come out of their homes just to say "wow, Baird finally hit the bigtime. he has his own pro-model brake cable. i knew that kid was going places..."

wow. i thought more people woulda been intersted in this. i guess you guys like your bikes to look like spaghetti..

thanks luke. i was thinking they might pull out, but the solder does a good job of penetrating into the cable, and like i said, i put all my weight on it and it didn't move.

i'd be kinda worried about peening the cable, mostly because heating a cable, especially the junky ones that come in the kits, makes them brittle and they'll break if overheated. i guess it would work with my mold ok, because you're mostly just melting the solder, not burning the cable. i guess i could try it out...

Silver Bear, yeah, you could make pretty much any end you want, even something weird, just by shaping it with a dremel.

it's a great way to clean up all those cables, heck, you could probably solder two cables together and make a single-pull brake lever into a dual-pull. 'cept it wouldn't be adjustable...

oh, and i use Klein cable cutters for the housings and Klein dykes for the wires. nothing frays at all.

(bumping this to add this edit...)

EDIT) there's a post by "luketrash" who recommends "peening" the cable. basically hitting it with a punch or something to spread the wire strands so the solder flows into it and sticks better. this is a good idea, especially if you make an end for a brake cable. i did one for a drum brake, and with the amount of pressure needed for a brake cable, the end pulled off. after peening it, it's way stronger...

i've noticed that if you heat up the actual cable too much, it weakens the strands, making them brittle.

instead of peening the cable, i think the best way is to just work the strands loose a bit so the solder flows into them.