How to make a simple Cable End Mold.

[bairdco]

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...

 

[charles.paskell]

Nice, that could save some money, whats your advice in frayed cable ends?(other than buying another cable)

 

[DOC BOLM]

Nice job BaridcNLY IN AMERICA.

 

[bairdco]

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:

 

[GoFastBicycles]

For those with bad eyes, That is a B

Nice...

Adam

 

[motocafe]

genius! !!!

 

[Kevlarr]

B? But it's in the clutch so shouldn't that be a C?

 

[bairdco]

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..."

 

[bairdco]

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

 

[Kevlarr]

Actually I almost made one tonight. Was fixing up a MTB for my kid and I needed a rear brake cable but I couldn't find any scrap cores long enough so I ended up running to Wally world and buying a complete cable set for $5. lol

 

[corgi1]

I like your Idea,just don't have any letter stamps yet too put a B on it lol

 

[luketrash]

Hi, I just found this since I'm looking for a way to make cable ends for my motorcycle projects. I need custom length cables.

The only two things I'll add is that it might be beneficial to use a peening hammer to purposely funnel out (fray) one end of your cable and pour the lead onto it that way so it'll resist pulling straight through. I found that advice on another cable making site.


And as for ways of dealing with frayed cable ends? I use a dremel tool with a cutoff wheel to zing the cable off at the closest non-frayed portion. This way you can reclaim your good cable and cap it off or solder it so it won't fray.

I own several Vespa scooters which use pinch barrels on raw cable to create the ends and the ends have a tendency to fray badly so you can't pull the cables out of the pinch barrels which are reusable. Simply cutting the cable with wire cutters can leave you with a smashed cable. Cutting the cable with a dremel tool or other high speed device like that is the way to go.

Just thought I'd throw in my 2 cents.

 

[silverbear]

Bairdco,
I just saw this and like it very much. I'm about to rebuild a three speed throttle type shifter from a 60's three speed bike to use with Jim's experimental three sprocket cluster/derailleur set up and if I remember right the cable has an odd ball end on it. You idea allows for making different sized ends... just a different sized drill bit. Cool!

Luketrash,
I've been doing the same thing with my frayed cables... clean cut off with the dremel followed up with silver solder. Perfect.

I agree that it's the little things which make a difference.
SB

 

[bairdco]

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.

 

[flybytaco]

baird i like your brain lol. you know what works good for the end of a trottle cable the end in the slide
? take a red loop from a electrical kit strip the plastic off and solder it to end of cable and cut off the loop and file the end nice n smooth

 

[bairdco]

(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...

 

[chainmaker]

"wow, Baird finally hit the bigtime. he has his own pro-model brake cable. i knew that kid was going places..."

and what a cool bike he's riding there on.


Excellent Idea for a project to try during the long winter.

Cheers

 

[Fossil]

Rather than peening the cable and possibly weakening the cable have you tried tinning the cable first before setting it in the mold? Tinning is easy to do as well. Just heat the cable so the solder or lead flows into the strands of the cable. If you have ever soldered stranded wire you will recognize what I am saying. Having the cable tinned will add strength to the cable end because the lead or solder has already bonded to the cable before the cable end is poured.
I make my own fishing sinkers but never though about making my own cable ends. Nice thread!

Jim

 

[bairdco]

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.

 

[Fossil]

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.

Very true you don't want to overheat the cable. ie red hot
Just hot enough to get the solder or lead to flow.

Jim