Swaging, swaging tools

sarabande

Well-Known Member
Joined
6 May 2005
Messages
36,182
Visit site
I have to sort out some shortening of the guard wires (4 and 5mm) to add pelican hooks and to add various other wires stays (up to 6 and 7mm), and to make up outboard anti-theft cable, etc

Enough to make me wonder about buying a small swaging machine.

Any recommendations from the forum for a hand-pumped hydraulic device please ? Ideally, if the hand pump is separate from the swager, then I can have a power source for an emergency stay cutting tool, also.

TIA

PS I've read up on Sta-Lok and their offerings.
 
I have to sort out some shortening of the guard wires (4 and 5mm) to add pelican hooks and to add various other wires stays (up to 6 and 7mm), and to make up outboard anti-theft cable, etc

Enough to make me wonder about buying a small swaging machine.

Any recommendations from the forum for a hand-pumped hydraulic device please ? Ideally, if the hand pump is separate from the swager, then I can have a power source for an emergency stay cutting tool, also.

TIA

PS I've read up on Sta-Lok and their offerings.

I use one of these for battery cables : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nordstra...669316&hash=item28045b3931:g:iGEAAOSwLVZVtgK~

I also used it for crimping stainless pelican hooks to shortened guard wires when i made gates in the guard wires. Worked well, i put two crimps in each pelican hook.
 
I use one of these for battery cables : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Nordstra...669316&hash=item28045b3931:g:iGEAAOSwLVZVtgK~

I also used it for crimping stainless pelican hooks to shortened guard wires when i made gates in the guard wires. Worked well, i put two crimps in each pelican hook.

CAREFUL!

Unless you get the proper dies to suit the ferrules designed for steel wire rope.

I've destruction load tested crimps made with LX dies before, wasn't very high. Proper dies was much closer to MBS of the steel wire rope. 2 ferrules does help.
 
CAREFUL!

Unless you get the proper dies to suit the ferrules designed for steel wire rope.

I've destruction load tested crimps made with LX dies before, wasn't very high. Proper dies was much closer to MBS of the steel wire rope. 2 ferrules does help.

I have a full set of dies. It was used to crimp stainless pelican hooks to the wires, they were a tight fit (correct for the wires) and the wires go in far enough to be able to crimp in two places. I wouldn't recommend it for standing rigging, but i'm confident it's more than up to the job in question.
 
I have a full set of dies. It was used to crimp stainless pelican hooks to the wires, they were a tight fit (correct for the wires) and the wires go in far enough to be able to crimp in two places. I wouldn't recommend it for standing rigging, but i'm confident it's more than up to the job in question.

If the dies were designed for SWR then that's different, off ebay almost certainly they'll be for LX wire. I tested LX dies - a 'tight fit' - failure load wasn't anywhere near the proper dies designed for steel wire rope ferrules. Unless you destruction test a sample with a calibrated load cell you won't know. Looking OK isn't enough for anything structural. .
 
If the dies were designed for SWR then that's different, off ebay almost certainly they'll be for LX wire. I tested LX dies - a 'tight fit' - failure load wasn't anywhere near the proper dies designed for steel wire rope ferrules. Unless you destruction test a sample with a calibrated load cell you won't know. Looking OK isn't enough for anything structural. .

I don't consider a couple of guard wire gates structural. I already said i wouldn't use it for standing rigging. FFS.
 
I have to sort out some shortening of the guard wires (4 and 5mm) to add pelican hooks and to add various other wires stays (up to 6 and 7mm), and to make up outboard anti-theft cable, etc

Enough to make me wonder about buying a small swaging machine.

Any recommendations from the forum for a hand-pumped hydraulic device please ? Ideally, if the hand pump is separate from the swager, then I can have a power source for an emergency stay cutting tool, also.

TIA

PS I've read up on Sta-Lok and their offerings.

To me the only to swage fittings to wire rope is with a hydraulic roller swager. These can be hand operated with a seperate pump or power driven with a electric driven hydraulic pump.

 
My local chandler roll-swages things really nicely for about £2 on top of what the fitting would cost me.
I do have a Ormiston tool for talurit ferrules. The sort which does up with a couple of M8 boltsThat works well and I've tested the results up to a fair fraction of the breaking load of 4mm wire. But even those cost a lost of cash now.
 
Best bet as said is to find a rigger or in my case a chandler who can do a proper swage. However OP probably has to pass the wire through stanchions before swaging making it necessary to the swage on the job. You may be able to borrow hand swaging tool. If you have doubts about strength of the swage you can fit tow furrules and two swages.
For other minor wire swage jobs I use a bit of copper tube and some lock jaw pliers that have a kind of cutting edge. I squash the tube in 3 places. Seems OK for non critical light wire jobs. Very crude of course. olewill
 
As an inverate DIYer, I made my own dies for talurit type ferrules and use a 20 ton bottle jack in a robust frame to press them. Up to 5mm wire for 1x19. Very handy, as the nearest swager is an hour away. Always fancied a roll swager, but big ££££s.
My first paying job was making rigging for boat kits with a talurit machine, think I was 12 or 13.
 
Last edited:
To me the only to swage fittings to wire rope is with a hydraulic roller swager. These can be hand operated with a seperate pump or power driven with a electric driven hydraulic pump.


That's the correct tool for the job, everything else is bodging it badly. The cost of one, plus pump, plus matching dies will buy you several sacks of swageless fittings or many hours at the local rigger (who will have just such a roller swaging press). It just doesn't make sense unless you want to go into the rigging business.
 
Top