Dies to Hydraulically Swage 3/8 Cable?

[Farmall450]

I can't seem to find a set of dies (other than high end mass production ones) to swage 3/8 steel cable. I only need to make 1 eyelet to the other end of a winch cable that I saved from the scrap bin - any ideas?

It seems silly to buy the bolt cutter style when I have a 20T press...that's what I use to do battery terminal ends, etc. I can find the small ones pretty easily, but not 3/8. My other thought is to just cut a coupling nut in half or mill one out to be smooth and then half it, but I figured the proper dies would swage it...the proper amount.

Thanks,

 

[Farmall450]

It would probably be cheaper to find a shop to swage it than buy these

 

[Walkers]

It will be cheaper to buy a new winch cable than to buy even the dies to do this properly.

 

[Farmall450]

It will be cheaper to buy a new winch cable than to buy even the dies to do this properly.

Yeah, might end up mcgyver'ing it.

Now, if there was a set of press dies (the small ones look like a tubing flare block) I could justify using it again the future...

 

[cvairwerks]

If the eye is gone or was damaged, how do you know if the cable hasn't been overstressed?

 

[Renegade1LI]

Better yet, get a synthetic cable, so much nicer than steel and safer. I just rescued am older usa warn, first thing I did was toss the steel cable and replaced with synthetic.

 

[Farmall450]

If the eye is gone or was damaged, how do you know if the cable hasn't been overstressed?

The eye isn't gone or damaged, I'm merely looking to make one on the end that originally bolted to the winch drum.

 

[Farmall450]

Better yet, get a synthetic cable, so much nicer than steel and safer. I just rescued am older usa warn, first thing I did was toss the steel cable and replaced with synthetic.

Yeah, so the whole idea here is another 75' of Free.99 3/8 wire rope/cable, which would defeat the purpose of buying a synthetic one.

 

[cvairwerks]

The eye isn't gone or damaged, I'm merely looking to make one on the end that originally bolted to the winch drum.

Not a problem then. How about doing things the old fashioned way and eye splice a thimble in?

 

[Farmall450]

Not a problem then. How about doing things the old fashioned way and eye splice a thimble in?

That is neat, but I might just slap 2 or 3 of the bolt on connectors before doing that.

 

[ATC]

I bought a couple 3/8 winch lines a while ago, and just used 4 of the standard u-bolt cable clamps. They work just fine even if they aren’t as aesthetically pleasing.

 

[PBCampbell]

That's a lot of clips for 3/8 and remember "never saddle a dead horse".

 

[Farmall450]

I bought a couple 3/8 winch lines a while ago, and just used 4 of the standard u-bolt cable clamps. They work just fine even if they aren’t as aesthetically pleasing.

I was wondering how many/if they were any good. I agree they're ugly, but that might be the path of least resistance.

 

[ATC]

That's a lot of clips for 3/8 and remember "never saddle a dead horse".

I was wondering how many/if they were any good. I agree they're ugly, but that might be the path of least resistance.

Most articles I found say to use 3 clips, but I went with 4 for a little overkill. With a 12k winch and a snatchblock, I wanted a little extra insurance.

 

[no704]

I made one. Took a block of steel and drilled the appropriate sized hole thru the middle of it. On the opposite plain drilled 4 corner holes for dowl pins. Cut it in half. Made counter bores for springs around the pins. Reamed one side of dowl holes for press fit, other side for clearance fit. Worked great.

 

[2oolhound]

3 cable clamps are adequate. Even cranes only need 3. The 1st one does the work and the 2nd one is backup. The 3rd is overkill safety. Cable clamps are formed to support the cable. Didn't watch the videos above but they all must fit the same way and spaced correctly.
What I don't like about cable clamps is they aren't a smooth finish like a splice so not always comfortable to work with.