[Crimping Stainless Steel Wire Rope]

Very good should work for stainless winch wire as well heh...sorry i am new here...how rude hi everyone.....broke mine recently...

OK, here's the pics. (I have edited this post since its now in the Workshop section, just to tidy up theinfo & pic sequence)

I used a vice for ease of taking the pics but its just as easy without (Probably easier)

Also, the "Swage" you see in the last pic is actually a spring pin just to see how it would look. We don't swage ours as the wire needs to be thin enough to go through winch guides etc, but if you were to swage it then I think a standard single swage (A double swage like the one in Penguins pic would not be suitable as it is for use when doubling up the wire as in his pic. With my splice you can use a single holed swage) would do but you certainly wouldn't need to fit it as securly as you would with a swage alone & no splice. You would add it just to neaten it up & make it look cool.

Finally, Its a good idea to wear gloves when doing this.

I hope this helps all you budding riggers. You never know, you may just find it comes in handly when you snap a rope & have no rope clamps to get you out of trouble at the ramp one day. With practice it takes about 2-5 minutes to do from start to finish. I did this one pretty quick considering I had to downsize pics and bath the kids half way through etc.

Split the rope into two seperate strands, one with 3 strands & one with four. The one with four will have a straight strand in it compared to the twisted ones in the other strands. To keep it neat its best to start the splice with this 4 strand leg. Try not to unwrap the individual strands from each other. Its best to just seperate the two groups then carefully unravel from each other keeping the groups twisted around each other. This will give you a much better finish. If they unravel from each other you have to start twisting individual strands & it gets messy.

Make a loop. Try to get the strands the same length as the loop legs (If that makes sense) shorter is better then you have no ends to trim.

Next start to wind the 4 strand leg back through the loop. If you've gone the right way (Follow the same direction as the loop wraps) then it will simply lock itself back into the loop strand like it was never split. If it doesn't match up then try wrapping it the opposite way around the leg.

Then, once the first leg is wrapped to the end & looks neat start with the other 3 strand leg. It will wrap in the opposite direction.

If it looks untidy carefully unwrap & using your fingers, roll the strand around as you twist it around. It should lock itself into place in the loop leg if done correctly. You can also use pliers to coax the strands to lock in but if you have to do this it may be getting a bit messy. Remember to ensure the strand is in one group not 3 seperated strands.

The finished product.

The swage is just for show. Even if you were to end up with the loop splice not going all the way to the bottom of the loop split it will still be pretty strong as anywhere along the loop it is always 7 strands thick as it was when it was a straight piece.

Fitting an eyelette is a simple matter of putting it into the loop, then pushing the swage fitting up so that it locks the eyelette into place. Then you can crimp the swage. One simple way to crimp it would be to lay it in a section of angle iron or similar then give it a few taps with a chisel. This is a backyard solution & as long as you don't belt it too hard (Just enough so it locks the eyelette) then things should be sweet. Remember, the splice is doing all the holding, the swage in this case is just holding your eyelette & for a neat finish. If your doing this as an emergency fix then I would make the loop larger, forget the eyelette & wrap some electrical tape around the terminated ends to stop fingers getting cut on the freyed ends.

END Boofheads Wire rope splicing 101

Final note: I am not a rigger, for any serious wire rope repairs & correct crimping advice always refer to your local rigging / winch dealer.