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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / June 2006cable swaging?
I had a power window unit on my car go out. When I opened it up it turns out the worm drive had chewed up the cable that raises/lowers the window. Now, I'm thinking it's a shame to junk a part that just needs a new steel cable, but of course only the entire assembly, motor and all, is sold as a replacement part. I'm wondering about what the fittings on the cables are called. I think the term is swaging, but anyhow the cables are terminated in cylinder-shaped block whose longitudinal axes are oriented perpendicularly to the cable's longitudinal axis, if that makes sense. there is no loop in the cable end. I have looked on line for cable swaging tools but what I have found seems to be for putting loops in the ends of cables and crimping the free end to the cable. These swages or whatever they are called engage in circular-shaped recesses in the worm gear and in the metal bracket that attaches to the window. Does anyone know what the proper term for these things is and whether the tooling is something affordable to the amateur? thanks, dave image uploaded to dropbox http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/cable_swage.jpg thanks, dave > I had a power window unit on my car go out. When I opened it up it > turns out the worm drive had chewed up the cable that raises/lowers the [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > dave > image uploaded to dropbox > > http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/cable_swage.jpg That looks a lot like the ends on a bicycle brake or shift cable. A well equipped cycle shop might have the swaging tools to make up odd length cables.  SignaturePaul Hovnanian mailto:Paul@Hovnanian.com ------------------------------------------------------------------ The ark was skippered by amateurs, the Titanic was skippered by professionals. The end you are showing is not swaged. You could take the end that you have and use a soldering iron to remove the old piece. (Sometimes the piece is just pot metal and the whole thing melts. A brass barrel with a hole drilled through it is put in the end of the cable and dipped in a solder pot. Don't try to use a soldering iron or normal solder, you won't get the part hot enough and normal solder is too soft. High tin solder (80/20)is the right stuff. You could use a ceramic bowl and heat the solder until it is well melted, you just need the heat transfer capability of enough solder to fully engulf the fitting. Use rosin flux to clean the barrel and cable, no acid flux or it will break very soon. I used to make up all sorts of cables at my parents motorcycle shop. I don't know of any place in town that actually does it anymore. My brother still has all the equipment and has me make cables occasionally. My test for a hand brake cable was to try to smash the lever to the bar with both hands. If it didn't pull the end off it was good. You could pull the end off with soft solder. I figured in a panic some superhuman strength would be trying to pull those brakes with all their might. Never had a cable break. Try this link for the parts you need. Flanders motorcycle parts has all the cable making stuff you might need. > http://www.flandersco.com/action.lasso?-search&-database=_Flan_Levers.fp5&-layou t=Cables1&-Format=FlanCableResultsNP.html&-Error=FlanCableError.html&-Operator=C ontains&Type=End&Catagory=CablePart Bart Bart D. Hull bdhull-nospam@inficad.com Tempe, Arizona Check http://www.inficad.com/~bdhull/engine.html for my Subaru Engine Conversion Check http://www.inficad.com/~bdhull/fuselage.html for Tango II I'm building. Remove -nospam to reply via email. > image uploaded to dropbox > [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] >> >> dave > I had a power window unit on my car go out. When I opened it up it > turns out the worm drive had chewed up the cable that raises/lowers the [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > dave The metal piece that gets swaged onto the cable can be a "stop-nut" or a "sleeve". A stop-nut is used when the cable goes through a hole and needs to be prevented from pulling back out. A sleeve is used to form an eye on the end of the cable, by swaging 2 cables side by side. Normally you wrap the cable around a "thimble" before swaging the eye shut. The Thimble acts to hold the eye open, and distribute the load so the cable can hold maximum load. If the end fitting is threaded or is a small clevis then you will need to get some marine hardware used on cable rigging for sailboats. If there is a marine supply store in your area they should be able to make up a cable for you. By the way, if you have a choice of cables... Finer wire strands means greater flexibility. Coarser wire strands means greater wear resistance, and longevity. SignatureWelding Instructor - South Seattle Comm. Coll. - Divers Institute of Technology CWI/CWE WABO Examiner I would try brazing an end on for a simple application such as this. Tony > I had a power window unit on my car go out. When I opened it up it > turns out the worm drive had chewed up the cable that raises/lowers the [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > dave > I had a power window unit on my car go out. When I opened it up it > turns out the worm drive had chewed up the cable that raises/lowers the [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > dave That end in your picture is exactly the same as a bike brake cable available for under $2 at most stores. I have used them to make accelerator cables. When I need to make my own special end, I usually solder it on with stainless solder. erm for these things is and >> whether the tooling is something affordable to the amateur? >> [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > accelerator cables. When I need to make my own special end, I usually > solder it on with stainless solder. I have used regular solder to attach copper tubing like this. My cable was galvanized, so regular solder was all that was needed. SignatureRon Thompson On the Beautiful Florida Space Coast, right beside the Kennedy Space Center, USA http://www.plansandprojects.com My hobby pages are here: http://www.plansandprojects.com/My%20Machines/ The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. --Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903 |
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