What’s cable swapping?

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Cable crimping is a term that describes a specific method of permanently terminating wire ropes. Forging involves forging or forming a sleeve or ferrule onto the ends of the wire rope, thus causing a secure mechanical bond between the two. Swaging can be used to terminate single ropes or to join two ropes. In addition to providing a secure joint between multiple ropes, cable crimping prevents the ends of the raw rope from fraying, which not only weakens the cable but poses a safety hazard. Cable crimping is typically done with hand or hydraulic tools and specially designed bushings, sleeves, or sockets.

Wire ropes are constructed in the same way as those made of natural or synthetic fibers with numerous bundles of fine wires that are wound or twisted together to form a continuous helix. This dynamic structure found in most strings creates a certain amount of tension that causes a string to fray or unwind when its ends are exposed. When this occurs in a wire rope, it not only weakens the rope, but the sharp, exposed ends of the wire pose a serious safety risk to those handling it. Crimping the cable is one way to prevent it from unraveling and causing failure or injury.

Cable crimping is a form of forging or crimping that involves placing a hollow sleeve or ferrule onto the rope and mechanically deforming it to form a tight, secure union with the rope. Termination of individual ropes is typically done with a suitably sized hollow lug open on one end and closed on the other. The hold is slipped over the end of the rope and then shaken to lock it in place. This type of termination therefore prevents the rope from unraveling and presents a smooth and secure rope end. These sockets are typically made from stainless steel, copper or aluminum and are available in a range of sizes to suit most wire rope thicknesses.

Swaging is also used to join cables and serves not only to affect the joint but also to prevent fraying of the rope ends. This process is similar to a single rope termination with the exception that the ferrules often have an internal figure-of-eight profile that allows both ends of the wire to be inserted into separate compartments on the ferrule. The tools used to deform the gland bushings can be manually operated and work on the same principle as a pliers or be hydraulically operated. Hand tools are generally used on smaller cords and power tools on larger cords that require significant mechanical edge to swag. Most tools have different sizes of jaw cutouts or swag head sets to handle a range of swag sizes.

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