Over the years I have tried to solder various wire ropes, never been
anything near successful. I have tried emery cloth to clean the end, greasy
flux stuff and different temperatures. I have always found another method to
solve the problem at hand. I just want to know how to do it before once
again I'm looking at blobs of solder refusing to bond with the cable.

cheers Roy

In article ,
"roy davidson" writes:
Over the years I have tried to solder various wire ropes, never been
anything near successful. I have tried emery cloth to clean the end, greasy
flux stuff and different temperatures. I have always found another method to
solve the problem at hand. I just want to know how to do it before once
again I'm looking at blobs of solder refusing to bond with the cable.

Is this to stop the end fraying?
What about crimping on a bootlace ferrule,
or any crimp which is about the right size?

--
Andrew Gabriel

In message , Andrew Gabriel
writes
In article ,
"roy davidson" writes:
Over the years I have tried to solder various wire ropes, never been
anything near successful. I have tried emery cloth to clean the end, greasy
flux stuff and different temperatures. I have always found another method to
solve the problem at hand. I just want to know how to do it before once
again I'm looking at blobs of solder refusing to bond with the cable.

Is this to stop the end fraying?
What about crimping on a bootlace ferrule,
or any crimp which is about the right size?

They do make little crimp on ferrules specifically for the end of bike
cables, or little it of heat shrink tubing over the end.

I've soldered them as well with solder tape, a few wraps and a match and
it's done.
--
Chris French, Leeds

In article ,
roy davidson wrote:
Over the years I have tried to solder various wire ropes, never been
anything near successful. I have tried emery cloth to clean the end,
greasy flux stuff and different temperatures. I have always found
another method to solve the problem at hand. I just want to know how to
do it before once again I'm looking at blobs of solder refusing to bond
with the cable.

You need a flux designed for steel. Something like Baker's soldering fluid.
Fluxite - or similar paste type fluxes - are really meant for things like
copper or brass.

But I'd make sure the wire rope is clean first - it's possible it might
have some form of wax applied to prevent corrosion. Cellulose thinners
remove most of this sort of thing.

I've found an aggressive flux - like Everflux - also works well on steel.
I recently made up a throttle cable for the old car with no problems.

--
*He who laughs last, thinks slowest.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In message , roy davidson
writes
Over the years I have tried to solder various wire ropes, never been
anything near successful. I have tried emery cloth to clean the end, greasy
flux stuff and different temperatures. I have always found another method to
solve the problem at hand. I just want to know how to do it before once
again I'm looking at blobs of solder refusing to bond with the cable.

Lots of clean

lots of heat (as opposed to temperature)

Lots of flux, and then some more


--
geoff

"roy davidson" wrote in message
...
Over the years I have tried to solder various wire ropes, never been
anything near successful. I have tried emery cloth to clean the end,
greasy
flux stuff and different temperatures. I have always found another method
to
solve the problem at hand. I just want to know how to do it before once
again I'm looking at blobs of solder refusing to bond with the cable.

cheers Roy



You will need to use Braze or Silver Solder, which you will need to use a
propane torch.

Never done it so can't help any further!

In article ,
Dave Jones wrote:
You will need to use Braze or Silver Solder, which you will need to use
a propane torch.

No. ;-) The heat required for these will weaken the cable - or loose the
flexibility. All that's required is to splay out the strands at the nipple
and stop them pulling through. The shear strength of soft solder more than
matches a 'solderless' nipple of the type which relies on friction.

Never done it so can't help any further!

--
*A closed mouth gathers no feet.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
No. ;-) The heat required for these will weaken the cable - or loose the
flexibility. All that's required is to splay out the strands at the nipple
and stop them pulling through. The shear strength of soft solder more than
matches a 'solderless' nipple of the type which relies on friction.

Solderless nipples.... the screw-on type. Dangerous for anything
critical IME. You can get cables to solder better by unravelling
the end 1 1/2" (not straining the individual wires!), cleaning,
and re-winding them before trying to solder.

On Wed, 13 Apr 2005 23:21:13 +0100, "roy davidson"
wrote:

I just want to know how to do it before once
again I'm looking at blobs of solder refusing to bond with the cable.

Go to the bike shop and scrounge some crimp ends. They'll crimp with
narrow pliers (a narrow crimped band is stronger than an overall
flattened tube).

If you're a sparkie, then electrician's bootlace ferrules work fine
too.

Bike cable should soft-solder pretty easily. Degrease it, then use a
powerful active flux. Fluxite paste is enough, multicore isn't. If the
cable's new and clean you shouldn't need to use Baker's Fluid. A big
(=50W iron is useful)

If you're obsessive about your bike (about 90% of cyclists) you can
form a back splice instead. No one will ever notice, but it's 0.001g
lighter than adding that ferrule 8-)


For bigger cables than bikes, silver soldering is good. This will also
work happily on stainless or phosphor bronze wire cable. You'll need a
fluoride based flux, especially on stainless, but the joint is usually
very easy to make, so long as the cable's reasonably fresh and clean.
If it's old cable that has been out in the weather, either pickle it
clean first, or splice it. Don't braze wire cable - it reduces the
strength considerably.

Wire rope can't be soldered unless you remove any fibre centre core
first. Degrease carefully too.


--
Smert' spamionam

roy davidson wrote:

Over the years I have tried to solder various wire ropes, never been
anything near successful. I have tried emery cloth to clean the end, greasy
flux stuff and different temperatures. I have always found another method to
solve the problem at hand. I just want to know how to do it before once
again I'm looking at blobs of solder refusing to bond with the cable.

cheers Roy


Use acid flux (plumbers) and a blowlamp.

again I'm looking at blobs of solder refusing to bond with the cable.

cheers Roy


Use acid flux (plumbers) and a blowlamp.

Anyone know where I can get lengths of cable and some ends? I need to make
up a long inner cable for a rear barke on a Peugeot tandem. No-one seems to
stock one that's long enough.

Peter Scott

Peter Scott wrote :-

Anyone know where I can get lengths of cable and some ends? I need to make
up a long inner cable for a rear barke on a Peugeot tandem. No-one seems
to
stock one that's long enough.

Try doing a search for Bowden Cable, plenty of results

Regards Jeff

"Jeff" wrote in message
.. .

Peter Scott wrote :-

Anyone know where I can get lengths of cable and some ends? I need to
make
up a long inner cable for a rear barke on a Peugeot tandem. No-one
seems
to
stock one that's long enough.

Try doing a search for Bowden Cable, plenty of results

Regards Jeff

Good thinking. I had forgotten that's what it was called.

Peter Scott

On Thu, 14 Apr 2005 12:05:26 +0100, "Jeff" wrote:

Try doing a search for Bowden Cable, plenty of results

Don't use Bowden (or Teleflex) cable for brakes.

Andy Dingley wrote:
Don't use Bowden (or Teleflex) cable for brakes.

Now what. Why?

Peter Scott wrote:
Anyone know where I can get lengths of cable and some ends? I need to make
up a long inner cable for a rear barke on a Peugeot tandem. No-one seems to
stock one that's long enough.

An ironmonger may have some or a bicycle shop may have some on the
reel.. hard to say. Anyway, you may find that nipples are hard to
get these days, most seem to be cast on, and if you warm them up,
the metal just splashes off. Have you soldered nipples onto cable
before? There's a technique....

"Chris Bacon" wrote in message
...
Peter Scott wrote:
Anyone know where I can get lengths of cable and some ends? I need to
make
up a long inner cable for a rear barke on a Peugeot tandem. No-one
seems to
stock one that's long enough.

An ironmonger may have some or a bicycle shop may have some on the
reel.. hard to say. Anyway, you may find that nipples are hard to
get these days, most seem to be cast on, and if you warm them up,
the metal just splashes off. Have you soldered nipples onto cable
before? There's a technique....

Yes I'm OK on that. Used to work in a bike shop.

Peter Scott

Peter Scott wrote:
"Chris Bacon" wrote...
Have you soldered nipples onto cable before? There's a technique....

Yes I'm OK on that. Used to work in a bike shop.

Some years ago I went into a bike shop-cum-hairdressers-cum-barber
and asked the young lady whether she'd got brass nipples... she
was embarassed.

On Thu, 14 Apr 2005 11:27:41 +0100, "Peter Scott"
wrote:

Anyone know where I can get lengths of cable and some ends?

Any bike shop. If you go in the workshop rather than looking on the
retail racks, the stuff is on a reel.

BTW - brake and gear cable is different and you really shouldn't swap
them.

If you haven't already, read Sheldon Brown's website
http://sheldonbrown.com/diy/

In article , "Peter Scott"
says...

again I'm looking at blobs of solder refusing to bond with the cable.

cheers Roy


Use acid flux (plumbers) and a blowlamp.

Anyone know where I can get lengths of cable and some ends? I need to make
up a long inner cable for a rear barke on a Peugeot tandem. No-one seems to
stock one that's long enough.

Longer than 3 meters?

"Rob Morley" wrote in message
t...
In article , "Peter Scott"
says...

again I'm looking at blobs of solder refusing to bond with the cable.

cheers Roy


Use acid flux (plumbers) and a blowlamp.

Get proper end-caps (cost next to nothing) and just crimp them gently on.
It does not need to be soldered. The end-caps are designed to be crimped.
Trust me, I've done a great many in my time and they've never come off
accidentally (you do want to be able to remove it sometimes to strip the
bike down without destroying the cable).




a

In article , "al"
says...
"Rob Morley" wrote in message
t...
In article , "Peter Scott"
says...

again I'm looking at blobs of solder refusing to bond with the cable.

cheers Roy


Use acid flux (plumbers) and a blowlamp.

Get proper end-caps (cost next to nothing) and just crimp them gently on.
It does not need to be soldered. The end-caps are designed to be crimped.

He's talking about nipples, not cable tidies.

"Rob Morley" wrote in message
t...
In article , "Peter Scott"
says...

again I'm looking at blobs of solder refusing to bond with the
cable.

cheers Roy


Use acid flux (plumbers) and a blowlamp.

Anyone know where I can get lengths of cable and some ends? I need to
make
up a long inner cable for a rear barke on a Peugeot tandem. No-one
seems to
stock one that's long enough.

Longer than 3 meters?

Erm.. I'll have to battle to the back of my shed where the
tandem has been languishing while I find a cable. I don't
think its more than 3m though. However none of the bike
shops in Norwich had one long enough when I last did
a trawl knowing the actual length.

This was the full range from small specialist shops to Halfords.
Do you know of an on-line supplier?

Peter Scott

Peter Scott wrote:

... tandem ...

This was the full range from small specialist shops to Halfords.
Do you know of an on-line supplier?

I'd try http://www.sjscycles.com/ - St John Street Cycles in Bridgwater,
who seem to have quite a thing for tandems, going by their ads in the
CTC (Cyclists' Touring Club) mag.

Also try the other suppliers listed on the Tandem Club's website -
http://www.tandem-club.org.uk/ - and their message boards.

HTH - Stefek

On Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:37:05 +0100, "Peter Scott"
wrote:

However none of the bike
shops in Norwich had one long enough when I last did
a trawl knowing the actual length.

I've _never_ seen a brake or gear cable set that was long enough for a
tandem. Tandems are rare, why make it in sets ? If you're a
tandemist, then you're expected to be capable of finding a Real LBS
with long reels.

Now, who knows a good source for Goretex or PTFE-lined gear cables for
tandems? I've only seen these in sets, not reels.

In article , "Peter Scott"
says...

"Rob Morley" wrote in message
t...
In article , "Peter Scott"
says...

again I'm looking at blobs of solder refusing to bond with the
cable.

cheers Roy


Use acid flux (plumbers) and a blowlamp.

Anyone know where I can get lengths of cable and some ends? I need to
make
up a long inner cable for a rear barke on a Peugeot tandem. No-one
seems to
stock one that's long enough.

Longer than 3 meters?

Erm.. I'll have to battle to the back of my shed where the
tandem has been languishing while I find a cable. I don't
think its more than 3m though. However none of the bike
shops in Norwich had one long enough when I last did
a trawl knowing the actual length.

This was the full range from small specialist shops to Halfords.

The shop I worked in many years ago always carried tandem inner wires
and bulk outer cable - I'd have thought that "proper" shops still
would.

Do you know of an on-line supplier?

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk

On Thu, 14 Apr 2005 20:37:05 +0100, "Peter Scott"
wrote:

Erm.. I'll have to battle to the back of my shed where the
tandem has been languishing while I find a cable. I don't
think its more than 3m though. However none of the bike
shops in Norwich had one long enough when I last did
a trawl knowing the actual length.

This was the full range from small specialist shops to Halfords.
Do you know of an on-line supplier?

Peter Scott

Hi,

Wiggle (.co.uk) do tandem ones at up to 2.5m, or try asking on
uk.rec.cycling

cheers,
Pete