Forum: bicycles.stackexchange.com
Tags: <maintenance><preventative-maintenance>
Title: What can I use for a DIY cable end?
Question: I am in a pinch and need something to crimp onto the end of my brake cable to stop it fraying. There aren't any hardware shop's nearby and its a long way to the nearest bike shop.  Any household object that'll do the job?  Any good stop-gap until I can get a proper part?

Answers:
sents: text: You can cut an aluminum soda can into a small strip and wrap that around and fold it like a tiny burrito into the end.
text: Crimp with pliers.
text: Picture lovingly misappropriated from http://billgrady.com/wp/2002/11/14/how-to-wrap-a-burrito/
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/11160/RoboKaren
score: 13
sents: text: The empty ink-tube of a ballpoint pen makes good cable ends.
text: The metal ones may be squeezed into place.
text: If you have a plastic one cut off 1 cm, put over the cable end and heat with a flame.
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/10401/Carel
score: 9
sents: text: I usually use an old spoke nipple.
text: Slide it over the end and crimp with an electrical (stake-on/solderless connector) crimper.
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/3083/mikes
score: 7
sents: text: I have actually used these options: Epoxy glue:
text: let it dry a little before applying.
text: It is too liquid just after mixed, so let it dry and use it like if it were modelling putty.
text: Thin cooper wire from a telephone cord.
text: Wounded it around the end of the cable.
text: It would look like a bass guitar string.
text: Solder wire applied cold, wound a couple of turns and crimp it with pliers.
text: Thin metal office supplies used for holding pieces of paper together (fasteners and similar) cut into small pieces and crimped with pliers.
text: Failed attempts were made with masking tape, electrical tape and duct tape.
text: Soldering it was also a fail for me, the molten solder would not adhere to the steel cable, that's why I ended just crimping it.
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/2177/Jahaziel
score: 6
sents: text: Wrap it tightly with electrical/gaffa tape?
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/11489/linguamachina
score: 3
sents: text: Anyone with a roll of lead-based solder can hammer it out against an iron plate to make a thin foil, then wrap the cable with it, and finally "swage" it by hammering it down.
text: The soft lead will press into the cable gaps and should create a very tight nipple.
text: I tried this at the handlebar end with not such good results, trying to jerry-rig a cable anchor: although the foil layer touching the cable does swage in well, the outer layers are too brittle to hold well together.
text: It's like trying to make a sandwich out of phyllo dough, the gaps make for a crumbly product.
text: I imagine it'd be pretty easy to make a little baby crucible out of steel, stone, or something else that melts at a higher temperature than lead.
text: It would be a mold for the anchor.
text: It would include a slot where you lay the cable halfway through it.
text: Then, stuff the cavity with solder (melt it in, jam your iron in, use a torch, whatever).
text: That should make for a good DIY anchor, meaning you could buy cable in bulk and make your own cables.
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/49488/Pete Zelchenko
score: 3
sents: text: I use normal solder - this keeps the strands together and negates the need for a cap.
text: I thread the cable and then solder where I will cut, and then trim the excess off.
text: Note this method leaves a sharpish point still.
text: The trick is preparation... if you have stainless steel cables then they don't take solder too well.
text: You need to clean the end with a solvent to remove any grease, sand it or file it some to abrade the surface, use some flux liquid and a decently hot soldering iron.
text: Silver solder works better but is definitely overkill for a bike cable.
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/19705/Criggie
score: 2
sents: text: If you have a soldering iron and some solder, that may stop it from fraying further, but won't make it any less sharp.
text: You could consider a bit of alu foil, but I doubt this would stay on.
text: Perhaps with some glue suitable for metal?
text: Perhaps a small cable tie done up super-tight with pliers?
answer_details: author: bicycles.stackexchange.com/users/5337/James Bradbury
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
There are numerous suggestions for making a DIY cable end. These include a strip from an aluminum soda can, an old spoke nipple, solder wire, paper clips, empty ink tube of a ballpoint pen, epoxy glue and metal glue.
A piece of metal from a can, a piece of copper wire or cold solder wire can be wrapped around and hammered down or crimped with pliers. The wire can be coved with a spoke nipple, ballpoint pen cap or cable tie. The end can be glued or soldered, but it may be difficult to get the solder to adhere to the cable.