Anyone rewire old stoppers?

I have a lot of old 1970's stoppers. Some show rust & couple I took big screamers on. Permanently retired, or does any company rewire?

I have a hard time seeing any company taking the risk for a couple bucks. Couple other possibilities:

• Find a small machine shop with the right tools and willingness
• Drill ‘em out and put some 5.5 mil tech cord through them (if they’re big enough)
• See if any museums, collectors want them (donation or small cost)

https://www.mcmaster.com/products/swages/wire-rope-compression-sleeves-for-lifting/ 

swages are easy to do, you should be able to rent the tool. If done properly they retain full strength of the wire rope. Finish with a bit of clear heat shrink if you want to be fancy.

Eli Wwrote:

https://www.mcmaster.com/products/swages/wire-rope-compression-sleeves-for-lifting/ 

swages are easy to do, you should be able to rent the tool. If done properly they retain full strength of the wire rope. Finish with a bit of clear heat shrink if you want to be fancy.

If done properly.... but are you just going to blindly trust that you did it properly the first time. If you did it 100 times how are you guaranteeing that each time was done properly. Big companies that do this stuff are constantly pull testing off the line. As an individual you don't have that luxury.

The cost to rewire would probably be similar to the cost of some new second hand stoppers. If you like them for the look hang them up on display. 

Matthew Bellwrote:

If done properly.... but are you just going to blindly trust that you did it properly the first time. If you did it 100 times how are you guaranteeing that each time was done properly. Big companies that do this stuff are constantly pull testing off the line. As an individual you don't have that luxury.

There are size criteria that apply to swaging. Pull tests are great, but I believe the operational standard is to check the size post crimping. It's not rocket surgery.

Gunkiemikewrote:

There are size criteria that apply to swaging. Pull tests are great, but I believe the operational standard is to check the size post crimping. It's not rocket surgery.

If that's a process you're willing to bet your life on... Just be sure to let your partner know that you swagged your own wires and that they're not certified. Not everyone has the same risk tolerance. To me that would be unacceptable. 

Matthew Bellwrote:

If done properly.... but are you just going to blindly trust that you did it properly the first time. If you did it 100 times how are you guaranteeing that each time was done properly.

https://www.nicopress.com/categories/tool-gauge

You can definitely screw it up... but this gauge is a pretty good way to assure it's done correctly, all other things being equal.

It is important to use a quality swage  that matches the wire size. 

For me it is not practicle to do this for your rack gear but i do it all the time for anchors and permas and fixed pro.

Like bolting, this kind of work is not for everyone!

Marc Hwrote:

I have a hard time seeing any company taking the risk for a couple bucks. 

And yet multiple companies will replace sewn slings on cams for a couple bucks.

Allen Sandersonwrote:

And yet multiple companies will replace sewn slings on cams for a couple bucks.

Cams are worth more money so it makes more sense to repair them. A chock is only worth a few dollars. I think it’s easier to visually see the integrity of a bar tack vs swage, as well. 

Matthew Bellwrote:

If that's a process you're willing to bet your life on... Just be sure to let your partner know that you swagged your own wires and that they're not certified. Not everyone has the same risk tolerance. To me that would be unacceptable. 

You ever ridden in a car with someone that does their own brakes?

Austin Shaverwrote:

You ever ridden in a car with someone that does their own brakes?

There's no certifying body for brakes. This is into the territory of experimental airplanes and packing your own parachute from a youtube video. Can it be done safely? Sure? Is it a higher level of risk tolerance? Absolutely. 

Marc Hwrote:

Cams are worth more money so it makes more sense to repair them. A chock is only worth a few dollars. I think it’s easier to visually see the integrity of a bar tack vs swage, as well. 

Moot point on the value of a cam vs a nut, it is all about liability (which was your original point). And incorrect assumption on the integrity.

Allen Sandersonwrote:

Moot point on the value of a cam vs a nut, it is all about liability (which was your original point). And incorrect assumption on the integrity.

Re-slinging a cam costs less than 10% of its replacement cost. Replacing the wire and swaging would likely run 25-50% of replacing it. I don’t think that’s a moot point. Companies won’t bother setting up for a service that isn’t financially beneficial—in addition to taking on the risks.

You must have better eyes than me if you can see inside of a swage.

Marc Hwrote:

Re-slinging a cam costs less than 10% of its replacement cost. Replacing the wire and swaging would likely run 25-50% of replacing it. I don’t think that’s a moot point. Companies won’t bother setting up for a service that isn’t financially beneficial—in addition to taking on the risks.

You must have better eyes than me if you can see inside of a swage.

Marc, re-read your posts you continue to change your argument. First it was about liability now about replacement cost. Make up for mind. Further, I said nothing about seeing inside swag. With either it can be difficult to visually asses. 

Allen Sandersonwrote:

Marc, re-read your posts you continue to change your argument. First it was about liability now about replacement cost. Make up for mind. Further, I said nothing about seeing inside swag. With either it can be difficult to visually asses. 

Sometimes there are multiple reasons for things. I didn’t change my argument; I added to it. 

There is a local industrial rigging shop near me that could probably do the work competently.  I'm sure they are swaging wires that are being used in life-critical applications regularly.  I echo the sentiment that it probably isn't worth the cost though, I bet they would be at least $10/swage for the time and materials which is 2/3 the cost of a new single nut.  I'd be better off just buying new and knowing it is coming off a consistent assembly line as part of a batch that is tested in a statistically significant ratio.  Cams have a different cost to renew vs cost to replace ratio and hopefully the places that are re-slinging cams are doing it in a repeatable process and testing in significant quantities for the specific materials and patterns they are using.

Old nuts make great zipper pulls, keychain fobs, etc. 

Swaging is dead simple and visually verifying that the swage was done correctly with the appropriate tool is also easy. 

Matthew Bell wrote:

There's no certifying body for brakes. This is into the territory of experimental airplanes and packing your own parachute from a youtube video. Can it be done safely? Sure? Is it a higher level of risk tolerance? Absolutely.

As someone who does his own brake jobs and has helped people out with building and maintaining their experimental airplanes, I can confirm to you that this is way more on the doing your own brakes side of the spectrum than building an experimental airplane side of the spectrum. Follow like two simple steps and you won't fuck it up-- there simply isn't much to learn about doing it properly. 

If you're really concerned about it ask for some advice from someone who does swaging professionally like Skot from Skot's Wall Gear. That dude is super helpful and I'm sure wouldn't mind taking a few minutes to go over how to do it or giving feedback on work done. Buy a T shirt or two or some gear off of him after and it's a fair deal. 

But again I think even that is overkill because:

1. There are very few steps involved
2. It is very easy to learn how to do
3. It is very easy to check that the swage was done correctly with the appropriate tool

Is it possible to fuck up? Sure. But five to ten minutes of reading will make sure you have sufficient information. You could build a 9-1 between a couple trees and put 7-10kN on them probably which is more than they'd ever see in the real world if you really want to be extra, extra sure. 

Allen Sandersonwrote:

And yet multiple companies will replace sewn slings on cams for a couple bucks.

The bar tack machine has greater depth of use possible use cases I would imagine than swaging tools.

Possibly more important, wire rope has indefinite life, soft goods do not, and thus we have a need for reslinging at a much higher rate, justifying the demand.

And of course cost to repair ratio. 10-15ish bucks for a new nut? Why fix it. (unfortunate reality)