1/8" Swage Eyes for wire rope railing

Discussion in 'Materials' started by FMS, Sep 8, 2012.

  1. FMS
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    FMS Senior Member

    I'm pricing swage eyes for a 1/8" wire rope railing. Does anyone sell these for less than $7 each?
    (It's not on a boat, it's on land.)
     
  2. alan white
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    alan white Senior Member

    They should be available in stainless for much less. What material do they have to be made from?
     
  3. Stumble
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    Stumble Senior Member

    FMS are you talking about the swag fitting or the thimble. For 1/8" wire either one should be less than $7.
     
  4. alan white
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    alan white Senior Member

  5. Petros
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    Petros Senior Member

    I bought some from Ace hardware for something like 49 cents each a few years ago. I do not see why you would spend 7 each, unless you are talking about something else. Even West Marine would be much less than that.
     
  6. alan white
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    alan white Senior Member

    I assume you mean sleeves (which look like tiny binoculars), which aren't usually available from a hardware store in copper, only in aluminum, which isn't as strong or resistant to salt.
    But use aluminum on land. Maybe use a pair instead of singles for added security.
    Aluminum costs about 7 cents apiece, stanless is available as well for a bit more, and copper is a lot more (but Hamilton must have made a mistake cause they're not THAT much).
    Do some more research and you'll see.
     
  7. FMS
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    FMS Senior Member

    No, not the sleeves. I am glad to have your thoughts on aluminum sleeves though for this land railing. Wires need to be every 3" which will require many fittings.

    I was searching for this type of eye end:
    http://www.fastenal.com/web/products/detail.ex?sku=0543867&ucst=t
    [​IMG]
    I couldn't locate a non-stailness version of this.

    Would I be able to bend 1x19 1/8" stainless or 1x19 3/16" galvanized around small thimbles without too much trouble, or would I need to switch to more flexible 7x7 wire rope to make the bend?
     
  8. alan white
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    alan white Senior Member

    Or 7 x 19. The 1 x 19 will be harder to wrap. I like the finer wire myself. It doesn't kink as bad and it coils nicely. I'm not sure how the 1 x 19 wraps.
    I see what you mean now. You would want a rigging loft to make up that type of stay. Many times people faced with replacing rigging use Norseman or Sta-lok type terminals, which can be done without special tools. They aren't cheap, however, compared to thimbles and sleeves.
     
  9. FMS
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    FMS Senior Member

    For this railing the stiff 1x19 has an advantage of not spreading as easily between posts.
    It may be too difficult to work around the thimbles for me without special tools.

    Another consideration is that I read that galvanized is easier to swage fittings on than stainless which may slip more?
    I don't know if I need to consider this.

    Thanks for the sta-lok and norseman leads. Those are similar to the easy fittings provided by do-it-yourself wire railing outfits; the deck railing versions cost $11-$13 each. That adds up when each stair break and 90-degree corner requires a set of 11.
     
  10. jonr
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    jonr Senior Member

    It might be better to use continuous cables that go through the posts instead of terminating the cable so often. Maybe epoxy the cable inside the post for reduced stretch.
     
  11. philSweet
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    philSweet Senior Member


  12. FMS
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    FMS Senior Member

    Thanks jonr. I will drill through each middle post and run the wires through.
    I've been told the cable can't bend around a 90 degree corner where the deck currently has a post in each corner as well as some inside corner (it's not a simple rectangle.) One solution to reduce end fittings is to remove the corner posts and add two posts 8" from each corner and run the wire at a 45 degree angle. These may need sleeves to prevent the angled holes from enlarging. I will still need to terminate the wire at each stairway on each side.

    Thanks Phil. I have seen ones similar to those. Compared to buying a 1000' bulk spool of wire, those will cost about $15-$16 per end fitting.
     
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