Removing a Swage Fitting on a steering cable

[Eric30]

In order to repair my chain to cable steering I need to remove the swage fitting on one end of the cable without damaging the cable. Someone at my dock has the correct tool to place a new fitting on the cable once I am finished. Attached are a few pictures of similar fittings. I am not 100% sure of the material.

Any thoughts on the proper way to remove the fitting?

 

[Glyn Judson]

Keeping your loop intact.

Dear friend, The solution I came up with for the same problem might be of help to you. In my case, the welded eye of the stainless steel eyebolt in the swaged loop at the quadrant literally fell apart at the weld from crevice corrosion. I was faced with replacing the entire cable on both ends of the chain because the other eyebolt weld had the same problem and eventually disintegrated under slight pressure as I deliberately cranked on it with a screwdriver. If your dilemma is similar and you can get close enough to the eye bolts to cut them off the cable loop with a hacksaw, you might consider replacing those eyebolts with threaded T-bolts like these: http://shop.torresen.com/ships_stor...&sectionid=5559&imgsize=large&imgsize=regular For some reason I can't find threaded ones in the on-line West Marine Catalog but that's where I bought a pair of them years ago for a bit under $12.00 per. Hope this helps or inspires you to come up with a fix of your own. Good luck, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA

 

[Eric30]

Thanks Glyn. I had a plan that if I had to cut the end off the cable I could go with a swagless fitting like one of these:
http://www.secosouth.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=norseman_swageless_eye

But the project would be completed faster if I could remove swag fitting then place a new one on when I was finished.

 

[Glyn Judson]

Cable fitting.

Dear friend, That Norseman fitting looks good but please consider how you will be able to tension the cable now or in the future with that fitting alone. I believe they are commonly used in conjunction with a turnbuckle, thus the immediate advantage of a T-bar fitting. Go for what works for you best, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey CA

 

[Afrakes]

Angle Grinder

Use a 4" angle grinder with a thin cutoff wheel if you have the room to work. Don't cut all the way through. Just enough to weaken the crimped fitting. Lock two vise grip pliers on either side of the cut and flex the piece back and forth until it separates. The piece to be cut has to be held firmly or you won't be able to control the depth of cut with the grinder. Al Frakes, Port Kent, NY

 

[mherrcat]

Those are "nicopress" fittings. I would try using a Dremel tool with a cut-off wheel to cut through the nicopress sleeve. I would cut longitudinally along the sleeve where the wire folds against itself underneath to avoid damaging the wire. In fact, I would try to not cut completely through the sleeve at all, but get as close to almost through as possible and then pry the sleeve apart with the tip of a screwdriver.

If it were a true swage fitting I wouldn't try to cut it off and re-use the wire at all. My understanding of a swage fitting is that it compresses the wire to such a degree that it would be unusable for putting on another swage fitting. You would have to cut the wire above the swage and then put another fitting on.

(Ha! Al beat me to it while I was typing!)

 

[Eric30]

Thanks so much for your opinions guys. I was going to go the hacksaw route, the Dremel or angle grinder and a couple of visegrips sounds like a much better plan.

 

[Eric30]

So I was about to dremel the swage fitting to fix my pedestal steering, then I thought I should have another set of eyes look at this. I called a nearby yard and within two hours my steering is repaired. Looks like I will be sailing this weekend!

 

[Randy Rutledge]

What was the repair that the yard made?????? Share the knowledge.