came across an idea for a crimper

[mobile_bob]

last week i had to travel about 170miles on a service call for a damaged wiring harness, hd sterling boom truck.

it had a pair of 10 gauge fusible links butt connected into a #2 cable coming off the starter, i planned ahead
as best i could based on what info the driver provided, but as usual his info was dreadful.

the long and short was i got it temporarily fixed up and back to his home depot, where i came back the following day
to effect permanent repairs

the problem was the #2 butt connector, hd trucks use 4/0,3/0,2/0 sometimes 1/0, then #4,6,8,10 etc

i needed a crimper for #2 and stopped at my local supplier to check out what he had, well he had just what i needed
it had a rotary head with selectable dies, which was nice, capable of 1/0, down to #8 (including the needed #2)
made in taiwan. i asked how much?  he told me 176 bucks!

the larger pair which handles up to 4/0 cable was 380 bucks!  holy crap

i managed with the 18 dollar hammer set crimper i had on hand, but i got to thinking about how the boys over at
otherpower.com do things, they buy 2 or 3 different sizes of bolt cutters from harbor freight and grind the jaws to
provide for the crimp.

went down to harbor freight and bought a 16" for 12 bucks, and a 24" for 18 bucks, and set out to rework the smaller
pair for 1/0 and #2 (there is enough jaw to get both in one set), formed the slot on the bench grinder and finished with a dremel
tool and rotary stone, and worked at it until i got a nice crimp on the two sizes.

it took about 20 minutes to make a very useful tool, that does everything the 176 dollar tool does, (except it only does two sizes)
for 12 bucks and 20 minutes of work.

the crimps it makes are nearly effortless, apparently much easier than using the same tool for cutting off a lock or a bolt.

i will probably go back and get another 16" pair and make it into a #4 and #6 and i think i can crowd in a #8 in the same set of jaws.

the larger pair i bought today will end up being a 2/0 and probably a 4/0, the length of the jaws look long enough to handle both.

in the end i should have all the bases covered with three tools, for a small fraction of the store bought small pair cost.

just thought i would pass this along fwiw

bob g

[vdubnut62]

Go Bob!
The same thing works for crimping high tensile fence connectors also
Ron

[LowGear]

There's a fellow on Ebay that does something like this for Pex compression rings.  We throws in a set of non modified blades just in case you need to cut a bolt or padlock.  I think he "Buy It Now"s them for $50 plus shipping. 

You might check with the tool store.  They often have bolt cutters in the back room with just a tip broken off.  Still lots of room for modifications.  Now I don't want any of you going into the connector tool business on Ebay but it sounds like mobile_bob has a great product and they might even qualify for "Made in the USA"!

LowGear

[rcavictim]

That's a good idea Bob!  I have thought of doing the same thing when the day comes I need a large wire crimper.