Making your own control cables

[Froth]

Has any one made their own cables? I need to make a non-standard throttle cable for my RD (different carbs) and have a bit of an idea how to do it but I have had a few failures when it come to making and joining the nipples to the cable. Any ideas?

[Ixion]

I used to make my own for years. Then got lazy, and stopped. Now I've started again, cos dealer prices for ready made for Jappers are absurd.

It's very easy PROVIDED you have a good heat source for the soldering. Electronic type soldering iron is no good. I use a oxy torch VERY CAREFULLY, with a #8 tip and a very very very small flame. A propane torch or butane torch would be better , oxy is a bit harsh. You must NOT overheat the steel cable (DON'T GET IT RED HOT) or you'll ruin it's temper and it'll break.

I generally use silver solder, but hard tinman's solder (from hardware store, not Dick Smiths ) is OK.

You need a good SHARP cold chisel. Use it to cut the inner and out cables to length, assemble the cable (don't forget the ferrules, I always do). Tap the ferrules with a sharp centre punch to retain them.

Fit the nipple, and splay the cable out a bit and use a rivet punch to push the steel down into the little bowl in the nipple. The really important thing to understand is that you are NOT soldering the nipple to the cable - you could never get such a joint strong enough. What you are doing is splaying the steel cable into the bowl of the nipple, then filling the bowl with solder so that the force on the cable wont strighten it out and pull the nipple off. Run the solder down between the cable and nipple to stop the nipple turning or twisting.

Do the other end and you're done. Takes about 10 minutes for a cable. Easy peasy, harder to describe than do

Hardest part is getting the makings, Mt Eden Motorcycles will sometimes sell you some at a reasonable price. Othertimes they ask something silly, I think they make the price up on the spot.Otherwise there is a brake and clutch place in Hamilton that specialises in it, I'll check for their name.

[Froth]

Wow! thanks Ixion. Question tho; where do you get the nipples from? Can you make em out of brass or steel or even lead maybe?

[Ixion]

Wow! thanks Ixion. Question tho; where do you get the nipples from? Can you make em out of brass or steel or even lead maybe?

Well, you can buy them, which is easiest. Or make them yourself, in the lathe. Brass alloy. I'd buy them if possible, it's fiddly work. Mr Motu makes his own, ask him for any hints. For small ones , like on the ends of throttle cables, I don't bother with a nipple just splay the cable end and run a blob of silver solder direct on the wire, then file to shape.

EDIT: Throttle cables are easy because there is so little load. Clutch ones need more care. I prefer the free floating barrel type rather than the soldered barrel. I suggest you leave brake cables until you've some experience, a broken brake cable could be embarrassing. Or worse.

[Froth]

K. I'll buy some silver solder tommorrow. I think I'll use bicycle brake cable being as it is just a throttle cable.

[Ixion]

K. I'll buy some silver solder tommorrow. I think I'll use bicycle brake cable being as it is just a throttle cable.

Yes, bicycle cable is good for throttles, just check that the size is OK for the groove in your twist grip.

[WINJA]

IVE MADE AND REPAIRED NUMEROUS CABLES BY PUTTING A BLOB OF SILFOS OR EASY FLOW ON THE ENDS

[HCW]

Your local bike shop should be able to get ' do it yourself ' throttle cable kits made by WFO, supplied by Darbis (I think). But this is the way I do it.
I heat up a tiny steal bowl of solder with the gas torch, dip the cable with the nipple in place into flux then into the molten solder. Practice on spare cable first.
Good luck.

[Ixion]

Go kart places are a good source for this sort of stuff.

[FROSTY:Me]

I Know youre miles away but atomic wreckers on barrys poit road carry the gubbings for cables.
Mind you just a thought -before ya go reinventing the wheel -It might pay to russle around your local wreckers shelves-There may be a premade cable thats exactly what ya need

[Motu]

I use 1/4 brass or steel rod for the clutch end,dill the hole first,countersink,then cut off the rod,saves farting around with a small nipple.I had some real small tube for carb ends,but every cable I junk now I remove and save the nipples,then it's easy cause they are already tinned.I'm pretty sure they were in a Vicks Vapourub jar,but buggered if I can find it now....Careful with the Easyflow method,sure it makes a strong joint,but it's so easy to overheat the strands.OE cable is nylon lined,bulk cable isn't,so don't expect them to be as good,but atleast you can lube them easier.

[lb99]

shift away all the spotting gear and use the element on the stove for doing cables, its better than a soldering iron and less llikely to overheat the cable and make it brittle like a gas torch.
I use cable kits for pushbikes for throttle cables, I got about 1.5 mtr of inner and outer and some ends of local bike shop for about $8 I think.
I kept snapping the Brake cable on my XT400, then one day I got desperate, and used the stove and some flux cored electrical solder for a quick fix, as far as I know that cable is still on the bike. I even (accidentally) pulled a stoppie on it once, all I ever did was stretch the cable.
Engeneering supplies outfits like Paykels shold have all the gear you need for heavier cables.
I have also used steel rod for cable ends when there is nothing else available
I have never had a home made cable fail, but you need to be quite confident in your skills if you want to make brake cables, they hold your life in balance.

[Ixion]

Brake cables are also a pain because they often use a swaged on steel piece at the end, that has the adjusting thread on it. Even if you salvage the end from the old cable you can't easily reuse it because of the swaging. Fortunatley cable brakes are now rare.

[CDFloss]

Talk about resurrecting a thread!

My clutch cable pulled out of the ferrule (or metal-end-bung-thingy as its probably more commonly known). Looks like it was either a shitty cable, or was previously repaired, badly.

I trimmed a few mm off the end to get a nice clean tip, and torched the old solder off the ferrule (which looks like it might be copper).
Now I know how to re-solder a cable to satisfactory standards (since a new one is apparently going to take 10 working days from Jappan ) - but where can I buy the necessary solder and flux in Wellington? Would somewhere like Mitre 10 have this, or would I need to find a more specialist store?

Cheers
Dave

[Ixion]

It's the nipple actually. The ferrule is the little silver cappy thingy wotsit that goes over the end of the outer cable to keep it neat and tidy.

The nipple will be brass.

Mitre 10 should have the solder you need, and more importantly, the flux. You want tinmans solder (not electricians) , and Duzall flux (in the little green bottle). Be sure to wash the cable throughly after it's done. the flux is corrosive.