Thoughts on fibre cored cable

[JPH]

Hello:

A while back in the chatroom (as well as here on the boards) some folks brought up welding cable and what to do if you get some with a fibre/sisal or plastic core.

Well having stumbled recently over some 1 1/4" dia Ximp PS steel wth the firbre core myself I decided to go against my Dr's wishes and try to see if I could actually do ANYTHING and I figured I would do some "investigation" of sorts and solve the cable dilemma.

Well, no need to worry about the fiber core..just remove it. Simply take the cable strand apart, remove the fibre, clean out as much of the asphaltum lube as you can and bundle it back together as best as you can into a "cable like shape". Now I used bailing wire to hold everything together while I welded the ends.

Now here is the tricky part. Having tried several pieces the use of a bottom "V" swage makes all the difference in the world while welding it up. This "holds" the strands together and helps form them into a solid bar. Weld both ends first and then twist like other cable then weld down the length. It went together just fine, and while you do not have as much material as you would in a non-fibre cored piece the size left for 1 1/4" is just under 1" solid round bar and that is still a healthy amount of material.

Actually the hardest part for me was using the hammer. Looks like I am down to a 4#r for a while until I can get up to my usual 8#r again. Boy I felt it and I am "good" for only about an hour of hammer time even at that light of weight...But I am certain that it'll be just a little while longer and I should be back into "full swing".

Just thought I would share my "reflections on fibred cable"...since there was some interest a while back.

Hope this helps.

JPH

[Mike Turner]

Jim,

Good to see you doing some work just be careful.


I think you have supplied some very good info here for those guys that are trying to use this type of cable.

[JPH]

Mike:

Like I said there were questions raised and since I never really used that particular type of cable before I really didn't have anything other than a SWAG to give..I didn't think that there would be much of a problem other than holding it together and then I remembered my talk I had at length with the venerable Wayne Goddard when welded cable first "hit on the scene" back in the late 1970's early 1980's and he said he was welding up a bundle of 3/8" diameter stuff and going on from there. (geeze I am getting long in the tooth...)

So I figured what the heck..the strands on what I have are about 3/8ths so I gave it a go..Welded up fine and the bottom swage "holds it still" and helps shape it right while you put the whammy on it...

I am looking forward to seeing what kind of pattern distortion I get from this as in the all steel stuff I do I usually get repeated hexagons down the center of a double edged blade. I think this will probably be a bit of a jumble due to the fact that it is just "slapped together". But as in all things yet tried..we will see. I am really not all that keen on welded cable myself..but it is a great seller for me...The "Living Legend" Mr. Bill Bagwell swears by it..whereas I usually swear AT it so...

I just hope I helped out the folks that asked about this a while back.

On the Dr front..Just got back from PT and all is progressing quite good..I even got the "official release" to "light duty"...what ever that is... so I guess my 4# hammer is "light duty" cause it's only half the weight of my usual hammer??

JPH

[dablacksmith]

ha light duty means you get to light the forge ... not hit anything.....i sympathize with the not being able to hit things ... a few years ago i broke bolth arms at the wrist and was out for a few months... almost went nuts wanting to makeing something anything! You might go down to a 2 lb hammer for a bit .. and just take longer to make things..might be better in the long run..good luck!