Fittings

Wire rope Fittings and Hardware enable the connection and manipulation of structural wire rope to various substrates or platforms. They are essential as wire rope cannot be trivially connected to equipment given it cannot be (conventionally) knotted and splicing is generally not an option for most users.

There are many different types, sizes, styles, and finishes of wire rope fittings/hardware which are suitable for most types of wire rope usage scenarios. Generally, fittings and hardware can be grouped into four general application classes of fittings which are Terminators, Connectors, Adjusters, and Anchors. This classification is suggested as a means of understanding the use of fittings and hardware with Wire Rope.

Terminators (terminals) secure the ends of wire rope, often forming loops or fasteners on the ends of a wire that enable secure attachment.
Connectors attach to Terminators and/or Adjusters and/or Anchors to form an additional link to facilitate the attachment of a terminated wire or chain.
Adjusters attach to Terminators and/or Connectors and/or Anchors and offer a means of dynamically shortening (Pulling/Tension Applications) or lengthening (Pushing/Compression Applications) or tightening (Holding/Static Applications)
Anchors are attached to Terminators and/or Connectors and/or Adjusters to offer a means of securing a wire to a substrate.

Terminators:

Thimbles: A wire rope thimble is used in wire rope hard eye terminations to prevent the wire rope eye from being crushed and reducing wear on the rope itself. When a wire rope is terminated with an eye at the end, it is called a “Soft Eye” if the thimble is not included. If a thimble is included to form the eye of the loop before the rope is secured in the ferrule or wire rope grip, then it is a “Hard Eye”
Grips (Bulldog Clamps): A wire rope grip or bulldog clip is used to clamp the ends of a wire rope after it has been looped back to form an eye – of any sort. It is strongly recommended that wire rope terminal eyes utilize a minimum of three wire rope grips, depending on the wire and application to properly secure the ends.
Crimps (Sleeves / Ferrules): Wire rope ferrules are also used to “clamp” wire rope ends using either a crimping process (hourglass ferrules) or a swaging process (oval ferrules). Properly applied oval shaped sleeves are uniformly crushed around the wire rope to form either sort of eye, an end stopper, or a lap splice on the wire rope assembly. This can be done either by hand tools (normally crimping) or via a hydraulic press (normally swaging). Manual pressing of any sort of ferrule is only recommended on smaller diameters of wire ropes.
Terminals: A wire rope terminal is a Terminator fitting that is permanently attached using a hydraulic press to the end of the wire rope using the swaging process. These come in a variety of forms and can be used instead of thimbles, wire rope grips or ferrules to achieve a termination. Please note that swaging – compared to crimping 0is a much more technical process. Swaging requires specialized tools and knowledge to adequately fit these types of fittings to wire rope in a way that achieves a connection that has reliable and predictable strength.

Connectors:

Links: These items provide an “eye” that can be opened and closed securely which allows them to link two other eyes (e.g. an anchor and a chain or terminated wire)
Rings: These items provide an “eye” that cannot be opened. They may be of a variety of shapes (Pear, Round, Triangular, Dee) and may also function as a Terminator in certain applications (e.g. Shade Sails)
Hooks: These items also provide a sort of weaker but more convenient “eye” (as compared to a Link). Gated versions can be opened and closed which allows them to link two other eyes (e.g. an anchor and a chain or terminated wire). They may be of a variety of shapes (Pear, Triangular, Asymmetrical) and may also function as a Terminator in certain applications (e.g. Shade Sails)
Shackles: A fitting that is extremely dimensionally diverse and often highly specialized or single duty in their design (e.g. Bow, Dee, Long, Twisted). They may be very strong (rated) and exist primarily to fasten a terminated wire or chain assembly to an anchor point in a substrate.
Swivels: These fittings provide a rotating join for terminated wire rope or chain so that it an excessive twisting load on the line can be avoided.
Pulleys: These fittings allow a terminated wire rope or chain to have the direction of force be manipulated. Specifically calibrated pulleys for chain are called gypsies.

Adjusters:

Turnbuckles: These for the original type of wire rope Adjuster fittings that are attached to terminated wire rope to adjust the effective length of wire rope. Turnbuckles generally have an open frame and typically consist of two threaded ends (one a RHT form and one a LHT form of a threaded connection such as a eye bolt, hook bolt, swaging bolt, threaded rod, etc), one at each end of a metal frame. The RHT and LHT allows the effective length of the wire rope can then be adjusted by rotating the frame.
Rigging screws: These are a stronger type of wire rope Adjuster fittings that are attached to terminated wire rope terminations to adjust the effective length of wire rope. Rigging Screws have an closed frame and typically consist of two threaded ends (one a RHT form and one a LHT form of a threaded connection such as a eye bolt, hook bolt, swaging bolt, threaded rod, etc), one at each end of a metal frame. The RHT and LHT allows the effective length of the wire rope can then be adjusted by rotating the frame.
Sockets: These are a simpler type of wire rope Adjuster fittings that are attached to wire rope terminated with an internal or external thread to adjust the effective length of wire rope. Sockets form a tube and typically use one RHT threaded end matching the terminal thread on the wire rope. Turning the RHT allows the effective length of the wire rope to be adjusted.

Anchors:

Eye Bolts: These are full thread bolts where the head is an Eye. Typically, eye bolts either screw into a threaded metal substrate (tapped either directly or with a Nutsert) or pass through and are secured by a nut on the back side of the substrate.
Hook Bolts: These are full thread bolts where the head is a Hook. Typically, Hook Bolts are either RHT or LHT and screw into a threaded metal substrate (tapped either directly or with a Nutsert) or pass through and are secured by a nut on the back side of the substrate.
Eye Screws: These are full or part thread screws where the head is an Eye. Typically, eye screws screw into a wooden substrate and use the full length of the lag thread to achieve a secure anchor.
Saddles: These are U or Staple shaped fittings that have flattened ‘feet’ that allow them to secured onto a substrate normally using a fastener (wood screw, metal screw, or rivet as appropriate). The resulting shape functions as a low profile “eye”.
Eye Pads (Plates): These are U or Staple shaped fittings that have plate or pad which has multiple holes. This plate is the means that allow them to secured onto a substrate normally using a fastener (wood screw, metal screw, or rivet as appropriate). The resulting shape functions as a low profile “eye”.
Posts: These are rigid rods with multiple holes that can hold terminated wire in a tensioned manner. This firring has an internal thread that can be coupled with Allthread or a Double Threaded screw that allows it to behave in a manner analogous to an Eye Bolt or an Eye Screw.
U-Bolts: These are U or Staple shaped anchors that have threaded ‘ends’ that allow them to secured onto a substrate by passing through and are secured by a nut on the back side of the substrate. The resulting shape functions as a large, low profile “eye”.