Swage Sleeves
Swage sleeves are casually referred to by a few different names- cable ferrules, cable crimp sleeves. Whatever term you prefer, they serve two main functions for wire ropes. They are generally used to terminate wire by forming loops (properly termed a Soft Eye or a Hard Eye), splice wires (Lap Splice). terminate wire rope as a stopper at the end of a line, anchoring the line and preventing its end from passing through other materials. Low Cost Wire offers swage sleeves that are made to meet high standards and safety guidelines.
What Is Swaging?
Swaging is a process that uniformly compresses a fitting to a “thing” – generally as a termination. (Hydraulic hoses have their fittings swaged. Plumbers can swage fittings to copper pipe. etc). Swaging a sleeve/ferrule to a wire rope terminates the end of a wire rope, either by creating an eye loop or simply adding a stopping point on the wire. A Swaging Sleeve is used to bind/splice a loop in a cord or hold back the end of a cord from passing beyond a fixed point. Swaging and Crimping are compared and contrasted in this article
Different Types of Swage Sleeves & Cable Ferrules?
There are two major categories of swage sleeves- duplex sleeves and simplex sleeves and three major shapes of swage-sleeves – Round, Oval, and Hourglass. Duplex sleeves are either oval-shaped or hourglass-shaped and designed to install eyes in a wire rope. Simplex sleeves are round and function more like bolts, creating a critical end to a wire rope without requiring a loop to be applied.
What is a Stop Sleeve?
Stop sleeves are sometimes also called buttons or button sleeves. A stop sleeve is a simplex sleeve that is usually circular shaped sleeve that attaches at the end of a wire rope. It anchors the line in a similar manner to how a bolt anchors a nut or screw. This creates a termination point at the end of a rope and will prevent the end of the rope from slipping through gaps and holes in other materials. Simplex sleeves are not as strong as duplex sleeves but are a simpler way to swage a cord as they do not require a loop or eye to be formed in the line. Our stop sleeves will stop fraying and are more solid alternatives to wire clips and thimbles.
Features Of Stop Sleeves:
- Prevent Fraying
- Made For Simple Swaging
- Can Often Be Installed Easily By Hand
- An Alternative To Wire Clips And Thimbles
- Available In Aluminum, Copper, And Zinc Materials
- Form A Stopping Point On A Wire Rope Without Requiring An Eye
What Are Oval Sleeves?
The oval sleeve is a well specified and oval-shaped swage sleeve that is designed to bind the end of a wire rope into a loop – using a controlled swaging process detailed here. At Low Cost Wire, our Stainless Steel Swage Sleeves are made with a classic oval shape. Because they are constructed from stainless steel, these sleeves offer the most resistance to corrosion.
Features Of Oval Sleeves:
- Stronger Than Stop Sleeves
- Used For Non-Critical Applications
- Made With Corrosive Resistant Stainless Steel
- Designed To Bind Together An Eye In A Wire Rope
What Are Hourglass Sleeves?
Hourglass sleeves are more commonly called crimp sleeves or double barrel sleeves, and like oval sleeves, they are duplex and engineered to bind together eyes in wire ropes. These are the smoothest Cable Crimp Sleeves and as the name implies, they are made in the shape of an hourglass using a crimping process described here. Our Hourglass Sleeves are available in various materials with plating to add resistance to corrosion.
Features Of Hourglass Sleeves:
- Stronger Than Stop Sleeves
- Smoothest Cable Crimp Sleeves
- Available In Aluminum Or Copper
- Used For Non-Critical Applications
- Available With Plating To Resist Corrosion
- Designed To Bind Together An Eye In A Wire Rope