shortening my clutch cable

DogBunny

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Been doing some tweaking on the Texas Scorcher. I kept the janky levers that came with it to save a buck. Problem is, with this lever, when properly set, the clutch cable adjuster has to be screwed pretty far out. This really bothers me.

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The correct solution would have been to cut a little off of this cable end, and then re-cast new solder around the cut end. This would have been pretty easy. The fitment of this cable end is not critical. The casting could have been crude, and then shaped with a Dremel. Unfortunately, I didn't think of this until I had already done the following more complicated fix:

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Instead of shortening the cable, I lengthened the sheath. Surely this has been done countless times by others. Here's how I did it using the Fred Flintstone tool kit:

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I salvaged this elbow from an old clutch cable, and cut it, saving the small piece that fits into the case cover.

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Chucked that cut piece in a big drill motor.

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And put the drill motor in my vice. This held the piece-o'-elbow steady while I drilled in to the end using a second drill motor. The drilled-out end will accept the elbow from my working cable.

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Next, I chucked the piece into a tap holder. This allowed me to hold the piece while I squared and shortened it a littler using a bench grinder.

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Cut a slot in it.

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And slipped it over the cable. The working elbow turned out to be a nice press fit in the bit-o'-elbow. I was going to slip a piece of heat-shrink over it, but it looks pretty good as is.

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Much better. Not the easiest way, shortening the cable probably would have been faster, but the silver lining is that what I did is reversible.
 
Nice workaround, DB! But there's no need to cast a new end on the cable. A bit of acetone to degrease, a cable end from www.flandersco.com, a bit of wire spreading at the end of the cable, and a dip in Ruby Fluid or other tinner's flux followed by a 20 second dip in melted 60/40 or 50/50 solid core solder, and you're good to go.
 
I do much the same thing as part of my KZ clutch lever and perch install, but use the other end of the elbow .....

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It's actually a bit easier than your method because after cutting it off and slotting it, no further modding is needed. The cable fits into it and it fits into the top of the elbow. Then you slide the cable boot down over it and all is hidden .....

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So, don't throw that cut elbow away yet, there's another spacer to be had from it, lol.

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Nice workaround, DB! But there's no need to cast a new end on the cable. A bit of acetone to degrease, a cable end from www.flandersco.com, a bit of wire spreading at the end of the cable, and a dip in Ruby Fluid or other tinner's flux followed by a 20 second dip in melted 60/40 or 50/50 solid core solder, and you're good to go.
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Nice. So that's how it's done. I surfed around and found the above pic that illustrates your post. It came from this how-to link:
https://shop.revivalcycles.com/content/venhill/CableConstruction copy.pdf
They mention a "bird cage tool" that makes the wire ball prior to soldering. It's pretty spendy, but nice for the mechanic who has to have everything, or if you are doing a lot of cable-making:
https://shop.revivalcycles.com/control-cable-bird-cage-tool-kit/
 
I do much the same thing as part of my KZ clutch lever and perch install, but use the other end of the elbow .....

eSgzrh2.jpg


LdbZRU0.jpg


It's actually a bit easier than your method because after cutting it off and slotting it, no further modding is needed. The cable fits into it and it fits into the top of the elbow. Then you slide the cable boot down over it and all is hidden .....

or0vdxF.jpg


So, don't throw that cut elbow away yet, there's another spacer to be had from it, lol.

lCEUnBM.jpg


QVRni48.jpg
Nice. Yeah that's quite a bit easier than what I did.
 
The birdcage tool looks kinda nice and I guess it might be worth $140 for somebody who produces a lot of cables as a specialty, but it isn't something you need for a solid job.The main thing is to spread the wire out into the little countersunk cup in the cable end just enough to form a block when solder adheres to the wire; you don't need to form a nice tidy "ball." If you wind up with a little too much protruding at a lever or throttle tube end, just clean up with a file. If the cable needs to flex near the fitting be sure not to dip too deep. It really is that easy.
 
They mention a "bird cage tool" that makes the wire ball prior to soldering. It's pretty spendy, but nice for the mechanic who has to have everything, or if you are doing a lot of cable-making:
https://shop.revivalcycles.com/control-cable-bird-cage-tool-kit/
They're easy to make... yeah... they grow legs too, I've made several. :rolleyes:
Clamp 2 pieces of steel aluminum about a half inch square in a vise. chuck up a drill bit 1 size smaller than the cable in your drill press and drill through the joint. larger bit to countersink it slightly. loosen the vise (or put it in a bench vise), slide the cable in, tighten the vise and bang away. You can use a punch like they did but I just usually smack it with the hammer.
Edit: guess I'll add that you can make a bunch of those for 140 bucks. :sneaky:
'nother edit: Thinkin' back... I'm thinkin' we used aluminum... :umm:
 
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They're easy to make... yeah... they grow legs too, I've made several. :rolleyes:
Clamp 2 pieces of steel aluminum about a half inch square in a vise. chuck up a drill bit 1 size smaller than the cable in your drill press and drill through the joint. larger bit to countersink it slightly. loosen the vise (or put it in a bench vise), slide the cable in, tighten the vise and bang away. You can use a punch like they did but I just usually smack it with the hammer.
Edit: guess I'll add that you can make a bunch of those for 140 bucks. :sneaky:
'nother edit: Thinkin' back... I'm thinkin' we used aluminum... :umm:
I thought the same thing -- would be pretty easy to make, if you think you will use it enough to justify the time... but not essential.
 
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