How Well Do Hand Crimped Fittings Hold Up?

This is an owner installed project using our cable package in his wooden railing system. Cable used was 3/16" stainless 316 alloy marine grade with threaded studs at both ends; one factory swaged and the other hand crimped by the homeowner. The front run had six each; 45 degree turns using two posts per corner and was roughly 60 feet. A large tree on the southwest side of the house was knocked down during a windstorm. It landed at one end of the long front run near the end where the hand crimped threaded studs were used.

Not one cable was pulled from the field crimped fittings! One cable had one of the 49 wires broken so we replaced that with a new one and made a choker with the damaged cable to log the debris from the site. All but one of the cables you see all twisted in the photos were reused with our longer studs so the replacement posts could be placed in the original positions as with the original cable. The original hand crimped threaded studs had to be cut off from one end of the cable to get the cable out of the posts. The photos are mixed showing the damage and subsequent repairs. Mountains in the background are the Olympics as seen from the east side of Hood Canal near Bremerton looking to the west. Try this with glass or an aluminum frame using glass or pickets.

(Click any thumbnail for a closer look.)

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American Metal Specialties provides ready-to-install railings, cable assemblies, and fittings for contractors and do-it-yourself building enthusiasts.

We serve the entire U.S. including Alaska and Hawaii and can arrange shipments internationally.