Lead out thimbles and bushings

[jim gilmore]

Ok, My Shark 402 is stuck on kme deciding on making the leadouts. First off From what  remember back in the day when I was 18 ish the bushings often were attached to the little packs that held scres and such in little bags. But in any event do they need to be bent down aqround the leadouts or are then fine as they are ?For those that use thimbles to crimp on the lines when you make your leadouts do you use pre-made thimbles or just cut some brass tubing off a certian size... I'm deciding which way to go here. I have leadout cable but because of the problem I had I have just cable. I got plenty of soft coper wire I can use if I decide to just wrap them. Just that wrapping them seems like a lot of work and my fingers are very nimble.

[Ralph Wenzel (d)]

For Thimbles, my preference is the 3436T12 Stainless thimble from McMaster-Carr. These also do double duty in nylon bellcranks as bushings.

I don't "crimp" lines or leadouts; I "swage" them - - there's a world of difference! A properly swaged union will develop the same working strength as the bare cable. Go to www.savacable.com - - (You'll have to work through one of their factory reps.)  They have both the sleeves and the swaging tools you need. Be sitting down, here, as the tools are not inexpensive. They are, however a lifetime investment, and it's probably easier if you can go in with a couple of friends to split the cost. Don't use regular brass tubing; it's just not the right size for a proper union.

[john e. holliday]

I quit using those little thimbles years ago when a local flyer showed me how he was doing his leadouts and lines.  At the time I was still using copper wire to wrap the ends with the thimble in the loop.  The thing I went to was getting some copper or brass tubing 1/16 inch diameter.  Run it thru a butane torch to red hot.  Makes it easy to bend.  Of course you have to sand off the discoloration.  I cut the tubing into 3/4 inch lengths as that seems to be easy to work with.  Slide the tubing over the leadout cable to a position you want so that when you are done wrapping you still have some leeway for control movement.  Then just wrap the cable after you bend the tubing around a small phillips screw driver or something about 1/8 inch diameter.   The tubing helps hold the cable while you are wrapping and if it slipped while bending you can still adjust the length with out too much effort.

But, after seeing Carl Shoupe's swagging set up I have not wrapped a set of lines or leadouts either.  He modifies needle nose pliers for the size tubing he shows.   They are 1/16  and 3/32.   We also use copper tubing and so far it has not failed if you keep swagging the tubing until done.  OhI know there are special swagging tools out there, but,  this set up works and takes very little time to do a set of lines.  Carl should be on the member list some where here. 

Hope the above makes sense as if you were here I could show you in half the time it took me to type it.  Have fun,  DOC Holliday

[jim gilmore]

Now I'm baffeled as well as confused.
I do not understand what your doing with the butane torch and bushing?
Also I've tried to figure out  what "Carl Shoupe's swagging set up I have not wrapped a set of lines or leadouts either" your statment about how Carl Shoupe's swagging set upworks.
I could not find any links on line So I'm still between wrapping or crimping.

[Bob Reeves]

Perhaps I can help....

Heating copper or brass tubing with a torch and letting it air cool makes it soft so it's easier to bend.. You should be able to find Carl's email address by searching the Members for his name.. Up at the top of this page is a "Members" link.

I still wrap but the trick is to have some means of holding both ends secure while you do the wrapping. For flying lines I use the line tying jig sold by Tom Morris. Wrapping leadouts is a little harder as you need some means to hold the airplane plus an anchor for the eyelet. You need 5 hands or a little ingenuity..

When I wrap leadouts I hold the airplane with my paint stand hardware and use an aluminum bracket attached to my line tying jig to hold the eyelet. This leaves my hands free to do the wrapping. I center the bellcrank and mark both cables with white-out. I found White-Out available at any office supply works great for marking lines, you can actually see it. As the Doc says a couple photos would really explain what I'm saying but couldn't find one of the line tying jig and haven't taken one of my leadout wrapping setup.