"bendex" cable end

[Briangoldcoast]

I broke the flexible drive inside a light hand held 'dremel'
a few days ago.
The cable is the standard sort of flexible cable I once knew as a 'bendex' cable. The sort of thing that drove speedos and such.

I dimly remember that the guys in the toolroom could somehow swage a 'square end' onto broken cables at times to get our production out of trouble while a new cable was being ordered.

I have messed around with my arc welder and very thin rods (Unsucessfully), and trying to form a 'solid' end by soaking in soft solder prior to some hammering and filing (unsucessfully).

Is there any 'dark side' secret I can use to get a bit more use out of this cable, or is it into the bin and try and source a new one?
Thanks as always
Brian

[.RC.]

I will be keen to see if there are any answers Brian... I have been bottom raped many times by having to pay for cables for vehicles that have broken, nearly always one end pulls off.... The best was $500 for a handbrake cable for our truck.. I have no idea why no one seems to be make up cables at a respectable price, at least in this part of the world... Might be different in the capital cities...

[KBs PensNmore]

Hi Brian, I think the ends are heated and then pressed/swaged in a forming block. If you want one, let me know as I have a spare assy that I post up to you. There should be some place in Brisbane, that would be able to make one for you cheaper than Dremel.
Only quick repair that I can think of, is to drill a hole in a small piece of bar, silver solder/loctite ??? the end of the cable into it, then file the end square, problem will be is there enough room?
Kryn

[Michael G]

Another name they are known by is "Bowden cable"
I'd try crimping before soldering, simply because the solder can wick up the flexible cable making it not.
A tight fit hole and some bearing locker may make it more solid when crimped.

Michael

[China]

This mob would be capable of doing it https://www.flexibledrive.com.au/index.php although I doubt you find it less expensive than a cheeply made dremel component

[Gammaboy]

It's probably cheaper to buy an entire Ozito dremel knock off from Bunnings for it's cable than buying a dremel cable...

[Briangoldcoast]

Thanks Kryn and Michael---I still havent had any luck--but if I do you will be the first to know--RC
regards
Brian

[TheNutter]

I have got myself out of trouble with that type of cable by making up a steel end, centre drilling it, feeding the cable through it and then putting a MIG spot on the end. I would then put it back and order a replacement.

Ian

[Oldneweng]

I had to fix one of these cables from a multitool line trimmer. It was about 6mm diameter which made it a bit easier to work with. I made up an end on the lathe from a bit of steel rod and I think I used a grub screw. That is not going to work in your case.

Ian's idea with the spot of mig is a good one except usually the cable has broken and is now a bit short.

I will be interested to hear the result in case I need to do it again. I went thru quite a bit of hassle getting a replacement cable, but I finally got 2 of them for about $9 each.

I have watched Doubleboost with his flexible dial indicator holder repair. He had a lot of trouble getting the end to stay on. "This will not come off again". Not until he tried it anyway. lol

I want to make up a brake cable for a quad bike I am fixing up. It is a 1982 model. I have not been able to find a cable to suit it. Single to double cable for front drums. I was going to pinch the handbrake cable off my old Falcon and make one up. How to fit the ends?

Dean

[Briangoldcoast]

Well I don't know how long it will last, but further to the advice here, I turned a piece of shaft, and centre drilled it to take the cable size (on the lathe), then squared it by hand filing. I then heated it enough to melt soft solder and used the residual heat to 'suck' some solder in around the join.
I then centre popped a few places around the thin wall to dimple the 'tube' and hopefully grip the cable.
The outer casing needed to be shortened and that was a simple hacksaw job.
It needed a small shroud and nut re attached to the outer cable (more dimples) and that's it.
Seems to run ok with no load.
Thanks everyone for your input.
Sorry RC and Dean, I doubt this will work for a vehicle application.