You're a great teacher. As soon as I had the question of "What happens if that little ferrule at the end comes off inside that can?" popped into my head I hear you say "If I pulled on this with a pair of pliers, the cable would break before that popped off." Amazing intuitive sense for relaying information and answering our questions preemptively.

I used to use one of these in a few spots in the APU bay of a Bombardier CRJ - sometimes it's the only way to do the lockwire without being a wizard or putting 6 hours on the task card. They're handy, but I found the bulkiness of the ratcheting mechanism meant they didn't always fit. The one I used had replaceable noses so you could sneak it into harder to reach places, but every once in a while the engineers come up with a spot that is truly magical.

20 years of working on B-52s and KC-135s and I got to where I did most safety wiring by hand, no pliers. Attended an A&P school and one of the projects we had to complete was a board with all kinds of fittings and connectors that had to be hand safetyed. I turned mine in and the instructor accused me of using safety wire pliers. I had to have three people tell him I did it by hand before he believed me. Even made me do it in front of him. I told him I safetyed about 50 times a day on aircraft before he gave me a pass.

I used to work for the company that makes the lube oil tank for the PW-100 engine. The tank has a sight glass to check the oil level. It has 8 bolts holding it in. They used to lock wire them in place, but could never consistently get the direction, twists, and termination of the wire correct. Lots of rework, lots of escapes. The guys doing the wiring hated it. The guys inspecting it hated it. Switching to the safety cable made assembly faster, and better quality. As long as the tool functions correctly, safety cable is more than worth it for a manufacturer.

Thank you for the over 10 years of amazing content.

Your lockwire video is the one that got me started watching your channel. As tedious as that particular task seems to be, its essential role in the safety of the engine and ultimately the aircraft and those flying in it was immediately obvious from the outset. And from there I was hooked. And I don't imagine for one hot second I'm anything close to even a beginner in the area of this craft, your videos have enabled an understanding of jet engine function function that I had never before been exposed to. It's been a fascinating education, free of charge, and I thank you. As to the safety cable, it's clearly a huge time saver despite the initially very expensive outlay for the tools and materials. It's not hard to understand why this method would be preferred over manual lock wiring. Having watched many of your videos it's clear you have a craftsman's approach to this skill that is borne of years of experience and that you view manual lockwiring as a mandatory skill that each engine mechanic must master in the course of mastering the entire craft of aircraft engine maintenance. That's a lot of words that you may likely shorten to "You *have to* know this." I could well be wrong since I can't speak for you. If I am, no doubt you will tell me. Meanwhile, I'll continue to learn as long as you continue to teach.

The tools are made by Daniels Manufacturing Corporation, come in a variety of sizes, both cable diameters and different nose piece lengths (that's the metal rod that protrudes out from the handle mechanism, that the cable threads through at it's tip). Yes, yours has been modified to remove the cable tensioner. Yours looks like one of the older models that had the wheel-type tensioner (which most mechanics prefer); the newer ones have an internal tensioner, and the cable threads through the hand grip portion; on those, squeezing the handle also applies the tension before swaging the ferrule and then cutting the cable. The tensioners are adjustable, as there is a spec for the correct tension, and the nose pieces are replaceable, as they wear after extended use (several thousand uses); the swaged ferrule ends up getting mashed into the nose piece and it gets hard to remove from the finished cable. Dabbing the tip of the nose piece in a little engine oil helps extend the life of the nose piece. There is a calibration block that's used to verify both the tension and the effectiveness of the swaged end. The cable block is about 10 inches long, and has instructions printed on it. It's meant to be attached to a bench. One side has a fixed post that the cable is threaded through, and on the opposite side is another post, on a crank with a 3/8" square ratchet drive for an indicating torque wrench (dial-type preferred). The cable is run through the test block and a ferrule swaged in place in the regular manner. Finger pressure is applied in the middle of the swaged cable to ensure proper tension; if it's too loose, the cable gun's tensioner requires adjustment. The dial-indicating torque wrench is attached, and the amount of torque necessary to cause the swaged cable to fail is noted. Generally with a properly-swaged ferrule, the cable will break before the ferrule pulls loose, but as long as the ferrule holds under the required torque for that size cable, the cable gun passes and is ready for use (the required torque is listed in the instructions printed on the calibration block). The cost of the safety cable tools and the cables and ferrules are easily offset by how much faster safety cabling is than safety wiring. On a full engine teardown and rebuild, you can easily save 40 labor hours or more on, say, a CFM56-type engine. Daniels Manufacturing even makes pneumatic- and rechargeable battery-poweeed cable guns, mostly for assembly line type applications. There are also additional pieces to allow for safety cable to wrap around a part vs. go through a drilled hole, and fiberglass sleeves that can be placed over the cable during installation to prevent chafing on a sharp corner. An additional advantage of cable vs. wire is that with safety cable, there's no chance of getting caught or cut on an improperly pig-tailed cut end, like is all too common with safety wire.

I work Avionics/Electrical on Blackhawks and Chinooks,Safety cable is a real time saver. Some of the Cannon plugs outer retaining ringnuts and Coax connectors are in horrible places no clearance at all. At 4:00 Snipe Nose pliers are what those are called. That's what the manufacturer of the ones I have call them lol. Love your videos always learning!

Ive had the DMC cable gun for a few months and I love it. When looking through our aircrafts standard practices manual I noticed that the manufacturer allowed the use of cable as a substitute. I ordered the gun and cable that day.

Proper tools always make the job easier, faster, and safer/last longer. Not quite your level but the difference between $5 crimpers you get with a 60 pack of solderless crimp connectors, and the $80 ratcheting tool is noticeable when you do more than 1 or 2 of them. As for wanting to work for you, have to admit it'd be cool for a while, then winter in Fort St John would set in ... Would rather beg for a visit when the test cell is active and I'm up there on work. 🙂

At the end of your video, you talk about the hierarchy to get where you’re going.. when I was 18, I wanted to work in a race car machine shop. They started me on sweeping the floors, then cleaning and painting blocks.. eventually I got into valve guides.. like you said, one step at a time. The highest level was eventually assembling the engines, which was the easiest part! The boss had a friend who was frequently unemployed, and since he was a moron, he would allow him to skip the machining and go straight to assembly.. he couldn’t “feel” the machines honing, milling, boring ect..

Stumbled upon the original years ago and youtube recommends the update. Thank you for sharing!

Old motorcycle racer here. Mission was my home track. Yeah, that cable deal is SOOOOOO much faster than safety wire. If it were not for the tool cost I'd say it would be better all around for everyone. It's your videos that finally made me realize just why and how a tube, with a bunch of fancy bits in the middel to be sure, that is open at both ends can generate thrust. Many thanks for that ! ! ! ! It was the video talking about the pressure along the way and how it dropped at the combustion chamber but also picked up speed as a result that was the "other shoe dropping" for me. Big fan here. Cheers!

My nubbinizing trick that saved the day. Had to run a new throttle cable through a casing. Crazy glued the end to keep it fraying. Worked like a charm.

I would like to start off on washing lettuce and in a couple years maybe make assistant manager. I heard that’s when the big bucks start rolling in. 😂

I'd never heard of safety cable... thanx man

Check out the price for A&P mechanic’s favorite wire crimper, the AMP 59250. I bought a used one from eBay when I first started building my Velocity. Story is, that AMP had such low demand when it cost $400 back in the day, that they discontinued it. Chaos ensued from the small but very vocal group of loyal fans. They started low-volume production again a few years back and charged $1100. I paid $150 for mine and sent it to the factory for a die check and everything was good. I checked the other day and they are up to a whopping $1800!! Absolutely the Rolls Royce of wire crimpers. It makes an “oxygen free” crimp on the wire, a crimp on the insulation, it won’t release until a full crimp and it’s easy on the hands. I am thinking of adding mine to our home insurance policy but I’ll never get rid of it.

Wow. Isn't it funny how all ex-members sound the same. Talk the same. Enjoyed the video. Thanks.

From a professional perspective where time is money, this thing must be pure gold. As a hobbyist, I think Lockwiring is kind of an artform so yeah, I prefer that, but I can see why you use safety cable wherever you can. :)

Safety cable isn't the perfect solution for everything, but when it is the right choice, ohhhh baby! Hallelujah!

Thanks for sharing this with us. I see the speed factor but I also see the cost factor! Cool tool.

I use the DMC version (red), all the time. A total life saver for some jobs. The blue one you have there is made by Bergen. They invented it together with GE. Basically the same exact thing.

I work on H-60s. The US Army approved Safety Cable about 2010. When I was younger I safety wired the tail rotor inboard retention plate bolts (16 bolts & 2 jam nuts.) it took me about 60 - 90 minutes, depending on a whole slew of factors. Now in my early 60’s, I can Safety Cable the same job in about 30 - 45 minutes. Saves a bunch of time. We use the Daniels Manufacturing tools, and as part of certification of the job we have test the gun with the test block and using a torque wrench to pull test the ferrel. Also the gun gets a calibration test by our metrology lab.

i teardown apu's and i came across a couple of 85 series (C-130 cargo) with the cables. definitely a time saver, especially in tight spaces where i need the whole bolt clear of obstructions for removal.

Nice video. I will add DMC sells the tool for only $498 now (29Nov22). You still need to buy the cable kits as needed and a tension checker for $63. There's also 3 nose lengths available. Biggest downside now is that you need a completely different set of tools for each diameter cable, so you can triple the expense if you want to be able to do .022, .032", and .040". Keep your videos coming :)

I used safety cable extenslively in the air force as an aircraft mechanic. I loved using safety cable in those tight places you couldn't get your hands in to. Otherwise we used standard safety wire for just about everything else, mostly for the pride!

Was a nice tool back on the flight line, when approved and in cal. Thanks for the video!

It's been a while since I watched your safety wire video but safety cable sure looks like it's faster. If I had to wire a much of nuts I think I might be willing to pay for the expensive tool. Thanks for another interesting video.

Thanks! Jay

Nice video, it is an added expense but to your point it does save some time. I've been working J85 this past couple years. On our J85 line Safety Cable isn't allowed in gas path, external only.

I have used this tool on engines for some hard to reach places to use regular lockwire (ie horoscope plugs). Only difference I could see with the tool you use is that the crimping pliers I had were used as well to tension the cable. There was a small hole on the pliers that you feed the cable through, this would allow the pliers perform the following in sequence: 1: to tension the cable correctly (pliers will need calibration test) 2: crimp the ferrule at the end 3: cut remainder of the cable You had interchangeable lengths of rods to put at the end depending on either cable length or limited access. Overall a very useful tool in some instances but as a standard I would still use lockwire if access is good.

We used them on the outside just not in a bearing sump. Still had to do the traditional lockwire. You're right about the ferrules though. Wouldn't want to get one of those in a bearing.

So funny - love shop talk/pet names for tools. Also, nice hat tip to Seth from Berm Peak!

I worked at a place making bleed air valves, it was an absolute pain in the ass to lockwire this ome butterfly valve so we looked through the mil spec the DWG suggested we lockwired to and we found a grey area that we thought we could use safety cable. A year later the customer found out we switched it up and we got our asses handed to us for switching since it wasn't on the engineering dwg and they threatened to do a recall on them (they did not) Went from an hour and a half of lockwire to 5 minutes of safety cable. They never added it to the engineering dwg. Guess they just loved to pay us overtime every month just to lockwire them instead.

Also the tool has to be calibrated. It has to be calibrated to be sure it can perform the correct squeeze to hold that tension on the wire to not let loose.

You need that tensioner and the calibration tool that comes with the crimper, otherwise you can't guarantee it's effectiveness

SAFETY CABLE TERMINATOR TOOL by Aircraft Spruce is currently advertised for sale at $525

These are a life saver for Boro plugs

@1:36 in the nautical world, 'whipping' is the process of securing the strands at the end of a rope to prevent it from unraveling - a whipped end. Not sure if it translates to the aerospace world.

Saludos desde Riosucio caldas Colombia

Amazing tool and it looks like they can be had nowadays for $500. Almost justifiable considering how much I pay an A&P per hour to safety wire my oil filter.

Your tool seems to be missing the cable tensioner wheel. I guess that hole in the side is where it was.

Yes! More tools and techniques, thank you! Already know everything knowable about jet engines from you :) 😄

first time I see any one just pulling the wire with pliers and not inserting it into the ''gun''. is it realy approved to use this method without a calibrated ''gun'' and just pulling it? is it the MOE that states how and what you can do?

End of that cable has been welded, either laser weld or tig torch, to get it to hold the strands together.

Looks like that tool is around 500 bucks by itself but there's a kit that's $2500 that covers .032 and .022 with ferrules, some cables and other related tools. Spendy but for niche products like this, not insane. I'm in telecom (what am I doing here) and specialty tools be like that.

Awesome and glad this popped up as recommended, I haven't watch one of your videos for a while. I do remember watching your safety wire series way back and how good they were. Surprising to see this "new" technology and how it is accepted so easily as being a direct replacement for safety wire. But I somehow doubt military applications unless the procedure is rewritten? That crimped ferrule bit still makes me nervous. Has your tool been calibrated lately? Looks like the cal sticker is pretty worn ;-)

Hi, I was working on 737 CFM engines. If I remember correctly, in AMM standard practice chapter it says not to use one safety cable on more than 3 fasteners. I guess that's because if there is a safety cable failure all the fasteners are no longer locked. On the other hand lockwire is more resistant in this scenario because the wire is twisted and it still maintains tension on remaining fasteners. Could you check your manual.

The KZfaq algorithm served me up this because I watched your safety wire video years ago. That is the only other video of yours that I recall viewing. There is some Orwellian tracking going on here. I may have one of those tools, I have a habit of buying expensively built used hand tools when I see them cheap at sales.

That unit is made by Daniels Manufacturing. When I first experienced them in the '90's my squadron got 3 aircraft from Depot that lock cables were used all over the aircraft and we were told 'its the new hotness' and.... as QA was doing the acceptance inspections every single lock cable had a defective ferrule swaged onto the cable end easily pulled off like it wasn't even swaged.

Nice method! But yeah, dropping those sleeves would be a concern.

Guess I should stop using vice grips to swage the ferrule...

having used this tool in the Air Force on helicopters, i can tell you it is really expensive and not as effective as safety wire IMHO. There are some situations where this is absolutely a life saver.

Thank you !!!!

Politically correct, maybe not?..but extremely entertaining and funny😂.

Thank you for the video. This just proves that the big dick competitions we would have in ~05 in the Air Force on who had the better safety wire were inept training regurgitations relative to this far superior method.

I've NEVER worked anywhere that bothered getting us safety cable merely for the cost of entry. They'd rather us put hours on a card than pay upfront to save time and either us or the customer money.

I recently discovered that f 22 raptor uses a cartridge to start it's APU [auxiliary power unit ] to start it's main engines do we have something similar in our shop that starts with cartridge or with auxiliary power unit.

Thanx JZed

Hey! Great video, if y’all use the cable guns at s&s right much it may be worth looking into the gun that has a wheel on it, works great for setting the cable tension so you don’t have to pull with players from the cable end. I really came to appreciate safety cable but lock wire really lets you express your artistic abilities…😁

My airplane (small two seater) is mostly locknuts. There are maybe a dozen bolts that need lockwiring but accessibility is so poor i would almost pour the money for a safwty cable kit. All those are of course critica boltsl ( engine supports, oil ducts etc)

Square up the crimping tool to the bolt face before you crimp and you will not lose so much tightness in the cable. You held it off axis and when removed the cable got slack.

Great stuff😊

Seeing that the last bolts you locked were so short, could one use a wire cut off from another area and crimp ferrules on both ends? Say if you only had long leads and all you needed was a 2” piece?

You didn't have the pliers/keeper flush on the bolt head before you crimped and I saw the safety wire come loose once the keeper moved that little amount to the bolt head so now its not taunt. 7:12-7:23

Cool stuff. General Aviation application, how can I figure out if safety cable could replace safety wire? I don't need a job, but in my next life I'd get a kick outta being your intern.

As far as fishing a crimp ferrule out of an engine goes; are they magnetic? Some SS is, some isn't.

Nombre de la herramienta ?

7:50 Classic English comedy

I know you know it well but wanted to sent your an RAF Canadair Sabre but I have learnt the hard way about import taxes but possibly group paradox phenomena I think people did but maybe no one did because lots have already have ?, I cannot win, best whishes HAPPY CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR

The racing community is watching 👀

I just watched and enjoyed your different fuels for jet engines video from 6mth ago. Im surprised you never touched upon more exotic fuels though. One ive always wondered about is early in the development of the sr-71 and the J58 work was started in developing a coal slurry powerplant which leads me to believe its been tried in at least one aircraft before, Can you expand upon the use of coal slurry as fuel or other exotic types what are the major benefits of coal slurry and also what fluid would you suspend the coal particles in for the slurry? Alcohol? Diesel perhaps? Thanks

Where did you get the Planes of Fame hat. I volunteered there for 40 years. Great Air Museum.

That’s cheating!! Awesome!

Z, you've tried this on the oil jet on the main seal of a T-58 yet? Let us know when you do.

Did you mean to sneak a monty python reference in there.... 7:55

Very interesting work. But why set lengths? Why not a spool? I suppose it has to do more with efficiency in the business...

22 years as a crew chief and towards the end could do it faster without the pliers until the cut and foldover at the end lol There's times that the cable style would have been better for sure. But more things to lose that way

In rope making, the end of a rope is kept from fraying by wrapping it with small line (known as "small stuff"). This process is called "serving". In your safety cable, that blob on the end is basically a spot weld. All three wires are fused into a single blob. In the old days, this would have been done by connecting an electrical potential between the wire and a pool of oil-covered mercury, and touching the tip of the wire to the mercury to create a weld. Obviously the weld can't stick to mercury, so you end up with a blob connection like this. Nowadays people die of cancer just from hearing the word 'mercury', so I have no idea how such a weld is done now. Maybe a laser.

How are you? I am very happy and benefited from following you from Iraq. How does the jet engine continue to work well despite large amounts of water entering it, for example during rain? Thanks Haerth

Actually the tools are only about 500 at most; just priced them. Well within the realm of a hobbyist tool.

Safety cable has different regulations per engine and can sometimes not be approved on certain components. On the TF34 the fuel lines leading to the fuel nozzles would not allow safety cable on the fuel line bosses. Don’t know why. Prefer safety wire anyways, get way more of a tight line.

4:10 good to know

7:53 Seth's Bike Hacks?

How do you measure the crimping strength as that tool ages? Cutting ability is obvious, it can cut or not.

so how far are you from being a rocket engine mechanic? a rocket surgeon? man on superbikes we use a wire, good up to 250 mph, that braided stuff looks like its good to at least 2000 mph, hale we just twist safety wire on itself, pinch locks? and a tool? actually there is a this twist tool that twists the wire on itself and tightens in that's pretty handy but that braided stainless and pinch locks now that's high tech, any idea the temp rating on something like that? 450F maybe?

How much force does a wire like that hold? The ferrule is probably the weak-spot?

Being that the cable and ferrule are stainless, if they are clean the crimper might actually cold weld the ferrule to the cable.

4:00 😂😂

If only I could use that on the ciws

4:10 🤣

Always the army guys bragging about hand wiring for 200 years when they'd still be faster if they learned to use tools

I know it's certified so I'm sure it is good, but just from the looks it's hard to believe that the cable will snap before the cap slips off. Would be nice to see what happens when you pull on it hard enough.

AgentJayZ I grow up with Aviation in the Family, my Epilepsy stopped me 6ft 3in to 5ft 7in Kyposcoliosis hunch back cheers life for that, NIBBLER my cat sit's up there, he's ok Double fused vertibre, bends forward but feel's like bending backward constant fall's break's and no DR will see me, I have a telephone appointment for my COPD from hospital, funny I thought they used a stethoscope !!! Not lazy I really wish I could work, was single dad 2 to 28yrs I still love my piston engine's, am motor mech I Miss so much. you are right here with as much theory as I can learn my favourite motor the turbo-jet, you are unique 3 or 4 books or favorite jet tech, comparable to whom ? I am lucky I guess I have a diversion from common daily ache's & pains I am quiet too, which was nice to discover, Problem is my Jet City Patreon has lapsed and you didn't complain, will find out from bank then sent balance to You, care of S & S Turbines, and reapply for Jet City Membership, ok. Mr Mic Stone 696 sorry mate

At about 1:50, did you say "soddery"? To me, that sounds like a term for a form of sexual deviation. But I do now recall some of the American auto restoration shows I've seen on TV over here. They talk about "soddering", when I think they really mean 'soLdering'. Yes, in Brit English, we pronounce the word as it is spelt. For example, we also pronounce the word 'thorough' as we spell it: we don't say "thurrow". And the one that really creases us sailors (I have over 20,000 sea miles logged) is 'buoy', pronounced "boo-ee", not "boy". So how do you pronounce 'buoyancy' over there? "Boo-ee-an-see"? Nevertheless, American English is hardly more phonetic than Brit English, despite Noah Webster saving the printers a few letters, eg, 'ax' not 'axe', 'plow' not 'plough', and 'harbor' not 'harbour', plus all the other words where an '-or' ending replaces '-our' (etc, etc) Of course, I'm sticking my tongue ( "ton-gew-ee"?) in my cheek and taking the p*** out of Brit English, (both spelling and pronunciation) every bit as much as I am American English. Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holiday to you all!

swagey swagey! lol

Never used one for wire, but that definitely looks, and sounds, like a crimper from DMC. (Daniels Manufacturing)

Can you use a crimped end on both sides to re-use left over cable?

Hi does an A&P Mechanic certificate is enough to open your own shop? Or it does requires an engineer degree

Ha, they're basically ball-end guitar strings. Nice.