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Safe-T-Cable users...how long is your nose?

Thermos

Well Known Member
Patron
I'm thinking of asking Santa for a DMC Safe-T-Cable tool to do prop bolts, oil filters and other hard-to-safety things. If you use one, what nose size do you have? Do you need more than one nose for the tool?

Many thanks -

Dave
 
Following Paul’s article, I bought a 7” secondhand application tool. Used it a couple of times, but not sure what length I’d get if buying a new one… guess a 5” would be a size suits all.
And as u might have seen, those noses are quite costly…

Also be sure to buy ferrules and cables… I have enough ferrules only to last the whole century :eek:
 
Mine came with the short one, and I occasionally think the middle length might be nice, but so far I have done everything I needed with the standard short one….
 
I have both the 7” and 3” nose. Got a really good deal on a NOS complete kit on the auction site. I’ve done about 10 oil changes including suction screen and my first condition inspection plus safety cable on the prop bolts. I’ve only used the 7” nose so far.

Be sure and get the long ferrules.
 
Safety cable

The short (5” ) nose that I have has worked for everything I have needed for the installation of my new Thunderbolt engine. The system made the safetying of the prop bolts much easier (and less bloody). I’m really spoiled, now!
 
I got one with a 7” tip from the e-auction site and it has worked well for everything. :)
 
When I was shopping I went for the medium length. Another thing I found was that buying new direct from Daniels Manufacturing was as cheap and in some cases cheaper than the going rate on eBay for used units. Crazy. I found the same for the DMC electronics crimpers. I don't understand why.
 
When in doubt buy the next longer cable. There is quite a bit wasted in the process of winding and swaging. Like a lot. I love my Safe-T-Cable tool but mainly use it where standard safety wiring is a pain, like Hartzell prop mounting studs and the base of dipstick tubes. Installing standard safety wire for the easy stuff keeps me proficient with the safety wire pliers and like the operator, is cheap and fun.
 
When I was shopping I went for the medium length. Another thing I found was that buying new direct from Daniels Manufacturing was as cheap and in some cases cheaper than the going rate on eBay for used units. Crazy. I found the same for the DMC electronics crimpers. I don't understand why.
Found the same thing on the DMC website, Jim. You can get a new adjustable-tension tool with a 7" nose, shipped, for less than some sellers are asking on eBay. Same for the cable sets. Happy to give DMC my business, they design and manufacture their tools in the US.

For everyone's SA, I found this note on the cable kit page - "When considering the cable length, be sure to add the extra cable required to engage the tension mechanism in the application tool: Add 8 inches for a tool with a 3 inch nose, and 12 inches for a tool with a 7 inch nose."

HTH

Dave
 
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For cables, there is an EBay supplier - a surplus house down in San Diego, near the water - that regularly sells bags of the 18” Inconel cables at a good price. I bought about 250 cables, and figure that will last me for a very long time with our fleet. Those bags come with the standard ferrules - I have yet to need extended ones.

Paul
 
Do the standard cable kits come with long or short ferrules?

The standard cable kits come with the short ferrules. The long ferrules are used when access is tight and you can’t get the nose in close resulting in a loose cable. The long ferrules allow you to crimp without needing to have the nose flush against the surface. There are one or two places on my engine that are much easier with the long ferrules.
 
For our applications is there any functional difference between Inconel and CRES? Inconel seems like dramatic overkilll unless Van's comes out with an RV-71A sometime in the future. :)

Dave
 
For our applications is there any functional difference between Inconel and CRES? Inconel seems like dramatic overkilll unless Van's comes out with an RV-71A sometime in the future. :)

Dave

I asked the same question when I was buying cables, and came up with the answer that it makes no difference - which was good, because the source in San Diego was selling Inconel for a better price than anyone else was selling CRES….. and I can say I am using Inconel cables….. ;)
 
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