i recently bought a hand swager for making trap stakes and stuff. i bought it from manufacturer express. looks to be a really well built tool that came with a gauge to check to make sure your swages were deep enough. i crimped a couple of double ferrules on 1/8'' cable and they look great but when i check them with the gauge they won't go in as if there not crimped enough. i crimped them again and still no difference. i used the #3 hole in the tool and the #3 slot in the guage.

not sure if the ferrules i got from minnesota trapline were maybe thicker to begin with or maybe they aren't swaged enough?

anybody else see this?

Sounds like you need to turn the adjusting screw on the swagging tool.

the very tip of the jaws come all the way together when its closed. but i'll check that.

Crimp it 3 times once on each end, 1 time in the middle

Did you buy your ferrules from the manufacturer of the swager?Ferrule vary in thickness so the gauge might not be accurate but the crimp could be fine.I buy ferrules from different sources and use a bench swager but never bother with the gauge.Some two hand swagers that people used were made for fencing and thinner,steel ferrules so aluminum ferrules may not jive with a gauge.

If it feels pretty solid,it probably is.I have never had a swaged,double ferrule fail.

Looking at that swager,I see it intended for different type ferrules.Copper ferrules,for instance,aren't as thick as aluminum,for a given size,but still work well.If you swage it in the cavity that works the best,you will be good,regardless what the gauge shows.I'm sure that some of mine wouldn't make it but still work well.Good luck with it.

no adjusting screw that i see on it. 3 crimps on the ferrule, one in the middle the another on loop side than last one on other side. same head as there bench swager.

24'' hand swager

You should be able to tell if the swage is good.If it won't work in the next smaller cavity,you are good.I have used aluminum and copper ferrules in the same hole with no adjustment and no failures.This includes some very hard pulling,way beyond the force that coyotes apply.

they look good to me and feel like they will hold. was just wandering if anyone else seen that. we'll see how they work.

Test them with your truck.

haven't tested them with my truck. i did buy some different ferrules from rural king to try out and see if they were any different but they came out the same.

i started crimping them twice. once in the #3 hole and then in the #2 hole and then they fit in the guide.

i measured to see how much they were crimped and the #3 hole crimps them down to 11/32 and the #2 hole crimps them down to 5/16. which the width of the gauge is 5/16.

Why can't you crimp them in the #2 hole to begin with?

it pushes alot of material out the sides. if you know what i mean by that. i did do a few that way but i liked they way they came out better by doing them once in the #3 and then in the #2.

i just looked on erigging website at there double ferrules and it gives all the dimensions of them before and after swaged. it says after swaged they should be .350. mine are actually .347 which is also 11/32 in the #3 hole. so they are being swaged to the right size in the number 3 hole.


i guess the guage is just off?

Yes,I do know what you meanThat's normal.

The jaws should close parallel, with no gaps front/back. There should be an eccentric hex head bolt to adj that.