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I have 3/8" wire that needs to be tight (not sagging) between two wooden posts with screw eyes. I don't want to purchase turnbuckles if I don't have to.

How can I pull them and then secure it with a crimp sleeve?

This is different to the other question because in the other one I was asking about regular polyester rope.

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rbhat
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3 Answers3

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Put the crimps sleeves in place with the screw eyes apart the distance of the poles minus 1 inch (1/2" for each side) and fasten it all together. Set one eyebolt into the post all the way in except the 1/2". Important, count the full turns it took top get the eyebolt in that far. With the other eyebolt in place on the cable, twist the eyebolt counterclockwise the amount of turns it took to get the other eyebolt in, then add a few more turns if possible. This will insure the cable has the best chance to be tight when you are done. (This is what the 1/2" extra on each end and the extra reverse turns are about) It may take a bit of effort or extra help to control the reversed cable, but start it in the pre-drilled hole and turn the screw in. That should get you tight, at least as much as 2 wood posts will allow.

I did this with concrete threaded inserts on both sides of a concrete wall and 1/8" stainless steel cable between them, and they got bowstring tight. I installed about 14 of them in a room for hanging things from.

Jack
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    I wonder how hard it would be to find a screw eye with a left handed thread. If you used a right handed thread in one post and a left handed thread in the other, you'd basically have a turnbuckle without requiring any additional hardware. – mrog Aug 09 '18 at 17:58
  • I love coming across nice, simple answers that I would have never thought of in a million years. – Michael Burr Dec 09 '20 at 16:45
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I'll suggest an alternate method.

  1. Bend the two posts together with a ratchet strap.
  2. Tighten the cable by hand and then crimp the ends.
  3. Loosen the strap.
Gary Bak
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A turnbuckle would be a very simple way to do it, but I'll throw out a few other ideas since you're opposed to using a turnbuckle.

  • If you have access to a vehicle with a winch, you could use that to stretch the wire rope.
  • You could use a fence stretcher. These are intended for pulling wire fence tight, but you could make a loop in the end of the wire rope and attach it to the stretcher.
  • You could use a hand winch (a.k.a. come along, hand puller, cable puller, etc.) It's basically a winch with a hook on its frame and a hook on its cable. It has a long ratcheting handle.
  • You could rig up a block and tackle to pull the wire rope tightly while a friend crimps it into place.

Etc.

mrog
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