crimp

Crimp tools, also called crimpers, are used to crimp connectors onto bare wire when assembling a cable. There are a few different versions of crimp tools, depending on how the crimper is made and what type of cable it was designed for.

How Do Crimp Tools Work?

Using a crimp tool is fairly simple. First, a cable must be stripped to expose the metal wire inside. Then the metal wire(s) are inserted into the connector. Single conductor cables (coax) are easier to use than multi-wire cables like ethernet or phone lines (additional details below). Once the wires are inserted, put the connector inside the crimp tool and squeeze the handle. The pressure applied by the crimper will tighten the connector to keep it in place.

Manual vs. Ratchet Crimpers

There are two main types of crimpers, manual and ratchet. Manual crimpers are powered completely by hand. The amount of pressure they can apply to a connector depends entirely on how hard you squeeze the handle. Manual crimpers are harder to use than ratchet crimp tools but are also less expensive. Generally, a manual crimper is the way to go if you plan on using the tool infrequently or for a small number of cables.

Ratchet crimpers are built using ratchets, which allow extra pressure to be applied when crimping. The extra power of a ratchet makes crimping much easier, requiring less raw strength for each individual crimp. This makes ratchet crimpers ideal for frequent usage or when you need to assemble many cables.

Coaxial Crimp Tools

Coaxial crimp tools are rated based on the type of cable they can be used with. The type of connector you are using does not impact whether a tool will be compatible. Since the metal ring where the connector meets the