Edgar wrote:

I have no experience of the systems worked by a sort of bolt cutter but
would not be certain that the average person could produce enough force to
compress a copper ferrule.
I am about to fit new steering wires to my boat if it ever stops snowing.
The old ones are terminated with Nico-press fittings but I have made Talurit
splices on the new ones.


The Nicopress sleeves used to terminate galvanized aircraft control
cables are made of copper, and the aircraft supply companies suggest
zinc coated copper sleeves for stainless wire cable. Aluminum sleeves
are often stocked in hardware stores - they do well with galvanized
cable in the smaller diameters to 3/16 inch certainly.
A sleeve set by a reworked bolt cutter needs a little care, because as
you can easily imagine, it is quite possible to squeeze the diameter
over the two cables far too skinny with this tool.
That's what a gage is for.
Grinding a bolt cutter's blades into two semicircles of the appropriate
size works well. A sleeve (or ferrule) is squeezed three times, but
NEVER at different angles, or at right angles to and over an existing
squeeze. That about guarantees a slip, in a joint which will otherwise
hold up over 90% of the rated breaking strain of the cable, often over 100%.

Brian W