Hose Crimping / Swaging Machine Guide

Welcome to Border Hydraulics At Border Hydraulics we use and sell a lot of crimpers because we use and sell a lot of crimpers, we know we wont from a crimper but also what we do not want we're know about to let you into what we look for in a crimp but lets start off with the type of fittings and hose you use there are many manufacturers worldwide of crimpers or swaging machines, there are also manufactures of hose and fittings. There are very few who do both. There are hose and fitting manufacturers who are excellent at what they do manufacturing hose and fittings. These people have machines built by machine manufacturers to tie you into buying a particular type of hose fitting their hose fitting it is quite common for these machines to be marketed at a low price the idea being you buy into their system of hose and fittings which, surprise surprise, can be expensive and not often easy to get hold of the mechanics of these machines are such that at the end of the crimp a mechanical stop is reached. Be it a collar, ring or preset dies. this system may well do its job but utilizes very little of the machine that you have purchased and limits you to to buying expensive stock. stock In our opinion a machine should be capable of simply changing one diameter to another, of many different types of fitting. indeed a machine should be capable of crimping many different materials: wire rope, cables, tube et cetera. This is what the true crimper is for. This then makes your stock easy to get hold of and probably a lot less expensive This is achieved by the use of vernier micrometers, compared to a mechanical stop These are infinitely adjustable to the dimensions you require, in our case crimp settings. Our next choice, is now manual or powered machine. If we look at a manual machine then we may also require it to be portable, to carry it from job to job. At this point it's probably best to go to your machine distributor and try them out. Any reputable dealer will have many machines there for you to try. Afterall when was the last time you bought a car without a test drive? go down to your local distributor and pick them up. we now need to find out if the machine manufacturer is speaking our language. A machine listed as being capable of crimping multi-spiral hose may have been tested on one single multi-spiral assembly. If we want a machine to do multi-spiral, we want it to do more than one before the springs pop. we do a lot of hose and fittings at Border. In the high pressure world, we only use gates hydraulics global spiral hose and fittings recognized as being the best quality but also very heavy-duty to crimp. When we say our machines do multi-spiral, they do the best there is and a lot of it! Do we want a vertical or horizontal machine? This can be down to personal choice, although vertical machines tend to be less expensive, they can have a drawback of losing sight of the fitting Both vertical and horizontal types are held in stock at Border Another point often not mentioned is how the dies actually fit into the machine The machine shown here, has dies with a dove tail type slot look out for this A more common type of attaching the dies is to use a *** on a die or on the machine itself. However, look what can happen when inserting the hose into the machine Now look at the dovetail The dovetail does not to get knocked out. And remember, the *** arrangement gets worse as the dies are knocked off time and time again If we're using a manual machine, Then we want it to work with a minimum of efforts. Look at the type of hand pump used The length of the handle can add extra leverage for those days when you haven't been to the gym A large piston displaces more oil. This reduces time and effort in making hose assemblies Likewise, springs used to retract the dies need to be strong and return quickly Horizontal style machines offer the advantage of being able to see the workpiece as you crimp. Here you can quickly see the advantage over the vertical machines Yet another point often missed is the throat size of machine. When you part with your money, you need to know your fittings will actually fit. Some machines offered as compact and portable are really not suitable for large ninety degree fittings. Often machines will not crimp a ninety degrees fittting both ends of the assembly Now let's take a look at our machines in more detail The compak machine is a very light, extremely portable machine capable of crimping from three sixteenths to half-inch two-wire braided hose. However, remember these machines can crimp many different materials, not just hose unlike the machines we mentioned earlier that tie you into one type of product. It is a horizontal machine and has an integral set of dies. One set that given the right crimp dimensions will crimp without the need to change dies. As in the case of all our machines, the compak utilizes an excellent handpump and spring combination to crimp quickly and effortlessly. the H25 Mini is another portable machine designed to crimp up to one inch multi spiral and remember we are now talking about Gates global spiral through the cover fittings not thin, tinny ferrules. Used horizontally this machine has dovetailed dies. Remember no knocking out crimping with eight sets of dies for different hose sizes. They are all stored in a handy self-contained lockable draw beneath the crimper Operated by a vernier micrometer, the machine is infinitely adjustable, again crimp settings for your particular hose fittings are supplied by the hose manufacturers, but remember these machines are capable of crimping anything and as such crimp dimensions for die sets are shown on the machine. The next machine is the big brother to the mini, this is the H25MM and is capable of crimping up to 1" and quarter hose, ninety-degree fittings each end. Very similar in build to the mini, more robust without the die drawer yet still portable. Another machine capable of inch and a quarter hose is the HE425 an upright, vertical machine again: dovetail dies, no knocking off, large throat opening, easy to read vernier and portable. However, we are now stepping up in weight. All machines we have on offer have truly been tested by us. And are all here a long with others in our showroom for you to try. To find out more about them and us, go to borderhydraulics.com or give us a call on 01228 530010 Border Hydraulics