Types of Wire Crimping Tools and Their Applications

Introduction

Crimper tools are basically used to join two different wires and connectors with each other. The wires in question have thin diameters that make it easy to twist and shut them together. This process of joining wires using hand crimping tool is also known as cold welding; more on that later.

Types of Wire Crimping Tools

According to American Wire Gauge (AWG) standards that are followed when designing wire crimping tools, they come in many sizes that allow them to work cold welds on wires of varying thickness. When speaking of types of wire crimping tools, they can be roughly classified on the basis of type of force application or on the basis of crimps.

Types of Crimping Tools on the Basis of Application of Force

Hand Crimpers: These crimping tools are primarily hand-operated. As the force applied on crimps comes directly from the force applied by hand, it is used for smaller wires with thin diameters. Uses include cold welding wires and cutting wires.

Hydraulic Crimpers: While these are also operated by hand, the main pressure applied on cold welds comes from hydraulic pressure arrangement in the tool. This allows for application of higher pressure, making it perfect for thick wires that hand pressure can’t sustain.

Hammer Crimpers: These require an external source of pressure, preferably by striking the crimper with hammer strikes. Usually used for high density wires, these are compact and highly versatile. 

Types of Crimping Tools on the Basis of Cutting Style

Indent Type Crimpers: These are generally done by hand and hammer crimpers, where the force is applied on the wire from only one direction. This results in an indent style cut that distorts the cross sectional shape of the wire. 

Compression Style Crimpers: In these crimpers, the pressure is applied on all sides of the wire equally when cutting, resulting in a uniform style cut that keeps the cross section shape intact. Usually done with hydraulic crimpers.
 
Cold Welding

Cold welding is a type of welding process that uses brute force instead of your typical high temperature heat to perform welds. Because it does not result in melting of metal like hot welds, these are the perfect way to join steel wires which may get damaged if joined with hot welds. Hot weld is a kind of destructive joining process that may over-melt copper and aluminum wires, making cold welding the only option for those.

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