How it connects
Cable is passed through, looped back through the second lobe, then the sleeve is cold-pressed (swaged) with a hand or hydraulic tool so the soft metal flows around the strands. Permanent, non-sealing, single-use.
Male and female halves
Only the female (sleeve passage) exists; the cable is the inserted member. This port is the female passage.
Usually connects to
- Wire rope/aircraft cable of the specified diameter and construction, often two passes for a loop; examples include 1/16 in or 1/8/3/16 in stainless 1 × 19 or 7 × 7
- Optional thimble within the eye
Common sizes
- Sized by nominal rope diameter, roughly 1/32–1+ in (about 1–26+ mm). Common sizes include 1/16, 3/32, 1/8, 5/32, 3/16 and 1/4 in.
- Examples include 1/16 in (1.5875 mm), 1/8 in (3.2 mm), 5/32 in (4.0 mm) and 3/16 in (4.8 mm), with some socket depths around 1–2 in (25–50 mm).
- Passage dimensions and crimp tooling depend on the sleeve supplier; rope size is not passage bore.
Where it is used
fencinghanging/suspension kitsDIY hardwarearchitectural cable railingdeck and stair balustradesmarine riggingstructural wire rope assemblies; wire-rope loop and eye terminationscable splices
Variations
- Oval passage/barrel
- Figure-eight/duplex twin passage
- Single-hole stop/button sleeve
- Aluminum, copper, zinc-plated copper or stainless
- Hydraulic swage socket or threaded terminal
- Hand-crimp socket
- Headless/invisible receiver stud
How to recognise it
Short bare metal (aluminum silver or copper) tube with an oval or figure-8 cross-section, smooth inside, no threads; before crimping both ends are open; after crimping shows pressed flats or dies marks.
Often confused with
| Confused with | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Wire rope stop/button ferrule | Stop sleeves have a single round bore and end the cable; swage sleeves have an oval or twin bore for two cable passes. |
| Electrical crimp ferrule / butt splice | Electrical ferrules are round, single-conductor, often insulated; rope sleeves are bare oval/duplex metal. |
| threaded receiver socket (turnbuckle / tensioner female thread) | The swage cable socket is an unthreaded, smooth round cylindrical bore for inserting wire rope to be swaged, whereas a threaded receiver features internal machine threads mating with an external stud. |
| swageless / mechanical cable wedge fitting | Swageless fittings use internal cone jaws or set screws to grip the cable without requiring hydraulic or manual crimping/swaging tools. |
| Electrical wire-end ferrule | An electrical ferrule terminates conductor strands for an electrical terminal; this sleeve secures wire-rope runs mechanically. |
Also called
oval sleeve; duplex sleevecable ferrule; Talurit ferrulecrimp sleeve; Nicopress sleeveswage socket; cable receptacleswage borecable receiver borewire rope swage sleeve; wire-rope ferrulecrimping loop sleeve
Good to know
No dimensional standard for the passage geometry in the hardware-store tier; bore is defined by nominal cable size and the matching die. Treat as a permanent crimp interface, not a reusable connection.
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