I suppose your right ST. I stand corrected.

Its really not that hard......And if someone like you who is good with tools is gun shy it might make others who are even less confident prone to not even try. A modest amount of trial and error and you will have discreet wire leaders with less components.......components such as crimps which are notorious for failure especially in smaller diameters. Simple is better.

KF gave the key earlier. Tie both ends and then pull tight by grabbing both terminal components with pliers in each hand...... being careful to wear safety glasses. I always wear safety glasses even when working with single strand lest I twirl it around and scratch. When tightening a slow steady pull is better than a quick jerking motion IMO.

solotripper wrote on Apr 3^rd, 2014 at 4:06pm:

you don't need good hand/grip strength if you use your teeth. just don't forget the back brace  (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

Where did you find crimping sleeves that were small enough?

KF,

I received all the materials and spent the last few hours making leaders.
I made 2 for your inspection if you'll send me your address, I'll mail them out this week.

I found that the smallest sleeve at .033 ID, will allow you to double back the tag end of wire which is .010, which allows you to get a good crimp and keep the size loop you want.

You cut off the excess on loop end.
I started with just one sleeve on each end, but couldn't duplicate the loop size consistently.
I then went to 2 sleeves, and that seemed to do the trick.

Used small hemostat to hold first sleeve and fine needle nose pliers to double back wire thru the 2 sleeves.
You want to leave a little loop, the size of a hook eye, so you don't break the wire when you crimp it or test it.
What your really doing is crimping 3 wires instead of just 2.

It takes a little patience but it can be done with .003" left to play with.

Once I got the hang of it, it wasn't hard at all. I have a pair of glasses I wear for small detail work, that helped a lot.

For my strength test, I made a rig out of paracord and lifted a #25 dumbbell off the ground and gave it a few tugs, like a fish would. I could feel the titanium stretch out under the load, but it didn't break.

I'll let you be the voice of experience when you get my 2 leaders, and say whether my efforts are a valid substitute for tying them?

ST,
It sounds like you have found suitable crimping sleeves to make some nice leaders.
Good idea to send me a pair. I will return a pair of the tied version that I've been making. I will PM my address.
BTW the 25lb wire that I got stated the dia as .014 and I was a little disappointed in that since previously 25lb wire was noticeably thinner at .010