Senmit Swage Lag Screws Left & Right for 1/8" Cable Railing, 316 Stainless Steel Stair Deck Railing Wood Post Balusters System 12 Pairs

disclaimer - this review will be copy/pasted to another Senmit item, as the review is intended to reflect the entire railing system we used.TL;DR - buy this, save money, pat yourself on the back with tired hands. If I need cable railing in the future, this will absolutely be used above any preposterously expensive brand you see elsewhere (Feeney, Atlantis, etc etc). I can buy a decent used car with the money we saved using Senmit's stuff.While this product isn't perfect, I can deal with a few small issues to save 80 percent from some of the more well-known options. We'll have close to 1,300 linear feet of cabling and 270 or so connections when we're finished with our deck, so a decent amount of experience after never using any cable railing before. Our total cost will end up at about $850 for the cabling/lag screws/crimper, whereas the option I *thought* we would end up with was going to run about $3,700.The "bad", AKA just stuff to be aware of while you're saving thousands of dollars:- a helper is very nice to have. My dad helped with about 2/3 of the work, but this is easily an instance where 2+2=5 when it comes to labor multipliers. It helps for measuring/cutting cable to length, crimping the lags, hand-screwing the lags in, etc etc. Definitely not required, just helps immensely and can get you a drink on demand.- your hands will kill you. Get over it while drinking a beer and enjoying your unimpeded view, pansy. But then again, this deck is quite large, so designer error on my part, I suppose. YMMV.- we used specifically the hydraulic crimper that Senmit sells. It seems to work pretty well and be good enough quality, but the crimps pretty consistently bend the lag screw at the crimp location itself. This was easily remedied by putting the unthreaded end of the lag screw (after crimping, of course) into a vice and lightly hitting it with a mallet until they got straitened out. Even after that, and tightening them down pretty well, the crimps all seem to hold well enough to support the weight of hefty toddlers.- the little tool they send with the lag screws works well enough, but you'll need to smack it back into shape occasionally, as the teeth will spread apart and round off a bit. Again, a hammer and vice are your friends, just be judicious. DEFINITELY WRAP THAT BUGGER WITH DUCT TAPE to save your booger pickers. It softens up the repetitive turning motions that make your supple, uncalloused fingies will moan about later.- the cable cutter that comes with the roll of cable kinda sucks. It works, and cuts the cable well enough, so at least you don't have to go buy one. I tossed the free ones and used the better quality one I already had, though.- build a jig to accurately and quickly repeat the lag screw locations on all the posts, dummy.- the drill bit they send with the lag screws is helpful, and sharp enough. It has a nice, fine point on the end that helps prevent the bit from sliding off the harder grain of the wood. I was really happy with this, so definitely doesn't belong under the "bad" list, this is just me getting lazy and realizing I wasn't going to make a "good" list, as the results speak well enough for themselves.

No complaints about the product. It is simple and basic.Issues can be with install. Here are some tips and tricks:1. Have a 2nd set of hands help you hold wire all the way into hardware to insure you don't install into rail to find out your wire is 1/2" too long cause it slipped out during swedging.2. They should have send an install wrench with this. I pulled out ever pliers, adjustable wrench and vice-grip out and none of them worked for long term. The grip was too large or the wrench was too long and therefore you could not turn it 360 degrees and had to take on and off 50 times. I had to buy a $27 midget wrench set (yes, that is what it is called) so I could get a 4mm wrench. This was short enough to turn 360 and head was narrow enough to stay on flat spot on hardware.

Compared to others these are nowhere as bulky which is what we wanted. Obviously these did have their drawbacks but once you tackle a few of them it gets a little easier. We found it easier to crimp the first one on the cable, hold it up for the length of the run, and cut the cable slightly longer than needed. We would then screw the first end in 3/4 of the way. We would then screw the opposite end lag screw in 1/2 way. Then we would cut the cable to the desired length, crimp it and then tighten it down only after a few turns. If we didn't do it this way the cable would twist ruining the lag since you can't reuse them.

Have your hopes of beautiful cable railing been dashed by the expensive prices of the fancy systems? Look no further. This system does take some time and effort, but it gets the job done with amazing results! Buy the hydraulic crimper from Harbor Freight. If you are patient and persistent, you can use these for really small runs and stairs as well. It was tough, but I wanted the look to be consistent everywhere. After a month they have all loosened up a bit and will require another round of tightening, so don't fret if a few threads are showing still at first. I made a wrench out of a piece of scrap steel to tighten the fittings.

They give a good sleek look. Yes its quite a bit more work than the fancy ones that you can just slip the cable in and they lock in place. And yes you might go through a few locking pliers to get them snug and deeper in the wood in case you miscalculate the length of the cable. But overall, this cable system is worth the price listed for the product you receive and as long as you take your time and dont miss steps and measure twice, you're going to walk away from a great industrial style rail system, whether its on your porch or a staircase. P.S. Could I please get some extra parts? About 4 will do.

Great value. The wrench they send is crap so you will need a backup. I found a small pair of vice grips to be the best thing to use to tighten everything up. Overall very pleased with the product.

It did not come with a wrench that fit. It is hard to find that small of an opened end wrench. However, for the price the product was good.

These things are beyond frustrating to attempt to screw into the wood. They didn't come with the drill bit they were supposed to and didn't come with a wrench to screw them in so I'm buggering them up trying to use locking pliers to screw them into the wood. I'm ordering different ones that come with a specialized wrench.

Works qell