Crimper Tool ???

Purchasing a batch of 3.5mm "bullet" ( male/female ) connector terminals. For 14-18 gauge wire. What Ratcheting Crimper do you guys recommend without breaking the bank to get that Factory Look ? Rewiring my 77' KZ1000.

CylceTerminal.com has a green ratcheting crimper that's probably about as inexpensive as you can expect. They also have a nice terminal pin extractor tool set --- very handy to have.
Crimper Tool page

I already had a Harbor-Freight ratcheting crimper, but the die set was incorrect for open barrel terminals, so I got the correct dies at Amazon.com. The 2 together cost about the same as the crimper from CycleTerminal.

Martin, We have a local HF. Could you show me what Dies you purchased off of Amazon?

This set fit the HF tool perfectly.
Amazon.com --- Aircraft Tool Supply --- Open Barrel Crimper Die Set .

There's also a Klein tools die set that will probably work --- it's a little cheaper.

Martin, These are the connectors I purchased. Will the HF crimper or crimper from Cycle Terminal do "Both" bullet male/female ends?

At those prices, it will be much more convenient to have two crimpers. One for closed-insulated barrels, and one for open barrel. You don't want to get stuck on a job swapping dies every 5 minutes. (Although, you will get good at it )

Loudhvx, Could you explain to me how these crimpers work? Do the crimpers close the open end on the male and female connectors or do the crimpers close the end of the connectors where the wires connect too? Never used them before, but want to make sure I get the "Right" crimpers needed for the job.

The open barrel crimper curls the open ends of the terminal pins inward onto the wire and the insulation to kinda form the letter M. The best way I can explain is to put your finger tips together, then curl them in --- that's sorta what the crimper does to the terminals.

CycleTerminal -- Crimp tool help page

Note: match the correct size terminal pin to the correct size wire. Otherwise, you may not get a good/proper connection.

Like this....

It's a beautiful thing to watch when it all works right. (But get a crappy one and it looks like someone had a drunken possum bite down on the thing. Best to get a good one... crimper that is, not a possum.)

Oh, and for anyone making harnesses, do yourself a huge favor and get a big roll of non-adhesive electrical tape. You can get it on ebay. Wrap most of it with non-adhesive, then finish the ends with adhesive tape. For whatever reason, the non-adhesive stuff is more expensive, but worth every penny if you ever have to unwrap it.

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