Cheapest DIY Stainless Cable Deck Railing Pt 1: The Materials

Part 1 in my series on installing stainless cable deck railing on the cheap. This is the stainless cable deck railing hardware that I purchased. This was the cheapest price that I could find and appears to be the same quality as the hardware sold by other brands on Amazon.

Total Cost for hardware was only $425.74 which is $1000's less than buying from cable railing retailers. The main savings are the cable terminals. Cable railing retailers sell their terminal sets at prices upwards of $10-$15 a pair. The ones I bought cost less than $2 a pair. That adds up quickly when you have a lot of deck corners that weren't designed for cable railing, and therefore need to terminate the cables at each corner.

Most Amazon stainless cable sellers are selling the 7x7 1/8in cable instead of the 1x19 configuration. The 1x19 is preferred for cable railing because it has larger individual strands. That makes it more rigid, stronger, and more aesthetically pleasing. It was more difficult to find, but I finally found this high quality, made in Korea, stainless 1x19 1/8in cable. https://amzn.to/3hgJFTM At the time of writing this, it only cost $220 for 1000 ft, making it $0.22 per foot, which is less than half the price that cable rail retailers want to sell their cable!

Additional installation tools that I had to buy

- Titan 11980 Hydraulic Cable Crimper (Buy it on Amazon) - This tool comes with a large set of dies, so I will be able to use it in the future for crimping electrical connectors and swaging cables. Cable railing retailers will rent crimpers, but the rental cost is as much as buying this tool.

- Cable Cutters - Most of the cable sellers on Amazon are trying to sell the small cable cutters, like these: https://amzn.to/2WKvcHA However, I found those to be very difficult to cut the 1/8in 1x19 cable without pinching your fingers. I think the larger strands make it difficult to cut. Therefore, I would recommend the larger 13" to 18" cutters, like these: Buy it on Amazon

These are additional tools that are used to drill the wood posts. Details can be seen in this video Pt.3: https://youtu.be/4faByj5kgYA

- Wolfcraft 4525404 Multi-Angle Drill Guide: Buy it on Amazon

- IRWIN QUICK-GRIP Bar Clamp, One-Handed, Medium-Duty, 12-Inch: Buy it on Amazon

- Ryobi 18V Cordless Brushless Drill: Buy it on Amazon

Check out the whole series of stainless cable railing videos in this playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJZvr9eL7PeyHeBj51cTain6uAiDfz9lX

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The products shown here were purchased by me with the intent to use. I am not being paid or compensated for this review. The video and description may contain affiliate links. If you click on a link, I may receive a commission. Money earned helps to support my channel and bring you more informative videos about engineering, crafting and DIY.