Crimpin’ ain’t easy (or: best hobbyist crimping tool/system?)

[tooki]

Attached is a photo of a MOD IV die at ca. 9X. My gooseneck lamps were a bit too big to skirt all of the shiny surfaces.

Nice photo!

Which model # is that crimper? (I can tell it’s a different model from mine.)

Thanks. It is a Tyco/AMP Pro-Crimper from 2003. The current production is more colorful.

Where was that tool manufactured? I’m curious as to who actually manufactured it.

[jfiresto]

The crimper has AMP embossed on the handle along with MADE IN U.S.A.

[Smokey]

I recently picked up an iCrimp SN-2549.  It does significantly better crimps on DTM 1062-20-0122 pins (both wire and insulation crimp in one go) than my old crimpers. 
I've never used the official crimper for these pins, but I'm happy with these crimps from the iCrimp. 

Only complaint, and this is true with like all these type of pins and crimpers I've used, is that the wings of the crimp pin don't fit straight in the dies unless you pre-compress them a little so they are about parallel with the die opening walls. 

[tooki]

I recently picked up an iCrimp SN-2549.  It does significantly better crimps on DTM 1062-20-0122 pins (both wire and insulation crimp in one go) than my old crimpers. 
I've never used the official crimper for these pins, but I'm happy with these crimps from the iCrimp. 

Only complaint, and this is true with like all these type of pins and crimpers I've used, is that the wings of the crimp pin don't fit straight in the dies unless you pre-compress them a little so they are about parallel with the die opening walls.

Not surprising, since that tool has the wrong die shape for those contacts: just like DuPont, those have the angled offset insulation wings that need a circular insulation crimp.

[Smokey]

I recently picked up an iCrimp SN-2549.  It does significantly better crimps on DTM 1062-20-0122 pins (both wire and insulation crimp in one go) than my old crimpers. 
I've never used the official crimper for these pins, but I'm happy with these crimps from the iCrimp. 

Only complaint, and this is true with like all these type of pins and crimpers I've used, is that the wings of the crimp pin don't fit straight in the dies unless you pre-compress them a little so they are about parallel with the die opening walls.

Not surprising, since that tool has the wrong die shape for those contacts: just like DuPont, those have the angled offset insulation wings that need a circular insulation crimp.

The iCrimp bends the ends of the insulation side in so they pierce the middle of the insulation in the middle of the wire.  It looks and feels pretty solid, and the crimp pin does not appear to be distorted in weird ways that would keep it from being inserted.  I'm not sure if this is "correct" but it looks "close enough".

[tooki]

I recently picked up an iCrimp SN-2549.  It does significantly better crimps on DTM 1062-20-0122 pins (both wire and insulation crimp in one go) than my old crimpers. 
I've never used the official crimper for these pins, but I'm happy with these crimps from the iCrimp. 

Only complaint, and this is true with like all these type of pins and crimpers I've used, is that the wings of the crimp pin don't fit straight in the dies unless you pre-compress them a little so they are about parallel with the die opening walls.

Not surprising, since that tool has the wrong die shape for those contacts: just like DuPont, those have the angled offset insulation wings that need a circular insulation crimp.

The iCrimp bends the ends of the insulation side in so they pierce the middle of the insulation in the middle of the wire.  It looks and feels pretty solid, and the crimp pin does not appear to be distorted in weird ways that would keep it from being inserted.  I'm not sure if this is "correct" but it looks "close enough".

It’s definitely not correct. The angled offset wings are to produce a circular insulation crimp that hugs the insulation 360 degrees without poking into it whatsoever. When crimped into the m-shaped crimp, the long, sharp points get driven deep into the insulation, weakening it, reducing the effectiveness of the strain relief.

If you look at contacts designed for m-shaped insulation crimps, the wings are almost always squared off and symmetrical, and when crimped with the official tooling, either penetrate the insulation only slightly, or in some, actually curl up so that the insulation isn’t pierced at all.

Regardless, if the crimped terminal doesn’t fit into the housing, then it clearly has the wrong crimp dimensions. (For some reason, Chinese crimpers seem to usually veer on the side of making flat, wide crimps, rather than the more squarish crimps made by a lot of official tooling.)