In article , Rick Frazier
wrote:

As long as you can determine the closure distance is the same, and the
geometry is the same (primarily the way the crimp tool handles the pivot for
the jaws), you should be ok. However, if the mounting is only "similar" be
very careful of the two things:
1) the width of the crimp tool in regard to the slot in the die. If the slot
in the die isn't the same width, it could be mis-registered and cause
problems closing.
2) (and most important) be particularly careful that the closure is the same
as the original crimp tool.

Rick-

Thanks for the pointers. I suppose it is common sense, but I wouldn't
have thought about the jaw pivot arrangement making a difference.

Today I found an Ideal Industries "Crimp Master" tool with a die for cable
TV connectors, in a local store. That makes 4 tools for comparison.

Based on your comments, I found that the Tool Aid crimper and the Ideal
Crimp Master appear to have compatible dies. The Aim has a smaller die
slot width. The West Mountain Radio crimp tool for PowerPole connectors
has a similar size die, but the jaw arrangement is different from the
others.

I tried a couple of the Tool Aid dies in the Crimp Master frame and
produced similar crimps with similar pressure compared to using the Tool
Aid frame. My next step is to try interchanging dies with a different
tool a friend has. Between us, we hope to find what kinds of dies are
compatible with our frames.

73, Fred, K4DII