Maybe you knew this already.
I was speaking with Tom Sanders, and mentioned that I never liked the look of those crimp-on cable ends. I said that when I worked in a bike store, we soldered the cable ends to keep them from fraying. I do not own a soldering iron, and as I recall, it was kind of a smelly process. Tom suggested that I get a tube of liquid solder, and just dip the cable ends in that.
Well I just did it, and it works great. I adjusted the cables, then cut them cleanly. I wiped the cable ends with alcohol to get any oil off. Then I took the tube of liquid solder (I don't recall the brand) and stuck the cable ends in, taking care not to leave too much of the goop on the cable. Actually since the brake and rear derailleur cables point down, it was more a case of lifting the tube of solder up so the the end of the cable was submerged. At this rate I expect my tube of liquid solder to last for approximately 10,000 cables.
No longer a-frayed,
Marcus Helman
Huntington Woods, MI