Welding wire is very fine strands of wire encased in the insulation (PICTURE ON RIGHT). Insulation is usually pretty flexible. It does bend easier, and is used for connecting the welder itself to the large alligator ground clamp (mig, tig,or arc), or the welding rod (arc only). You could pull up a picture of an arc welder in a google search and see how flexible this stuff is. The battery cable uses a much stiffer insulation and the strands are a little bit bigger on average (PICTURE ON LEFT). Kinda like comparing soft hair brush to a wire brush. I would not waste your efforts on crimping unless you have the real deal crimper on any style of cable. A specialty tool made just for crimping these connectors is suggested if you insist on having crimped connectors. A vice just ridiculous. I have one method I use and prefer. Get some heat shrink tubing that is big enough for your cable, and slide a piece up on there and back about 2 feet so the next section I mention does not force it to shrink. After you get that heat shrink up 2 feet, trim back enough insulation to expose enough wire to fit inside the copper lug you are going to have to buy. The lugs are rated in size based on your gauge of wire. You need to get a propane/mapp torch and flux cored solder as well. You simply insert the exposed wire into the lug, heat the lug with the propane/mapp torch and continue to apply the solder near the opening. The wire must be clean, oil free, and then the solder will wick into the lug. You have to use your best judgment on when to stop, but you can pretty much tell when it is done. After it cools a bit, you slide up the heat shrink and cover up the lug base and some of your wire. You can use the heat from a lighter, or very carefully the torch to shrink it. Easy and pretty..........