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How do you make reliable, low-cost cables quickly?

dougw

I do lots of electronics design and building and inevitably need to make lots of cables. Since making cables is not my favorite activity, I try to use methods that are quick while still providing reliable connections. And of course I always need to keep the costs down.

This short post shows a couple of the main ways I accomplish these objectives.

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Yodamonk, the cable guru.

Custom Cable Methods

Discussion

I haven't posted much content lately so I thought I would post something about making cables. This activity is not usually exciting enough to be a great blogging topic, but I also wanted to play around a bit with some AI media generation. (No AI text though) The tough Yodamonk dude came out amazing.

I am always looking for efficient ways to make useful cables, so if you have any interesting tips, please jot them down below...

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  • When I needed to run some extra ethernet cables in the house I bought a few packs of the ends and I think the tool was just a little plastic thing.

    But then when I tried to find cat-something-cable it turned out to be cheaper to just buy the pre-made cables! A LOT cheaper. 

    It was a little more effort getting the bigger ends through to the already-busy area by the main distribution box, but overall it all was quite easy and I didn't have to fiddle around making the ends (and worrying about doing it correctly!)

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  • When I needed to run some extra ethernet cables in the house I bought a few packs of the ends and I think the tool was just a little plastic thing.

    But then when I tried to find cat-something-cable it turned out to be cheaper to just buy the pre-made cables! A LOT cheaper. 

    It was a little more effort getting the bigger ends through to the already-busy area by the main distribution box, but overall it all was quite easy and I didn't have to fiddle around making the ends (and worrying about doing it correctly!)

Children
  • in reply to ntewinkel

    They are excellent connectors + cable. Also one of the cheapest ways of obtaining prototyping wire at low cost, just strip off the outer jacket.

    Here I think the ready-made stranded wire patch cables cost a bit more than DIYing them (assuming the typical ratchet tool is available), but either way, they are low-cost. Solid-core wire plus the plastic tool is often used for the fixed wiring install. A bit naughty, but I like using RJ45 for non-Ethernet stuff too, as long as it is labeled clearly. Major benefit being that the patch cables are ready-made so no time wasted assembling cables.

    I also like circular connectors (since it's so easy to drill round holes for those!) but I don't have a favorite. Pity some of those connectors can be pricey, whereas RJ45 is super-low-cost.

    The tool I've used for > 10 years. It does 4 and 6-way connectors too, but I rarely use those.

    image