Braiding a Cable

[Mudcat]

So, you want to braid your own CAT 5 or whatever. The attached picture should be self explanatory. If not

A over B
D under B and over A
C behind D, under B and over D
A behind C, under D and over B
D behind B, behind C and over A


keep going until you've got the length you want.


For the finished cable, check out the pictures in this thread, scroll down to post #10.

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15282

 

[edwelly]

first off thank you...

is there really that much of a difference in braiding vs. twisting together? Thanks!

 

[Francious70]

What?? Mudcatt, after almost a year hiatus, your back??

 

[Mudcat]

is there really that much of a difference in braiding vs. twisting together? Thanks!

I haven't made any measurements yet. I would expect differences in R_ac simply due to the longer amount of wire to make a cable when compared to twisting. Is is significant? Don't know and don't think so.
I plan on remeasuring most of the cables from my DIY face off only because I have better equipment now. Whether or not I inlcude all the CAT 5 and Sound King versions I don't know. Definitly not any Monster cables because I sold those on eBay.

What?? Mudcatt, after almost a year hiatus, your back??

No, I've been checking in and out. I've also been helping Gene and Clint in setting up the cable comparison system based in excel spread sheets and my algorithms I've developed for curve fitting. I've also been traveling alot and working my @$$ off (especially with two gulf coast storms messing up a lot of shipbuilding.

 

[j_garcia]

clamp one end, put the other in a drill, all done.

 

[edwelly]

clamp one end, put the other in a drill, all done.

HA HA HA - that is EXACTLY what I was referring too...

 

[Mudcat]

clamp one end, put the other in a drill, all done.

Too Loose.

 

[Sheep]

clamp one end, put the other in a drill, all done.

haha, hilarious.


Mudcat, How much would it cost for you to make me cables that could choke a horse? Your cables are so pretty!


SheepStar

 

[1khpsupra]

Wow you have some patience to sit there braid your own cat5. I manage IBM eServer clusters, and I routinely braid the power cords, iSCSI / Cat5 / Management cables, but then I'm getting paid to do so. They look very neat and it helps with routing through the racks and zip tying them out of the way. Even being paid you have me beat, they look great.

 

[j_garcia]

Why don't you just give some 8 yr old girls some cookies and have them braid them for you?

Seriously, you can twist them with a drill, then tighten them by hand. One of the places I worked at did it all the time. A few tie-wraps and the bundle stays together quite well, though I know for speaker cables that wouldn't exactly be too attractive. IMO, it's a waste of time to braid them. There has to be a machine that because I KNOW Kimber doesn't have people braiding these things by hand...

 

[Mudcat]

Why don't you just give some 8 yr old girls some cookies and have them braid them for you?

Child labor laws

Seriously, you can twist them with a drill, then tighten them by hand. One of the places I worked at did it all the time. A few tie-wraps and the bundle stays together quite well, though I know for speaker cables that wouldn't exactly be too attractive. IMO, it's a waste of time to braid them.

No argument from me. I make the cable for me and friends, an anyone who wants me to make a pair ($$). So, I try to make them pretty.

There has to be a machine that because I KNOW Kimber doesn't have people braiding these things by hand...

Those machines are expensive, even getting a company to make a braid with the materials you want isn't cheap. Unless your getting several thousand feet at a time (aka Ray Kimber).

Even being paid you have me beat, they look great.

Thanks, I try.

Mudcat, How much would it cost for you to make me cables that could choke a horse? Your cables are so pretty!.

$200 for a 10 - 12 foot pair of plenum CAT 5 (teflon insulation and teflon jacket) finished with GLS locking bananas. That is for the 4 strand braid (i.e. double helix). The price would be the same if you wanted two blue pvc CAT 5 for color patterns. If you want a twisted pair of CAT 5 (same as above) inside the double helix braid, add another c-note. I'll need a month or so - can't use the DVD player aas a babysitter all the time.

 

[j_garcia]

Did you get around to redoing the measurements on these cables? Just curious. Good looking never hurts, but if it doesn't make any difference in performance, is it really gaining anything?

If you're giving them cookies as an incentive you aren't paying them, so there's no labor law to violate.

 

[runninkyle17]

Hey guys,

I posted this over on my original thread but more people are looking at this thread so I will post them here. My cables probably do not look as pretty as Mudcat's but I have spent some time on them and I like how they look, plus the gauge turns out to be around 9-10 AWG. Here are some pictures of them. If you cannot see them very well I will take some better pictures if you want to see the final product.