Hack For Buiilding Cables

[Dutchman]

Just Drill a 1/4" hole in a piece of scrap wood.

For mic cables drill 3 1/8" holes in the right spots.

Works great

[BoogieMKIIA]

Not sure where I got the idea but I did a similar thing. Very helpful.

[scottcald]

Saw one guy  widen it out under the hole and put jacks there to keep it in place better

[Dutchman]

With something this simple modifications are almost required!!!

[Zork]

Take like a roll of duct or clear packing tape and lay it on its side with a 4x4" or so piece of cardboard placed on top.  You can then use a sharp pencil or the like to poke a pilot hole then jam the 1/4'' right tru and it holds perfectly while you solder.  Caveman tool that works great.

Edited Monday at 02:59 PM by Zork

[soli'd]

I have some something similar, but I mount the opposite sex connector in the block of wood. 1/4" jack in the wood for soldering 1/4” instrument cables- insert plug into jack, solder cable to lugs. 

It makes more of a difference with XLR, as the jack can serve as a heatsink. The pins get hot, but transfer heat to the jack connector before the plastic gets soft and the pins can get wonky. 

Same with female XLRs, mount a male panel-mount connector in the wood, and attach the unsoldered female connector to it, then solder cable.

[duncans]

I made this sooooo many years ago. Started with the 1/4" holes

I added the clothes pins  several years ago.

The 1/4” holes hold right angle plug , the clothes pins hold straight plugs and the cable if necessary.

its been so useful in my soldering career!

Edited Tuesday at 02:53 PM by duncans

[bruce919]

2 hours ago, duncans said:

I made this sooooo many years ago. Started with the 1/4" holes

I added the clothes pins  several years ago.

The 1/4” holes hold right angle plug , the clothes pins hold straight plugs and the cable if necessary.

its been so useful in my soldering career!

I always keep several clothes pins in my guitar repair area. They work great for holding wires/pots/switches oriented when soldering. 

[soli'd]

It's worth adding that none of these solutions will solve the problem of soldering all of the conductors, only to realize that you didn't put the barrel piece of the connector onto the cable first.  I've made hundreds of cables and I still do that from time to time. 

[Dave Scepter]

19 minutes ago, soli'd said:

It's worth adding that none of these solutions will solve the problem of soldering all of the conductors, only to realize that you didn't put the barrel piece of the connector onto the cable first.  I've made hundreds of cables and I still do that from time to time. 

Guilty as well 😃

[velorush]

2 hours ago, soli'd said:

It's worth adding that none of these solutions will solve the problem of soldering all of the conductors, only to realize that you didn't put the barrel piece of the connector onto the cable first.  I've made hundreds of cables and I still do that from time to time. 

Or shrink tubing... 😦

[hamerhead]

5 hours ago, soli'd said:

It's worth adding that none of these solutions will solve the problem of soldering all of the conductors, only to realize that you didn't put the barrel piece of the connector onto the cable first.  I've made hundreds of cables and I still do that from time to time. 

That made me laugh out loud. Every. Single. Time. 

[Stike]

This is the jig I made, I still need to write "Don't forget to pre install the barrel and heat shrink dumbass!"