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geekhack Community => Other Geeky Stuff => Topic started by: HeavyArms on Mon, 06 February 2012, 17:24:49

Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: HeavyArms on Mon, 06 February 2012, 17:24:49: I'm sure some of you on here have cats... and have had them annihilate various cables (headphones, mice, chargers, etc). I've just started searching from some braided cable sleeving for some of the cables in and around my computer. Google came up with a few results and it seems to be surprisingly easy and affordable. However before I make my order I was wondering if anyone here had a specific distributor or material they preferred.

This is one I have been referred to, however this guy is pretty pricy, and in EU.
http://en.mdpc-x.com/
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: tsangan on Mon, 06 February 2012, 18:04:42: Those are probably too small for your USB cables diameter wise, you need something a lot bigger. I was on their website too, there is definitely a lot cheaper options out there and different sizes too, but I never took the time to figure out what size I need.
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: HeavyArms on Mon, 06 February 2012, 19:28:27: It just seems like a good idea. I'd like to cover my mouse, my keyboard, and external drives. And i thought he had a variety of diameters?
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Mon, 06 February 2012, 19:45:41: Regular braid won't save anything. In fact it probably makes it more appealing. You need to teach cats to not chew. My cats now have a nice aversion to wires, thanks to my good friend habanero sauce.

Doing it for aesthetics sake is a different story. MDPC is some of the best for sure when it comes to braid. It's soft and tight unlike most of the poly weave junk that everyone else sells. The 1/8" would probably be best fit for most usb / audio / etc cables that aren't thicker than 28awg. Anything thicker and you'll probably have to jump up sleeve size and it may be a little loose.
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: HeavyArms on Mon, 06 February 2012, 19:53:23: hot sauce power active.
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Mon, 06 February 2012, 19:58:09: LOL. Yeah, it's not that nice, but it works and it doesn't really harm them. I would just put a few drops on some tissue and run it the length every couple days. They may ruin one or two more cords in the learning process, but they get the message.
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: mcsnails on Mon, 06 February 2012, 20:03:11: I recently sleeved my headphones with some braided sleeving, 1/4 inch barely fits around a large minijack for headphones in case you were planning on doing headphones.

As for where to buy, I was directed to this ebay seller http://stores.ebay.com/FURRYLETTERS He shipped quickly and on time, plus his prices beat anything you can find in a large online retailer
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: whiskerBox on Mon, 06 February 2012, 20:18:43: Quote from: mcsnails;507689
I recently sleeved my headphones with some braided sleeving, 1/4 inch barely fits around a large minijack for headphones in case you were planning on doing headphones.

As for where to buy, I was directed to this ebay seller http://stores.ebay.com/FURRYLETTERS He shipped quickly and on time, plus his prices beat anything you can find in a large online retailer

Holy crap that guy has everything and cheap too! thanks for that.
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: HeavyArms on Mon, 06 February 2012, 21:02:22: Thanks, how durable do you feel his sleeves are?
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Mon, 06 February 2012, 21:23:19: No offense, but if you want sleeving to look good, I feel you need to REMOVE the connector, sleeve using a diameter that barely fits over the wire(s), heatshrink and re-solder the connector/or bare wires back on. But that's me. I want it to look like 'manufactured perfect' if I'm going to bother.

Cheap price, but low quality poly/nylon, and not a dense weave. Don't think they had the 'audiopipe' stuff which does look better at that time I bought. But the other 'techflex" stuff is not very nice. I still would rather pay X more at MDPC for a known high quality.
Still looking for cloth style braid like they used to use back in the early 20th on electrics.
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: whiskerBox on Mon, 06 February 2012, 21:28:01: Quote from: lysol;507766
No offense, but if you want sleeving to look good, I feel you need to REMOVE the connector, sleeve using a diameter that barely fits over the wire(s), heatshrink and re-solder the connector/or bare wires back on. But that's me. I want it to look like 'manufactured perfect' if I'm going to bother.

Agreed check out this one that this guy on an audio forum made.

(http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/johnjohns0n/Screenshot2012-01-30at32313PM.png)

Anyways heres the link to the thread where I found this at LINK (http://www.head-fi.org/t/71148/diy-cable-gallery/7590)
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Mon, 06 February 2012, 21:37:54: See, that's what I mean with that techflex, it's all expanded so you can see through it. Some people like that, and it can look good depending, but generally I don't like it 'loose' weave. I was doing a PSU so it looked like ass compared to a single cable which looks not too bad.
But yes, that is doing it right.
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: demik on Mon, 06 February 2012, 21:43:02: ive been wanting to do some usb cables for my poker in a red sleeve but i cant figure out what size i need for it
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: HeavyArms on Mon, 06 February 2012, 21:48:17: I think a lot of measurements are in the future... And I agree, the connecters need to be removed and re-soldered, which is the plan. It might not add an indestructable quality to the cable but it does add an additional layer of protection. I'm going to get up with MDPC on the 12th when he starts taking orders again. I think he also sells the connector caps so everything looks "hella" flush.
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Mon, 06 February 2012, 22:55:54: I'm pretty sure the stock cable with the Poker is 28awg, so the 1/8" should fit, just. It will be a little tight, and take a little more work pushing it on but it should fit well without expanding very much.
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: tsangan on Mon, 06 February 2012, 23:11:21: lysol, let me commission you to make me some nice USB cables :P
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Mon, 06 February 2012, 23:36:33: I do have some free time coming up, as I don't have any real paying shoots/gigs booked until mid March... I could probably use the monies. Not sure what is fair to charge for that... but i may be up for doing a small amount of them.
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: HeavyArms on Tue, 07 February 2012, 01:11:22: watch it lysol you might start a business and not even know it. :thumb:
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: whiskerBox on Tue, 07 February 2012, 01:28:32: The one company I found making those for audiophiles was charging ridiculous amounts of money
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Tue, 07 February 2012, 01:45:31: Ridiculous amounts of money you say? Thats nice. Unfortunately I don't think most geekhackers are going to fall for the old $2000 sleeved gold plated optical cable bit...
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: demik on Tue, 07 February 2012, 02:12:11: Quote from: lysol;507918
I do have some free time coming up, as I don't have any real paying shoots/gigs booked until mid March... I could probably use the monies. Not sure what is fair to charge for that... but i may be up for doing a small amount of them.

If you do, pm me!

I want one a meter long in red!

Or actually 2, one 3 feet and the other 1.5 for my poker :D
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: tsangan on Tue, 07 February 2012, 09:23:46: Quote from: lysol;507918
I do have some free time coming up, as I don't have any real paying shoots/gigs booked until mid March... I could probably use the monies. Not sure what is fair to charge for that... but i may be up for doing a small amount of them.
I got dibs :)

Just let me(us) know if you end up having time to do this, I'll probably need 1 long and 1 short one
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: whiskerBox on Tue, 07 February 2012, 11:09:56: I would be interested in a short one for my poker like around a foot
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: tsangan on Tue, 07 February 2012, 11:12:54: Yeah i think 12"-14" would be good for a short one not sure about the long one though
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: whiskerBox on Tue, 07 February 2012, 11:18:13: Quote from: tsangan;508261
Yeah i think 12"-14" would be good for a short one not sure about the long one though

Yeah I am using mine with a laptop so I need a short one
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: HeavyArms on Tue, 07 February 2012, 13:22:20: We'll I think I'm going to bite the bullet and order from MDPC on the 12th. I'll post photos here once I'm done with the first few cables.
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Tue, 07 February 2012, 13:36:27: I can probably find the time to do maybe 8 cable.
If one of you want it organize, collect the money from everyone to purchase the parts, and mail it to me? Then I make them and can mail out to individual to each person?
Need:
usb cable of whichever length you want in 24-28awg thick cord, you can use any type connector usb cable as the original ends get removed. Keep in mind this will make it about 3 inches shorter.
1/8" sleeving in enough length for your cable, good idea to order a few inches extra length.
1/8" heatshrink to go over the braid at the ends, then 1/4" heatshrink for over the usb plug end.
enough of these USB A (http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Kycon/KUSBX-AP-KIT-SC/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMulM8LPOQ%252bykzAp4yt8IxVbJcnfJZZWelo%3d) and USB mini B (http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Hirose-Connector/UX40-MB-5P/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMulM8LPOQ%252bykzmHhzPuOAFGyJofC62K5Wg%3d) to replace the cut off ends with.
I think $20 each cable is a fair price.
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: tsangan on Tue, 07 February 2012, 13:52:59: Quote from: lysol;508421
I can probably find the time to do maybe 8 cable.
If one of you want it organize, collect the money from everyone to purchase the parts, and mail it to me? Then I make them and can mail out to individual to each person?
Need:
usb cable of whichever length you want in 24-28awg thick cord, you can use any type connector usb cable as the original ends get removed. Keep in mind this will make it about 3 inches shorter.
1/8" sleeving in enough length for your cable, good idea to order a few inches extra length.
1/8" heatshrink to go over the braid at the ends, then 1/4" heatshrink for over the usb plug end.
enough of these USB A (http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Kycon/KUSBX-AP-KIT-SC/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMulM8LPOQ%252bykzAp4yt8IxVbJcnfJZZWelo%3d) and USB mini B (http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Hirose-Connector/UX40-MB-5P/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMulM8LPOQ%252bykzmHhzPuOAFGyJofC62K5Wg%3d) to replace the cut off ends with.
I think $20 each cable is a fair price.
We wouldn't know what to buy, better if we just pay you and you get all the parts that way it can't be messed up
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: mcsnails on Tue, 07 February 2012, 17:51:38: Quote from: HeavyArms;507745
Thanks, how durable do you feel his sleeves are?

They feel pretty good to me, but I have never bought sleeving before to compare it against,
Heres a picture of the headphone cord i did with the sleeving and heatshrink that I bought from him [ATTACH=CONFIG]39593[/ATTACH]
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: kidchunks on Tue, 07 February 2012, 19:03:09: Talk about timing! I recently did some sleeving using techflex for my dac usb to mini cable. I'll post a picture of it tomorrow.
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: whiskerBox on Tue, 07 February 2012, 19:06:06: I will pay $20 for a Cable sign me up!
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: godly_music on Wed, 08 February 2012, 12:55:54: You could also try spraying the cables with perfume.
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: byFd on Wed, 08 February 2012, 13:06:57: i'd be in for a cable at 20$ish too!
for my poker :D
not too sure of the length yet, needs it for poker -> computer and poker -> laptop i think.
what color do i choose lol :D
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: HeavyArms on Wed, 08 February 2012, 13:47:41: Quote from: mcsnails;508647
They feel pretty good to me, but I have never bought sleeving before to compare it against,
Heres a picture of the headphone cord i did with the sleeving and heatshrink that I bought from him (Attachment) 39593[/ATTACH]

Thanks for the photo! That helps it looks great! Can't wait to do mine.
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: mcsnails on Wed, 08 February 2012, 18:37:12: its really not a hard task to do on one's own, unless you have your heart set on getting the sleeving underneath, heatshrink terminates it quite nicely. Plus, with a mini-usb port on one end you arent particularly limited in what diameter sleeving you can use.
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: 1uckyNumb3r7 on Thu, 09 February 2012, 09:50:12: Suprised no one has suggested using paracord as sleeving? A lot more colors and dirt cheap. http://www.parachute-cord.com/50.htm (http://www.parachute-cord.com/50.htm)
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: whiskerBox on Thu, 09 February 2012, 10:13:28: Quote from: 1uckyNumb3r7;510135
Suprised no one has suggested using paracord as sleeving? A lot more colors and dirt cheap. http://www.parachute-cord.com/50.htm (http://www.parachute-cord.com/50.htm)

I think the problem with that is that it is to small of a diameter to slide the cable through and It usually looks wrinkled afterwards. I used some for another project and it turned out OK but not great.
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: IvanIvanovich on Thu, 09 February 2012, 16:09:28: I think the diameter is not a problem on 20-24awg wire, good for psu single wire sleeve method, but the weave is very dense on chute cord. Since it is so dense it is harder to use for cable sleeve since it barely expands so anything over 24awg would be a *****. Of course that is a good thing for it's intended purpose.

I will definitely be buying some from them to do a revamp on my psu, probably creamsicle, looks rather nice. I've been toying with adding some color to my black and white pc and doing the each single wire style of sleeving.
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: whiskerBox on Thu, 09 February 2012, 16:13:03: Oooh I want overkill
[ATTACH=CONFIG]39925[/ATTACH]
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: tsangan on Thu, 09 February 2012, 16:45:02: Quote from: whiskerBox;510446
Oooh I want overkill
(Attachment) 39925[/ATTACH]

I want that too! :thumb:

Crazier the better

Nevermind I want this, pretty in pink or purple passion<3
(http://www.parachute-cord.com/550newcamocolors-paracord.jpg)
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: hazeluff on Sat, 11 February 2012, 18:00:21: Quote from: tsangan;510461
I want that too! :thumb:

Crazier the better

Nevermind I want this, pretty in pink or purple passion<3
Show Image
(http://www.parachute-cord.com/550newcamocolors-paracord.jpg)

Pretty in Pink. <3
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: Lanx on Sat, 11 February 2012, 18:59:04: techflex clean cut was nice and weaved when i used it. I use techflex split to make the entertainment area nicer looking. I don't think this stuff would protect wires from pets, probably need the nasty looking plastic looms you see at radio shack instead. When i had a rabbit, if given time and determination he'd eat through anything. Also hot sauce as a deterrant? man my dog loves hot sauce, i'd give him left over scraps of thai hot noodles and he just gobbles it up, now again thai hot is hotter than your usual hot if you've eaten thai food, it's the kind of hot for thai's not reserved for westerners.
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: kidchunks on Mon, 13 February 2012, 18:55:15: Finally took that picture! Came out alright.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]40426[/ATTACH]
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: hazeluff on Mon, 13 February 2012, 18:58:09: Quote from: kidchunks;513564
Finally took that picture! Came out alright.

(Attachment) 40426[/ATTACH]

So is the heat shrink around the ends? I might so some for myself. = O
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: kidchunks on Mon, 13 February 2012, 19:01:35: Quote from: hazeluff;513565
So is the heat shrink around the ends? I might so some for myself. = O

That is the quick and dirty way. :P
Title: Braided cable sleeving for various peripherals
Post by: whiskerBox on Tue, 06 March 2012, 11:48:33: I had a go at making some cables and I am selling the extras here (http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?28247-Custom-ROPE-USB-A-to-USB-Mini-B-cables-for-Poker-HHKB) for $20 shipped.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]42860[/ATTACH]

I plan on making some more soon in different sizes and hopefully colors