Since I haven't seen a thorough guide yet for making your own USB cables, I decided to make one. I realize that this doesn't make good business sense since I do sell some of my own cables, but I also like to make things easily accessible to people. A lot of this community and the computer building community was built on DIYers and their public experiments, so I feel it's only right to help people have easier access to guides that can help them actualize some of their visions.
I know this is a topic that's a little scary for some people and it does take time and practice to get right, but I figured making a guide might make it a little less scary. I know that when I
started making my own sleeved USB cables (
and all the cables to date), it took some work to find some good documentation for the tiered connector on the USB Mini B and for the process of making your own cables. While there are some guides that are great for sleeving, they don't have a ton of documentation on the connectors and housings.
And a disclaimer, to me this is a fun project to do and gives you a lot of latitude for sleeving, but, depending on how many connectors you get and where you source them from, you might end up spending more than what several of the artisans out there charge for a single cable. I don't want to discourage anyone from it since it's a fun project and definitely teaches you some things, just expect it to be a little costlier than you'd expect.
Tools you'll need:- Soldering iron
- Tweezers. I use
these since they're cheap and decent. You can use any old tweezers. Finer needle nose pliers might work in a pinch.
Recommended tools:-
Helping hand. You don't need anything big or fancy, any cheap one will help.
-
Painter's tape. I use this because it doesn't leave a residue.
- Wire strippers. I use
these fairly cheap strippers and they're fantastic. You can also use a pocket knife, Exacto knife, or razor blade.
- Razor blade for removing the plastic shell from the USB cable and cutting the shielding.
- Adjustable temp soldering iron. This can be something nice like a Hakko 888D or something cheap and dirty like
my Weller and home made setup.
Parts you'll need- USB Cables
- USB connectors and housings of your choice (USB A, USB B, USB Mini A, USB Mini B, Micro USB). Keep in mind that there are different permutations of connectors, so the number of pads may be different on some and the placement of the pads may be different. If that's the case, you'll need to try and disassemble the connector to find out what goes where.
- If for a Filco,
Molex housing. You'll need a crimper and the appropriate crimps to do this.
- 3:1 heatshrink
- Sleeving (paracord, MDPC-X, etc). Be careful with paracord as the sizing is inconsistent and the stuff you buy might be too small to fit over the cable.
Making your cables:USB A Connector
USB A Pinout
Since USB uses a universal color code, it's pretty easy to make your own cables with an assortment of different USB connectors. This is a handy little pinout for your common USB A connector.
When it comes time to solder, just match the tinned wires to the right pad and reflow your solder. If you didn't get enough solder from tinning, it's easy to add a little more.
I recommend a using some helping hands and tweezers for this task. I also find it useful to tape the connector down to a flat surface while soldering the wires in place.
Once your wires are soldered properly, I like to add a little hot glue as an insulator and to add a little more strength to the solder joint.
If you get a two part housing like I use, these two little pegs/legs serve as guides for the housing so you get your connector seated perfectly every time.
This the snap together two part housing I use. Slip on housings are more common. If you get some of those, ignore this part.
This is the little groove you slide the pegs/legs from the connector into. There's a little room for wiggle, so don't be worried that the connector isn't gripped tight.
When you slide the connector in, it should end up looking like this:
USB Mini B Connector
USB Mini B Connector Pinout:
Since USB uses a universal color code, it's pretty easy to make your own cables with an assortment of different USB connectors. This is a handy little pinout for your common USB A connector.
When it comes time to solder, just match the tinned wires to the right pad and reflow your solder. Take your time and make sure your temps are right. If you get it too hot, you can melt the pads out of the housing.
I recommend having a helping hands, tweezers, and some sort of magnifying glass on hand for this. I also find it useful to tape the connector down to a flat surface while soldering the wires in place.
Once your wires are soldered properly, I like to add a little hot glue as an insulator and to add a little more strength to the solder joint.
If you get a two part housing like I use, this little lip serves as guides for the housing so you get your connector seated perfectly every time.
This the snap together two part housing I use:
This is the little groove you slide the lip from the connector into. If it's not seated properly, the housing won't close.
When you slide the connector in, it should end up looking like this.
USB Wires
Not my picture, but this is your standard USB cable. You will need to strip the wires and tin them.
In case you don't know what tinning is, tinning is the process of adding solder to your stranded wire that you'll be soldering. You can either hold the iron at the tip or on the backside of the wire and when it gets hot enough, the solder will flow into it.
More pics to be added later.
