There are many reasons why building your own cables is a great skill to have in your repertoire. Building your own cables provides you with the ability to create custom cable lengths, colors, and connections and help save you money in the long run. With a little knowledge of connector pinouts and basic soldering skills, learning to build cables is easy.
Tools You Need:
The first step in becoming a cabling wiz is to gather the tools and supplies you need to build your cable. Your workbench should include braided sleeves, heat shrink, cable strippers, pliers, cable snips, soldering iron, solder, helping hands tools, vices, utility knives, cable tester, and heat guns. You might need specialized tools such as an F-Type compression/crimper, coax stripper, or RJ-45 crimper for some cable types. Parts Express has a large selection of bulk cables and connectors, providing you with all you need to build virtually any cable.
Step 1: Choose your connectors
Whether you are looking for XLR, TRS, TS, Ethernet, power, speaker, or Ethercon Parts Express has a large variety to ensure that you get the proper connector for your cable builds.
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Step 2: Choose your cable
Parts Express has a vast selection of bulk wire and cable, including speaker wire, instrument, mic, power, ethernet, and snake cable. Shop Parts Express to find the perfect length, color, and type for your build.
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Step 3: Get the right tools & supplies
We have all the tools you need for you your cable building workspace. Shop our large selection of soldering irons, hand tools, test equipment, and bench lamps so you have the right gear for the job.
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Building your cables can be very beneficial. We have put together a brief guide to building audio and Ethernet cables. Get your connectors and bulk wire ready as we walk through cable construction.
What is a cable?
A cable generally consists of three components. Most cables have two connectors, one at each end and the actual cable. It is essential to note which type of cable you are building and to ensure that you are using the proper connectors for the cable of your choice. See below for a list of pinouts for common connectors and cables.
Getting Started with Audio Cables:
After your workbench is all set with the components and tools you need, we can start constructing your new cable. To start, strip the bulk cable’s outer jack back about 1" using cable strippers or a pair of cable snips. Inside, you will find the cable’s individual conductors. You will need to cut the inner conductor jacket back about 1/4″. Be sure to not cut any of the conductors shielding because you will want to make sure the bare, exposed wire does not touch each other during construction.
In some cases, you might need to add heat shrink or braided sleeving to your cables. If you need to add either of these, you will want to do this now. Many connectors such as XLR, 1/4″, and Ethercon have boots. You will need to also slide these on now.
Soldering the connectors:
Now we come to the fun part, soldering. Before starting, be sure to refer to your connector’s and cable’s pinout diagram to ensure you are using the correct pins. Using vices or a helping hands tool is hugely beneficial in this step. Heat up your soldering iron and place your connector into the vice or helping hands tool.
Fill the solder terminals on the connector by melting a dab of solder into each terminal. This will make soldering the connection much easier in the next couple of steps. In addition, to make the final solder easier, it is a good idea to tin your conductors. To do this, run some solder over the exposed wires. This will keep the conductor’s strands from splitting and make it easier to connect to the solder terminals. Using solder with resin will make tinning your conductors a simple step.
The next step is to attach the cable to the connectors. Start with a single conductor and place the tinned conductor on top of the correct solder terminal (remember to consult your pinout diagram). To make the connection, place your hot soldering iron on top of the wire. This will heat up the solder on the conductor and pre-filled solder terminal in which the conductor will fall into place on the solder terminal. Once the conductor is in place, remove the soldering iron. The solder should settle almost immediately after you remove the iron. Give the conductor a slight tug to ensure the connection is strong. After you are satisfied, repeat the process for the remaining conductors for each connector.
Once you are finished with soldering, you can attach the connector to the connector boot. It is now time to test out your cable. Using a handy cable tester, you can verify that your cable will function properly. When you are satisfied that your cable is working, you can get the heat shrink into place and use a heat gun to finish the process.
Getting Started with Ethernet Cables:
After your workbench is all set with the components and tools you need, we can start constructing your new cable. To start, strip the bulk cable’s outer jack back about 1″ using cable strippers or a pair of cable snips. Inside, you will find the cable’s individual conductors. Separate the individual conductors and get the conductors into the proper order based on the cable and connector pinout. Using scissors or snips, cut them straight across so they are all the same length with about a 1/2″ of length.
Crimping Your Connectors:
Get your ethernet connectors ready. Once again, ensure the pinout of the cables and connectors. Push the individual conductors into the connector. Be sure the wire makes a connection with the end of the connector; with some jacks, the cables will push all the way through. If you look from the top, all of the conductors look uniform. You will also want to ensure that the outer jacket is also inside of the connector. If the outer jacket does not go into the connector, cut your conductors shorter until the outer jacket does sit inside the connector.
Grab your cable crimps. Refer to your crimper’s instruction manual to ensure proper use. In most cases, you will place the connector into the crimper and cinch down on the handles. You should need to ensure you perform this, so the handles are tight. When you cinch down on the tool, the copper splicing tabs on the connector will connect with each of the conductors by piercing the conductor’s jacket. After performing the crimp, the outer jacket of the cable will also lock into place with a compression fit.
Test the cable to ensure proper build before using it in the field. You can do this by using an Ethernet cable tester.
