WTB Canare cable making tools (1 Viewer)

[Joe Hsu]

JosephElectronics, eh? I like the sound of that.

Hey Vince, if you read this, could you make a guitar interconnect too? I need another cord...no special casing, just the cable and the connectors.

 

[Brian Steeves]

Craig,

Just wanted to let you know I called Joseph Electronics today and they do indeed have better prices than Markertek!

Thanks again for the heads up.

 

[Lisa B.]

.

 

[Craig Robertson]

Thanks again for the heads up.

just glad i could help.
and credit where it's due, Vince origially turned me on to them.

 

[Andrew Beacom]

Vince,

...buy the cheap one from parts express- but know you will have to play around with shimming the dies to get good crimps.

Can you expand on what you need to do this?

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

Well, you loosen the screws on the dies so they have some play, and find 2 or 4 small finishing nails, about an inch long. You slide each nail along the edge of the die, between the die and the edge of the crimp handle:



You can do this on one side (like just the top- using two nails)- or try it on both the top and bottom, using 4 nails-- i personally use only the top side- so I have one nail on the top left and top right.

Then you close the crimper to insure proper die alignment with screws loose, and tighten the screws.

If this doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll post an actual photo of the shim when I get home.

-vince

 

[Andrew Beacom]

Vince,

Cool. I found this note on Chris White's page:

Some folks have complained that the Parts Express crimp frame doesn't always provide quite as tight a crimp as we might like. However, Dan Kaplan has discovered how to get the snuggest possible crimp. On the crimp frame, the top jaw has a pivot right next to the handle with "A" and "X" markings along with a double arrow and 2 screw holes. You can move it by putting the screw in place and squeezing the handles together, then removing the screw and releasing the handles. That turns the dial a half turn, which then lines up the grooves with the other screw hole, allowing you to repeat the process with alternating holes. (There may be some tool to turn it manually, but the above method worked fine.) After moving it over 3 notches, the crimp frame gives a snug crimp now with no effort. You can really feel the difference between just pinching the sleeve and actually crimping it.

Have you seen or tried this?

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

Yeah, that is just the tension adjust for the bite- all crimp handles ahve them. I found, that even with the handles in the TIGHTEST position, I often didn't get the crimp I was looking for... so I did the nail shim and run it about 1/2 or 3/4 of the way on the tension setting- and they're perfect everytime!

Your milage may vary- you may find that cranking the setting up will do okay- i've prefered a combination between the adjustment and a shim.

-Vince

 

[Andrew Beacom]

Vince,

Doesn't sound like rocket science so I should be able to mess with and try it out. I was thinking of getting the Canare frame but even at $62 from Josephs its still $45 more than the PE one.

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

And, I've actaully seen the canare one, and it's really nothing special. I would actual prefer my modified PE handle.

-Vince

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

Do a search for the Paladin 8000 crimp handle and 2649 die. The handle can be had (OEM w/ sprint logo on it) for $22 online and the die is another $20.75. It's perfect for all Canare 5CFB connectors and has the correct sizes for the center pin and outer crimp sleeve. I've made several cables w/ this crimper/die combination and they've came out perfect. The paladin 1259 strip tool ($15.99) also works well but requires a little experimentation to get the cut depths just right. For less than the Canare Die alone you can have all the tools you need for making cables and they all work as if they were made specificly for the Canare cable and connectors.

Crimp handle:
http://store.yahoo.com/technicalconn.../80secrfr.html

Crimp Die:
http://store.yahoo.com/technicalconn...c/2649die.html

Strip Tool:
http://store.yahoo.com/technicalconn...ccstsecoc.html

 

[Bob-N]

Cool, looks like the die will fit most handles. I already have a parts express handle and I need the die to crimp the center pin correctly. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Andrew Beacom]

Vince,

Good picture. It makes sense and it should really make sense once I have the handle and die in my hands.

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

photo credit to whomever to was that tipped me off on the shim method, which I don't remember who it was, lol.

 

[Andrew Beacom]

Vince,

 

[Jeff D]

My post should most likely go in the DIY area, but since you guys are talking cheaper parts I'll ask here.

I've done a lot of cables myself and one of the most important things with the dies is to make sure you get the right sizes to get a good crimp.

One big problem is that Canare doesn't specify what the sizes are on the dies they make.

I did a lot of research on this before to find other dies that match the canare sizes. But... I've lost that information.

Does anyone have the specs on the canare dies?

What I'm looking to find replacements for:
Die TCD-35C for use with Belden 1194A and R-CAP-C53
Die TCD-5CF for use with Carare V3-5CFB and the RCAP-C5F


Some of the parts I checked as a replacement to the TCD-35C:
Paladin PA-2045 .324 .360 and .068
Ideal 30-581 .255 .213 .068
Ideal 30-578 .324 .2558 .068 .042
Ideal 30-570 .324 .178 .068
None of these matched exactly.

I'd also be willing to be part of a group buy on the parts for the component cables, L3-5CFB and TCD-5CF.


I've also used Joseph, Have and others. Wayne at Joseph was great to me.

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

Exactly, which is why i wonder how Stephen can say the 2649 die is the exact same size.

The way i look at it, if you're serious, buy the correct tools. If you're not, spend a few weeks experimenting until you find something close enough.

-Vince

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

I never said the 2649 die was the exact same size, but I did say it works perfectly giving a completely solid outer crimp and a center pin crimp with very very minimal rocket-tail effect because the center pin part is square instead of hex.

 

[VinceS]

Vince,

Following are the specs on the Canare dies for Belden 1505a/f cable - I just sent them an e-mail. I had originally posted this under another DIY thread. I did update the width in this as per Stephen's follow-up to my question. Perhaps someone can call/write Canare to get the specs for the other dies.

BTW - I've talked to a couple of the guys in our a/v department who make tons of cable (not just of the Belden/Canare flavor) and they love the Canare TS100 stripper.

Vince

TCD-4C - Square 1.31mm (.0516"), 6mm wide; Hex 6.48mm (.2553"), 12.0mm wide

TCD-451CA - Square 1.35mm (.0532"), 6.0mm wide; Hex 6.40mm (.2522") & 8.36mm (.3294"), 14.0mm wide

Paladin 2649 die - Square .052" & .042"; Hex .068", .255", .324"; 10mm wide

Both of the Canare dies are suitable for the 4-series RCA crimp on connecters (I confirmed with Canare) even though the spec for the 4C and 451CA dies are not identical (the 451CA is more expensive only because it include the extra hex crimp). As the Paladin die falls within the two it should be a perfect match. My one final question is how wide is the Paladin die relative to the Canare die and did you have to make one or two crimps? At 12.0mm it seems like a pretty big die but not being able to see either I don't know. Would you be able to measure and post back? Perhaps someone can get the 5C die information from Canare and post as a definitive reference.

 

[Jeff D]

Can you just take a micrometer or something and measure the crimped part and get a size from that? I don't know if the measurement is OD or what...