Re: Making My Own Cable?

[Ed Eastman <noone@nowhere.net>]

Michael Madill wrote:
> Thanks for going to the trouble to write out instructions in such
> detail, Ed.  Would Radio Shack be the source for the pins, pin hood,
> and header?
> Thanks for the help, Mike

Not one to promote robbery, but yes, Radio Shack has everything you 
need.  Wire, Pins, headers and hoods, solder paste (flux), solder and a 
soldering Iron.  I recommend a higher wattage iron to speed the work. 
The smaller irons tend to take too long to transfer heat and thus 
transfer heat farther down the wire/circuit.  Heat=bad, just FYI.  I 
also recommend that you get preassembled headers, they are easier to 
hold while soldering than just pins.

You may also wish to read a beginners guide or two or three to soldering 
in order to learn proper technique.  (Wipe the tip with sponge two 
seconds before you use it, tin it each time, etc.)  As you are 
interested in making cables, technique is not quite as important as you 
wont be soldering sensitive components.  And to state the obvious, never 
solder anything that is still plugged into something.

I did a quick google search and found all of the following to have good 
basic instruction, some even have pictures.

Thankx,
Ed

http://www.epemag.wimborne.co.uk/solderfaq.htm

http://www.irational.org/sic/radio/solder.html

http://www.tpub.com/neets/book4/12i.htm

http://www.seas.upenn.edu/ese/rca/funstuff/soldering/soldering.html

http://www.mtechnologies.com/building/atoz.htm

http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/solder.htm