How to make almost free wire cables
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 12:50 pm
Having seen the prices charged on Ebay I set about making my own, and here is how I did it:
Get a ball of thin nylon string.
Cut off a length 6" longer than you need.
Don't worry about the frayed ends, that what the 6" are for.
Dip/brush the entire length in upva glue.
Don't worry about the mess, it dries to nothing and totally clear.
Wait for it to dry, place it on an old tea towel (not paper tissue) on a radiator to speed things up if you want to.
When dry, cut off the frayed bits.
Voila! one length of white steel/rope cable.
To create the looped ends:
Take a short length of narrow heatshrink.
Get a paperclip and make a very narrow hook on one end.
Feed this through the heatshrink.
Hook the string onto it and slowly pull it back through until the loose end is inside the heatshrink.
Adjust the loop to suit.
Now the tricky bit:
Nylon string and flames don't mix.
Use a hot soldering iron to shrink the heatshrink, if you are feeling lucky you can waft a lighter flame along it, but any more than a millisecond of heat and you will have to start all over again.
Now do the same at the other end.
Voila! One white cable with two loops.
You can paint it with aluminium acrylic for that fresh steel look, brown for rope, or aluminium plus metallic light brown for rusty steel ropes.
The big advantage is that it remains completely flexible, so you can tie it around shackles, cable supports or anything you want, it's much more versatile than real wire and when painted up it looks just like the real thing.
Cheers
Rob G
Get a ball of thin nylon string.
Cut off a length 6" longer than you need.
Don't worry about the frayed ends, that what the 6" are for.
Dip/brush the entire length in upva glue.
Don't worry about the mess, it dries to nothing and totally clear.
Wait for it to dry, place it on an old tea towel (not paper tissue) on a radiator to speed things up if you want to.
When dry, cut off the frayed bits.
Voila! one length of white steel/rope cable.
To create the looped ends:
Take a short length of narrow heatshrink.
Get a paperclip and make a very narrow hook on one end.
Feed this through the heatshrink.
Hook the string onto it and slowly pull it back through until the loose end is inside the heatshrink.
Adjust the loop to suit.
Now the tricky bit:
Nylon string and flames don't mix.
Use a hot soldering iron to shrink the heatshrink, if you are feeling lucky you can waft a lighter flame along it, but any more than a millisecond of heat and you will have to start all over again.
Now do the same at the other end.
Voila! One white cable with two loops.
You can paint it with aluminium acrylic for that fresh steel look, brown for rope, or aluminium plus metallic light brown for rusty steel ropes.
The big advantage is that it remains completely flexible, so you can tie it around shackles, cable supports or anything you want, it's much more versatile than real wire and when painted up it looks just like the real thing.
Cheers
Rob G