• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

how to cut cable sleeving

P

peterhoang2002

Gawd
Joined
Jan 15, 2004
Messages
705
how do you guys cut cable sleeving to prevent it from fraying while putting it over the wires?

also is the vantec kit good?

i bought this one time but it was very low quality. ive also use their flexo line sleeving and was very satisfied. i was just wondering if the vantec was as good so i can buy it for my 2 new cases coming soon.
 
Although I've never done it myself, I'm pretty sure you could just heat up/melt the ends to keep them from fraying.
 
i bought the vantec kit...didnt need it though so its collecting dust now.
seems to be of pretty good quality sleeving though.
 
I used the Vantec kit recently, it's nice to work with and looks good. I'd say it's not a good idea to try and melt it while there are wires going through it. I just wrapped a piece of electrical tape around the end and then put heatshrink (included in the Vantec kit) over that. Worked really well and I was well pleased with the result.
 
you could try to melt the end before you put the wires through after you measure how much you need, because i didnt melt mine and im very unsatisfied with the way it looks now. I would definately either melt or use electrical tape or youll regret it...im just too lazy to fix it now, and dont let your wires get dusty cause thats a really pain to fix as well :mad:
 
Use a lighter on the ends.

or

Heat up a pair of scissors with a lighter then cut the sleeving.

The lighter works better though.
 
When I sleeved the wires on my psu, I used a (very) sharp knife to cut the sleeving, then sealed the edges with a lighter. The sleeving melts real quick though, so be careful.
 
Well...if you don't mind being ghetto...and saving a few bones, here is what I did.

First, I have an electric stove. DON'T do this on a gas one.
I got a pair of cheap scissors, with insulated handles, and set them on the eye of the stove. This got them hot enough to cut the sleeving, and melt it at the same time.

YMMV though...

-Ghent
 
cu with any decent pair of scissors....

pull lighter out of ass....

melts ends slightly...

sleeve cables


done
 
ive tried to melt ends with a lighter after cutting. the results werent great. the ends that the company cut before it was shipped out to me looked a lot better. even with the lighter, it still frayed a little and i dont really know where to hold the flame... sometimes it would melt in the midde of the sleeve.
 
4b5eN+EE said:
pull lighter out of ass....
Click to expand...
Remind me never to ask for your lighter! Its no wonder why you havent caught your pants on fire yet!

I always wrapped with electrical tape before i cut, then used a lighter on the edges.

If you can find one, on of the butane blowtorch lighters is a great investment for heatshrink tubing and doing stuff like this!
 
do you guys think a cheap hot knife like this would work?

i know places like frozencpu use something like this to cut their sleeving but those prices are too high for me...
 
As an eBay Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
That's exactly what you need. If you have a soldering iron, just go get the hotknife tip for it. That's what I use, and I've probably went through 10,000 yards of TechFlex (car audio installs, also).
 
how many watts is yours? theres nother one on ebay thats 20 more watts but also 5 more dollars, i was wondering if i should get that
 
I use a Portasol propane model- since most of my work is done in cars. I think a 15 or 20 watt would suffice for just a hotknife, but I would splurge for a larger one if possible.
 
torch2.jpg

I like using a blow torch, or use a large knife left in hot coal for 10 minutes.
 
peterhoang2002 said:
do you just use like a kitchen meet cutting knife?
Click to expand...
no dont use a serretated blade, use a straight sharp blade. Most people use seretated for meat, All of mine are very thin and very sharp straight blades.
 
I hate serrated steak knives....all my stek knives are straightedge, and sharp enough to deli slice a porterhouse.
 
Zero_Distortion said:
torch2.jpg

I like using a blow torch, or use a large knife left in hot coal for 10 minutes.
Click to expand...

okay...im officially frightened :eek:

...nice pic though lol
 
i dont even do that i just cut it put it on then on goes the heatshrink it holds it well enough for me.
 
i put the heatsink on too, but sometimes it frays A LOT while im putting it on. i think its because it has to go over all those pins. (yes, i do take off the molex connectors) sometimes it frays like maybe 2 inches worth... but maybe im just a crappy sleever...
 
peterhoang2002 said:
i put the heatsink on too, but sometimes it frays A LOT while im putting it on. i think its because it has to go over all those pins. (yes, i do take off the molex connectors) sometimes it frays like maybe 2 inches worth... but maybe im just a crappy sleever...
Click to expand...
use eletricle tape and tap te pins they slide right over
 
peterhoang2002 said:
how do you guys cut cable sleeving to prevent it from fraying while putting it over the wires?

also is the vantec kit good?

i bought this one time but it was very low quality. ive also use their flexo line sleeving and was very satisfied. i was just wondering if the vantec was as good so i can buy it for my 2 new cases coming soon.
Click to expand...

ok, first off, i consider Vantec a lower grade sleeving than the Flexo PET you linked to @ SVC, which is Techflex brand sleeving. mainly because i see cable sleeving as CABLE MANAGMENT, which means the smaller the bunlde of wires created and the more tightly they are packed, the better... the techflex is strong and has great streatch ability (id say about 15-25% more stretch size per size vs the vantec).... so if you are going for the practical use of sleeving id say dont mess with the vantec, get the techflex... however, some people (and this just really comes down to personal taste) argue that the vantec look better because there is more woven nylon in their sleeving than the techflex, this however causes the sleeving to be a lil more bulky and less streatchy... making the sleeving a little less practical as i mentioned just a few lines above.

now... on to cutting the sleeving... the #1 best way to cut sleeving is get a knife (dosent even have to be a sharp one) and make sure its a knife you dont care about, and turn your gas stove on full blast (assuming u have a gas stove, if not use my 2nd meathid ill mention in a second) and stick the end of ur knife in the tip of the blue flame from ur stove till it is glowing an amber orange... then within the next 10-15 seconds while the blade is still scourching hot, just smoothly run it thru the section of the sleeving that you want cut... and poof... theres your perfectly cut sleeving....
you second option is much like the first, its basicly just the exact same thing but use whatever alternitive heating source that can get the blade scourching hot and cut the same as you would in option 1....
finally... the fast/lazy way to do it and it still look OK is to take a soldering GUN and turn it on till the end starts to glow orange and just pass the tip thru where you want it to be cut, and that usualy comes out looking petty good too....

you have the knowledge now... so have fun sleeving :)

p.s. (dont forget to zip tie before u heatshrink (it just looks so much more professional)
 
Vapor1000 said:
ok, first off, i consider Vantec a lower grade sleeving than the Flexo PET you linked to @ SVC, which is Techflex brand sleeving. mainly because i see cable sleeving as CABLE MANAGMENT, which means the smaller the bunlde of wires created and the more tightly they are packed, the better... the techflex is strong and has great streatch ability (id say about 15-25% more stretch size per size vs the vantec).... so if you are going for the practical use of sleeving id say dont mess with the vantec, get the techflex... however, some people (and this just really comes down to personal taste) argue that the vantec look better because there is more woven nylon in their sleeving than the techflex, this however causes the sleeving to be a lil more bulky and less streatchy... making the sleeving a little less practical as i mentioned just a few lines above.

now... on to cutting the sleeving... the #1 best way to cut sleeving is get a knife (dosent even have to be a sharp one) and make sure its a knife you dont care about, and turn your gas stove on full blast (assuming u have a gas stove, if not use my 2nd meathid ill mention in a second) and stick the end of ur knife in the tip of the blue flame from ur stove till it is glowing an amber orange... then within the next 10-15 seconds while the blade is still scourching hot, just smoothly run it thru the section of the sleeving that you want cut... and poof... theres your perfectly cut sleeving....
you second option is much like the first, its basicly just the exact same thing but use whatever alternitive heating source that can get the blade scourching hot and cut the same as you would in option 1....
finally... the fast/lazy way to do it and it still look OK is to take a soldering GUN and turn it on till the end starts to glow orange and just pass the tip thru where you want it to be cut, and that usualy comes out looking petty good too....

you have the knowledge now... so have fun sleeving :)

p.s. (dont forget to zip tie before u heatshrink (it just looks so much more professional)
Click to expand...


thanks for the great suggestions. i have a gas stove so ill probably do that.
i think ill stick to flexo pet sleeving as i have used it before and was very happy with its quality. Its only a little more and i can order only what i need.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top