Round IDE Cables

I saw the round IDE and floppy cables in a few mods on here and i was wundering where I could find some.. anybody know??

Got mine at sidewindercomputers.com

Got mine here

Just make your own, if u want to save a few bucks. I made my own with just a zip tie, tape and a razor. I got it off of tweakfiles' forum. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok to first make your homeade rounded cables you'll need:
A cable (duh!!)
Cable sheathing (as long as the cable, you can get it at any hardware store)
zip ties
a razor
and a pen



You'll need to first mark the spots that you want to cut, you need to cut in between the "rows" of wires.
so mark the spots>>>




Then you should put therazor on the spots you marked and not move the razor, but you should pull the cable up, along the rows.>>>



now you should stick your finger in between the cuts and pull along the length of the cable>>>



do this along all the cuts>>>



now fold all the ribbons together and zip tie them>>>



after you get all the zipties on (one every 3-4 of inches) start putting the sheath on>>>



Then when you get the cable alltheway into the sheath you can put zipties or electrical tape at the ends. but i find that the pressure of the sheath is enough alone.

your finished product!




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it has pictures, http://www.tweakfiles.com/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=5&t=000222

way i made mine:

1:slice cable every 4 or so wires
2:twist the cable until it is round
3:bind it with electrical tape

Ha, I did the same, kinda...except i zip tied them.

definatly make your own, i just pulled mine apart with my fingernails and then wraped the cables with tape, better then paying 15 bucks a piece for them

I just rounded my first cable today, an ATA66 cable - dead easy to do. Like the others said, just cut between some of the wires at one end with a craft knife and pull them apart. Since there's 40 wires, I cut in strips of 3 wires, with a strip of 4 in the middle (6 strips of 3 either side and one of 4 makes 40 wires ). I then wound electrical tape around it, after tieing the cables with zip-ties. The flexibility of the cable was greatly reduced when I put the tape on, so if you need to bend it all over the place you'd probably be better off just using zip-ties every couple of inches to keep it rounded.

I use clear 3/8 ID tubing and tape that together with teh ribbon strips inside.

cut a little and then pull apart works great new ATA100 are a pain in the A$$ 80tiny wires *groan*.

Rob Cork and el, Ultra 66/100 are both 80 wire cables (AFAIK).

PS: my Promise 66 card and Maxtor drive (U66) both came with 80 wire cables.

**edit** My mobo (P3V4X.....U66) came with a 80 wire cable as well.

Yeah mine are 80 too.

Do you think you could use shrink tubing or something like that?

Shrink tubing would require removing the connectors to get it around the cable. I rounded my cables (34 & 40) by splicing or just folding accordian style (80 wire). Then I taped them with electrical tape and finished by wrapping them in something called "SNAP-ON WIRE PROTECTOR". You can get it from auto parts stores. Its used to cover and protect wires inside the engine compartment of a car. Once I put the protector on I tied it closed at the ends using the thin wire in twist ties. I stripped of the plastic from the ties and the wire that's left is very difficult to see. Here's a photo of the inside of my machine, you probably won't see the metal wire holding the protector shut on the ends though:

And another, I've used the protector on my data cables and the power cable going to the ATX connector on the motherboard as seen here.

This shot has many covered, rounded cables. You shouldn't be able to see the wire from the twist ties on any of them. Just twist it on tightly in the groove between the raised parts of the protector, trimm off excess wire and fold down the remaining wire end so you don't short out anything.

And last but not least, for my fellow Canadians who want to know what to look for and where. Here's a picture of the packaging that the cover came in, I got it at Canadian Tire which is coast to coast so no one in Canada should have trouble finding it. It will be in the automotive section. It comes in more than one size. I wasn't sure about getting the 1/2" or 3/8" when in the store. I didn't want the extra blockage the 1/2" would be but wasn't sure if the 3/8" would be big enough to fit the wires. In the end I went with the 1/2" and found it fit with little room to spare so I recommend the 1/2" size over the 3/8". The cost in my area was $5.99 for 3 meters so it's cheap. And of course no series of photos would be complete without a cameo appearance by my cat's favorite toy (front and center, on the packaging).

BTW Anyone know how to post more than one picture per post?

KILLorBE said:

Rob Cork and el, Ultra 66/100 are both 80 wire cables (AFAIK).

PS: my Promise 66 card and Maxtor drive (U66) both came with 80 wire cables.

**edit** My mobo (P3V4X.....U66) came with a 80 wire cable as well.

Click to expand...

Good point - I was getting confused!

I just folded all of my cables into a "W" shape and put nylon ties on them. No problems here, and its easier than cutting the wires. Just fold the wire in half, and then fold the two sides down to the previous fold joint.

dwango said:

I just folded all of my cables into a "W" shape and put nylon ties on them. No problems here, and its easier than cutting the wires. Just fold the wire in half, and then fold the two sides down to the previous fold joint.

Click to expand...

Ya thats what I did I didn't want to cut my UWSCIS cable thay cost to much if you mess up.

I got data errors with my 80 pin cable (cut each 8) so back to a normal ribbon for now. (I have 2 8-pin in my case, one round one flat, 3 spare rounded, 2 flat, and 2 40pin rounded, and 1 flat spare. I pick em up at comp store when i go there, no charge.) Next time must remember to get SPDIF cable.

I got mine from coolerguys.com.. no one has 18 inch flopppy cables though.. /rude