24 Feb
2008
24 Feb
'08
2:17 p.m.
On 24 Feb 2008 at 19:11, Tony Duell wrote:
I have a small smooth-jaw vice on my electronics
workbench which I've
found very useful for holding cables when I'm soldering and crimping IDC
connectors. After a little practice, I've never mangled a connector when
crimping it. The 'practice' taught me how much force on the vice screw
handle is necessary to crimp the connector, if things don't seem to be
going smoothily, I don't just apply more force, I stop and find out
what's misaligned.
An inexpensive imported drill press vise works well if you don't need
to crimp the IDC in the middle of a cable:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=30999
At $10, it's probably one of the cheapest alternatives to a real IDC
crimp tool.
Cheers,
Chuck