No, it was for tube sockets. For a while I had pretty much the world supply of Johnson 213s (a real oddball, and quite desirable), but then someone I know started manufacturing new ones! Yes, my sales went down - oh well. No big deal. -- Will

On Sun, 21 Jan 2007, Tim Shoppa wrote: They seem to have improved some. I know what you mean too, as I came across some old stock AMP plugs and the tab seemed to be weaker than the newer type. I figure they probably changed plastics or possibly retooled the molds slightly. I've been very happy with the plating on the contacts on the AMP plugs though. I've not had any trouble with the copper corroding under the gold as I've seen with the really cheap no-name plugs. I've also seen some really cheap plugs where the plastic reacted badly with the metal contacts and caused them to corrode. -Toth

Tothwolf wrote: I have a Ideal crimper and Ideal connectors, unfortunately, I can't find them right now to look at them more closely. Any idea who actually makes the Ideal connectors? That sounds like Tony.... and I agree, I don't like cheap tools. Onve in a while, I'll buy something less expensive if I know I'm not going to be using it a lot, and the money would be better used someplace else. Hopefully, the Ideal crimper that I bought is pretty good.... I certainly paid enough for it....and have hardly used it. Chad Fernandez Michigan, USA

On Mon, 22 Jan 2007, Tony Duell wrote: I was thinking you had said something similar in the past, but I couldn't remember how you phrased it. Modular plugs can be really finicky at times too. If the contacts aren't pressed hard enough, the teeth won't make reliable contact with the wire, but if they are pressed too hard, they will bite though the wire and into the plastic shell. A lot of people don't understand why I'm so picky about tooling when it comes to connectors, but this is one of the reasons. -Toth

---snip--- I used to have a real nice pair of carbide flush cutters until a friend thought they'd be good to cut piano wire :( Dwight _________________________________________________________________ Turn searches into helpful donations. Make your search count. http://click4thecause.live.com/search/charity/default.aspx?source=hmemtagli…

On Sun, 21 Jan 2007, Chuck Guzis wrote: Are you talking about a lead trimmer type flush cutter? I still use the Klein D275-5 for trimming 28-22ga copper wiring for telecom work (I keep a pair in each of my toolkits/bags), but I much prefer Sandvik Lindstrom http://www.lindstromtools.com/ brand cutters for PC board work. Xuron http://www.xuron.com/ also makes a pretty good product, but I still prefer the Lindstrom cutters. -Toth

On Sun, 21 Jan 2007, Chuck Guzis wrote: ;P For the budget conscious, Xuron is probably the way to go. If you do a lot of trimming though, Lindstrom is probably the best out there. You could probably buy several pair of entry level Xuron cutters for what a basic pair of Lindstrom cutters would cost. Lindstrom does offer a ton of options on their cutters though, and I honestly don't know of anyone who offers as many head shapes and blade angles as they do. Stay away from the Xcelite (Cooper Tools) cutter though. Ever since Cooper bought Xcelite, the quality has gone downhill, and their current flush cutter offering is junk. I went though two of them while building a dozen 3"x4" prototype PC boards. The rivet was the weak point and would loosen after awhile so the blades would become misaligned. -Toth

My favourite pair (which admittedly I don't use for cutting anything tougher than nails - fingernails and toenails, that is) was created by using a grinding wheel to shave down a non-flush-cut pair. Not ideal, but a lot better than nothing. No, I'm not the person who ground them down. /~\ The ASCII der Mouse \ / Ribbon Campaign X Against HTML mouse at rodents.montreal.qc.ca / \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B

No am I, particularly if the right tool is not available ready-made. I've made special pullers to get the driver rollers of HP desktop calculator magnetic card readers. for example. Dismantling Citroen hydraulic cylinders? I rememebr seeing the tool in the workshop manual. That was one job I never had to do, fortunately. -tony

On Sun, 21 Jan 2007, C Fernandez wrote: Some of them were made by Stewart Connector http://www.belfuse.com/StewartConnector/ (now owned by Bel Fuse). Those some poor quality no-name plugs in the Ideal kits in the past too. Stewart also made (makes?) the plugs that GMP http://www.gmptools.com/ sells under their brand. Speaking of which, if you are into high end modular plug tooling, one of the best plug pressers out there for day to day use is the one from GMP http://www.gmptools.com/nf/index_MPP.htm I personally own 4 of them, and if it weren't for the fact that the resale on them tends to only be about 30% of what they cost new, I'd sell off the brand new one that's in with my spare tools. One that I own is in the kit type case and the other 3 are in holsters. For general purpose RJ45 crimping, I still rather enjoy using the Paladin 8000 series handle with either the WE/SS or AMP die sets. It doesn't require any break over force and I find its almost as nice to use as the GMP plug presser. The ratchet version of the Ideal Telemaster isn't too bad, and I carry one in with my spare tools, but its not my first choice and I don't think I've used it in about 3 years now. The non-ratchet version is just junk IMO though. -Toth

C Fernandez wrote: That's not the only benefit. The Crimpmaster has interchangeable dies. Peace... Sridhar

Jay West wrote: It's just a finer instrument. It does the same job. If you want to trim a lead flush to a surface, it's very difficult to do with a pair of scissors. Peace... Sridhar

On 22 Jan 2007 at 11:05, Jay West wrote: I've never used them for that--I've always used a sharp Xacto knife held so it rides against the connector, but tilted slightly, so it doesn't dig into the connector body. Makes a clean cut and is very fast. There's a certain aesthetic purpose to using flush cutters on a PCB. Many of the cheap Asian boards that I've run into leave a couple of millimeters of component lead extending above the board surface. Heaven help you if you have to reach between two boards and manage to snag the back of your hand on the exposed leads. It's like sharp edges on stamped metal parts--there's no reason other than economy to leave them that way. I don't know how many times I've opened a finger on the edge of someone's PC case. Taking that last little step; cutting component leads flush and rounding off sharp edges is important to me--it looks good and is safer. This week I'm finishing up the refurbishment of a tuba that bounced out of a moving pickup truck bed onto a freeway. After disassembling the instrument, removing dents, brazing broken braces and then reassembly, I've got a horn that plays again. Now, I'll spend the next couple of days cleaning up solder joins (so they don't show), buffing and lacquering. These last days will add nothing to the functionality of the instrument, but the result will be something that is pleasing to see and touch. Such things are important. When electronics equipment used to be hand-wired in a chassis, the sign of a good builder was adequte use of tie strips and neatly placed (and laced) wires. "Point to point" wiring with components flopping every which way among a rat's nest of wiring was the sign of a hack, even though both construction techniques produced a working device. Cheers, Chuck

Jay West wrote: Good to know.... I would hate to have found I bought junk. I haven't used it enough to find out for myself. I've been wondering the same thing. My guess is that what I would normally call "wire cutters", just wont work for some of the picky types on the list ..... like Tony and Toth :-) Chad

Hi Jay Most cutters tend to pinch the wire, leaving a sharp edge that can easily slice fingers. Also, at times when making piggy back boards it is desired to keep things close trimmed. I have both flush and regular cutters but find most times, I like the flush ones. Cutting larger size solid wire, the flush cut can leave an almost flat end ( sometimes needed for special cases ). Of course, I wish to get a new carbide flush cutters. If you've ever used the carbide ones, you'll understand. Especially if you have hundreds of cuts to do. The cutting effort is easily reduced to less then 30% than regular steel cutters. They are much more expensive as well and one should never loan them out as I had done :( Dwight _________________________________________________________________ Invite your Hotmail contacts to join your friends list with Windows Live Spaces http://clk.atdmt.com/MSN/go/msnnkwsp0070000001msn/direct/01/?href=http://sp…

On Mon, 22 Jan 2007, Sridhar Ayengar wrote: And they are industry standard. I have all sorts of dies for my Paladin frames. Everything from modular plug dies, to coax dies, to old style fiber optic connector dies, to electrical terminal and ferrule dies. There are probably close to 100 different dies available that will fit these type of frames, though I only own a fraction of them. -Toth

On Wed, 24 Jan 2007, Sridhar Ayengar wrote: Possibly...it depends on the connector though. These are the dies Paladin lists on their website: http://www.paladin-tools.com/list_tools.php?id=109&parent_id=236 Ideal lists a number of dies here: http://www.idealindustries.com/dc/FiberOptic.nsf Greenlee also has a few fiber optic dies available, but I don't see any SC type in my catalog, though its over a year old. There are also fiber optic dies available for the Ideal PremierMaster frame (# 28-500). Its dies are interchangeable with those for the Paladin 1600 series and the Greenlee Kwik Cycle 8" frame (can't find the part number right now). The Greenlee 45637 8" frame has a die set that might work with SCs. The die sets for the Ideal PremierMaster, Paladin 1600, and 8" Greenlee frame are *not* compatible with the Ideal Crimpmaster, Paladin 1300/8000, or the Greenlee 45504 though. The breakover force and ratchet feel is identical on the Ideal Crimpmaster, Paladin 1300, and Greenlee 45504. The grip on the later Ideal Crimpaster frames is a little softer, whereas the 1300 has a hard plastic. The older Crimpmaster frames had the same hard plastic grip that the Paladin 1300 uses. The Greenlee 45504's grip has a nice non-slip rubber type grip, so if I had to settle for one of those 3, the Greenlee would probably be my pick. That said, all of those frames still require quite a bit of breakover force to complete the ratchet cycle (how hard they are to squeeze just before that last ratchet "click"). The Paladin 8000 frame has the pivot point and ratchet located differently so that it doesn't require any breakover force. Basically, you can squeeze the 8000 series handles all the way though at about the same amount of force. The Ideal PremierMaster and Paladin 1600 frames don't require nearly as much breakover force as the Crimpmaster and 1300 frames. Its probably partly to do due the smaller dies and reduced frame size. For electrical terminals, the ERG series tools from Thomas & Betts are still my favorites, though I do still use the Paladin 8000 frames with terminal dies from time to time as well. Of course, then there are the Weidmuller tools, who oddly enough, used to (or might still) make a lot of the tools Paladin sells. Weidmuller makes probably the best wire ferrule crimpers out there. I'm a bit of an odd duck in that I use ferrules, especially when I've wired industrial and facility equipment where captive terminal blocks were used. I've been told that outside of Europe, they aren't used all that much, and I've seen enough poorly wired machines to believe it. -Toth

Tothwolf wrote: That's actually not that bad. My brother paid $350 for my Ideal Crimpmaster set. He got me *all* of the available dies. It was a *really* nice gift. I've saved a small fortune on BNC-terminated A/V cables alone. Peace... Sridhar

Tothwolf wrote: Indeed. Indeed. When I first started making my own MMJ console cables I used to borrow the Ideal Telemaster of a local DEC dude. Then a couple of weeks later, my brother bought me an Ideal Crimpmaster with a full set of dies. The difference was like between night and day. Peace... Sridhar