Neater Wiring - Cable Lacing

[R.G.]

[cross posted on the Music Electronics Forum as well]

I'm addicted to lacing all the cable runs in my construction projects. It just makes them look so ... official ... somehow, and I find that the process of considering the lacing to be done makes me think about where the wires should run. That makes me actually think about running wires and improves the results.

The recent interior views of a Torres kit amp inspired me to post this. It serves as a GREAT bad example of interior wiring and how it should not be done. After I got through shuddering, I was inspired to post this.

Take a look at these links, no particular order.
https://makezine.com/2009/07/28/lost...-cable-lacing/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_lacing
http://www.dairiki.org/hammond/cable-lacing-howto/
http://archive.hnsa.org/doc/cabling/part5.htm

The last two are where the really good stuff is. Some of the links from wikipedia are also good.

You can get a 500yd spool of waxed nylon lacing braid on ebay for US$10 to US$20. My 500 yd spool will last me the rest of my life at current usage rates.

You can do this all by hand, but you can also make a lacing shuttle and/or puller for next to nothing out of popsicle sticks and wire to do really fancy work. There are professional tools for lacing available if you really get into it.

[drew]

The first link is bad.

[Aurora]

Cable lacing is standard practice in almost any other form of professional electronics. I'm an EE with quite some years of exprience in design and service of various types of SS electronics, from audio to geophysical instrumentation, but I'm just about to start my first tube amp project. Tube amplifers are mostly hi impedance circuits, which may be prone to stray capacitance, - some designs are more exposed to these problems than other....
It will be interesting to hear opinions from the more experienced custom builders.....

[R.G.]

Hmmm. Odd, it doesn't complete from here, but when I click the same post over on MEF, it goes to the correct page. Very odd.

Googling "cable lacing" ought to turn up the Makezine link. I think.

@ aurora: It used to be a standard and probably is in certain industries, largely telephone/telecom here in the USA. However, I also spent some decades as an EE in the computer industry, and while lacing was common in the 70s, it's become rarer as we go.

And guitar amps were never all that professionally done, excepting maybe the earliest years. It definitely improves the looks inside the chassis.

I will pre-emptively mention the criticism of laced cable bundles - cross capacitance. Some will soon post that cable bundling increases cross capacitance. That's right, it does, as it forces wires to lie parallel. However, this also forces the designer to think about (and that ALWAYS hurts) what wires should not be near other wires. Just like being forced to exercise, this is good for you in the long run.

[rangdipkin]

I recall some very tidy lacing work in some of the old Sunn gear. Though in retrospect they seemed to see fit to install plate stopper resistors and a very large plate-to-plate snubber cap across the phase inverter plates so maybe this had a negative impact on stability. It sure did look purty though!

[gingertube]

Somehow Cable Ties just don't look as good, but achieve the same result.
Cheers,
Ian

[guitarmike2107]

Thanks RG, I always wanted to try this, off to ebay for my waxed lace!

[Reeltarded]

Majors are laced and jacketed in anti-blast blankets. heh it looks like space program stuff.

[R.G.]

If you're trying this for the first time and get stumped, post here.

I'll share the large number of ways I've gotten it wrong.

[M Fowler]

Roll of dental floss

[gingertube]

Link here to some pics of a HiWatt.
https://ampgarage.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... 00#p343406
Cheers,
Ian