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Cable Lacing Tutorial (upd. 2013-OCT-05)

Hello everyone,

I've been asked a few times how I did the lacing for my current builds (here and here),

and I said I'd make a tutorial on that. Well, here it is. Since I'm still a complete

noob when it comes to video processing I'm open for feedback, especially when it

comes to sound quality. I'm using headphones and don't have any speakers available

at the moment, and the sound seems ok, if a bit on the low side. But since audio

experiences can greatly vary for different people feel free to say so and I can

try to fiddle around with it or maybe even re-record it and then reprocess that.

For those who are not familiar with this (such as myself a few months ago): Cable lacing

was used to arrange cables and wires before the advent of zip ties and velcro ties.

If you work in the telecom industry you might have learned this on the job. Nowadays

it's a lot less common due to being quite expensive, although it is still used in

some applications. One of them is spaceflight. Cables on spacecraft are usually

tidied up by lacing them.

The technique I'm using at the moment is not something a professional would

use (at least I don't think so), but an amalgam of different stuff I've found

around, looked at and tried out. It gives me the look I want and does its job

while at the same time not taking up an insane amount of time (unless you do

it with Nylon cord ;)).

Anyway:

Tutorial:

BUILD LOGS: HELIOS - Latest Update: 2015-SEP-06 ::: ZEUS - BOTW 2013-JUN-28 ::: APOLLO - Complete: 2014-MAY-10
OTHER STUFF: Cable Lacing Tutorial ::: What Is ZFS? ::: mincss Primer ::: LSI RAID Card Flashing Tutorial
FORUM INFO: Community Standards ::: The Moderating Team ::: 10TB+ Storage Showoff Topic

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Nice tutorial :)

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Nice tutorial :)

Thanks, much appreciated! :)

BUILD LOGS: HELIOS - Latest Update: 2015-SEP-06 ::: ZEUS - BOTW 2013-JUN-28 ::: APOLLO - Complete: 2014-MAY-10
OTHER STUFF: Cable Lacing Tutorial ::: What Is ZFS? ::: mincss Primer ::: LSI RAID Card Flashing Tutorial
FORUM INFO: Community Standards ::: The Moderating Team ::: 10TB+ Storage Showoff Topic

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Great idea, i was looking for this, thanks!

Codename: HighFlyer, specs:  CPU: i5 2500k cooled by a H70ish(2 rad)   Mobo: MSI MPower Z77   GPUs: Gigabyte GTX 660 OC 1150 MHZ core, 3150 memory both   RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16G @1600mhz   SSD: ADATA Premier Pro sx900 / HDD Seagate Barracuda 1TB/Samsung 1TB   Power supply: Corsair RM650 80+ Gold   Case Corsair Carbide 500R   5.4 ghz achieved on the good old 2500k, may it rest in peace. Current daily OC is 4.8 @1.41 v

 

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Great idea, i was looking for this, thanks!

Happy to help. :)

BUILD LOGS: HELIOS - Latest Update: 2015-SEP-06 ::: ZEUS - BOTW 2013-JUN-28 ::: APOLLO - Complete: 2014-MAY-10
OTHER STUFF: Cable Lacing Tutorial ::: What Is ZFS? ::: mincss Primer ::: LSI RAID Card Flashing Tutorial
FORUM INFO: Community Standards ::: The Moderating Team ::: 10TB+ Storage Showoff Topic

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Thanks this helps a lot!

This is my Lightsaber.          {[=]////]"[¬'/\Y/#####################################
This is my other Lightsaber. (T!!!!!!!T=:"|[\#####################################  #killedmywife 

 

 

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Excellent. I have wanted to try lacing but video tutorials are so damn hard to find. This was exactly what I needed. Well made and easy to follow, volume is a little low but hey, I have the volume control knob for that.

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Excellent tutorial!! I have my Logitech G930's all the way up, and at times it was still queit, but other than that, excellent!

Two questions. How do you think embroidery string would work? And far apart should you space the laces?

By embroidery string, I mean this stuff. It's cheap as hell at a craft store, and is available in hundreds of colors.

51GtndU8MFL.jpg

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Thanks this helps a lot!

Happy to be of use. :)

 

Excellent. I have wanted to try lacing but video tutorials are so damn hard to find. This was exactly what I needed. Well made and easy to follow, volume is a little low but hey, I have the volume control knob for that.

 

Yeah it took me quite a while to find enough resources to figure this stuff out. I

ended up reading a few reference manuals on lacing by NASA, some Navy veteran's

tutorials and a bunch of other stuff. If I still find that stuff I'll post links,

I kinda forgot about that yesterday.

And yes, agreed on the audio. I tried turning up the volume when recording, but then

the background noise was really annoyingly loud. In the end I decided to turn it

down since you can still actually see what's going on. But I will be experimenting

with some audio cleanup in the future, I would like to fix this without introducing

a ridiculous amount of background and white noise into the video

 

Excellent tutorial!! I have my Logitech G930's all the way up, and at times it was still queit, but other than that, excellent!

Thank you! :)

Yes indeed, as said above, the audio is not yet optimal, I will be working on that in

the future (well, I actually am at the moment, but I'm not satisfied with the results

yet).

 

Two questions. How do you think embroidery string would work? And far apart should you space the laces?

By embroidery string, I mean this stuff. It's cheap as hell at a craft store, and is available in hundreds of colors.

51GtndU8MFL.jpg

To be honest I'm not sure since I haven't tried it yet. Since it really is so cheap

I suggest you try it out, it's the best way to find out. It's not like waxed cotton

is something extremely esoteric, but it is quite thin and solid. If you do test this,

feel free to post results back. ;)

BUILD LOGS: HELIOS - Latest Update: 2015-SEP-06 ::: ZEUS - BOTW 2013-JUN-28 ::: APOLLO - Complete: 2014-MAY-10
OTHER STUFF: Cable Lacing Tutorial ::: What Is ZFS? ::: mincss Primer ::: LSI RAID Card Flashing Tutorial
FORUM INFO: Community Standards ::: The Moderating Team ::: 10TB+ Storage Showoff Topic

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...I suggest you try it out...

 

Unfortunately, I don't have individually sleeved PSU cables, but should I eventually decide to sleeve them myself, I will most definitely try the embroidery string! I was mainly just curious with my questions.

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  • PowerColor Gigabyte RX 6750 XT
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Unfortunately, I don't have individually sleeved PSU cables, but should I eventually decide to sleeve them myself, I will most definitely try the embroidery string! I was mainly just curious with my questions.

Not a problem, that's what online forums are for, after all (among other things). :)

BUILD LOGS: HELIOS - Latest Update: 2015-SEP-06 ::: ZEUS - BOTW 2013-JUN-28 ::: APOLLO - Complete: 2014-MAY-10
OTHER STUFF: Cable Lacing Tutorial ::: What Is ZFS? ::: mincss Primer ::: LSI RAID Card Flashing Tutorial
FORUM INFO: Community Standards ::: The Moderating Team ::: 10TB+ Storage Showoff Topic

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I was planning to do this with glue gun in-between the sleeved wires.

 

This seems like a better option.

Feel free to PM for any water-cooling questions. Check out my profile for more ways to contact me.

 

Add me to your circles on Google+ here or you can follow me on twitter @deadfire19.

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I was planning to do this with glue gun in-between the sleeved wires.

 

This seems like a better option.

I actually did consider that as well at first. When I started to do more research

on "sewing cables" (didn't know it was actually called lacing at first) I then stumbled

upon this approach. Then it was just a matter of actually finding/developing a technique

which would work for my purposes.

Usually the people who work in telecom still learn this (or at least they used to),

but in those cases you normally tie the cables down to a rack or something like that,

which is obviously not possible in this scenario (unless you want to go and place

little ladders or similar things everywhere into your build), so it took me a while

to figure out how to adapt those techniques into a free-floating version.

Thanks for stopping by! :)

BUILD LOGS: HELIOS - Latest Update: 2015-SEP-06 ::: ZEUS - BOTW 2013-JUN-28 ::: APOLLO - Complete: 2014-MAY-10
OTHER STUFF: Cable Lacing Tutorial ::: What Is ZFS? ::: mincss Primer ::: LSI RAID Card Flashing Tutorial
FORUM INFO: Community Standards ::: The Moderating Team ::: 10TB+ Storage Showoff Topic

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Awesome Video.  Now i am doing this as well once i get my waxed cotton.

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Awesome Video.  Now i am doing this as well once i get my waxed cotton.

Thanks, much appreciated, and have fun! :)

BUILD LOGS: HELIOS - Latest Update: 2015-SEP-06 ::: ZEUS - BOTW 2013-JUN-28 ::: APOLLO - Complete: 2014-MAY-10
OTHER STUFF: Cable Lacing Tutorial ::: What Is ZFS? ::: mincss Primer ::: LSI RAID Card Flashing Tutorial
FORUM INFO: Community Standards ::: The Moderating Team ::: 10TB+ Storage Showoff Topic

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  • 3 weeks later...

again, thanks a lot for this @alpenwasser 

you're awesome!

Haha, thanks, I do my best! ;) Very glad you found it helpful.

BUILD LOGS: HELIOS - Latest Update: 2015-SEP-06 ::: ZEUS - BOTW 2013-JUN-28 ::: APOLLO - Complete: 2014-MAY-10
OTHER STUFF: Cable Lacing Tutorial ::: What Is ZFS? ::: mincss Primer ::: LSI RAID Card Flashing Tutorial
FORUM INFO: Community Standards ::: The Moderating Team ::: 10TB+ Storage Showoff Topic

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  • 1 month later...

Had a go at cable lacing myself after seeing Alpenwasser rig in the build of the week section. Really neat idea to keep your cables in check :D Had a go on my power extensions, seemed to have worked well.

 

Thanks for the guide Alpenwasser.

P1000430.jpg

P1000437.jpg

 

P1000440.jpg

 

[spoiler=the business end :P]P1000435.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sorry for the late response, I got held up by bad health. :D

Had a go at cable lacing myself after seeing Alpenwasser rig in the build of the week section. Really neat idea to keep your cables in check :D Had a go on my power extensions, seemed to have worked well.

[...]

Hehe, yeah I think it's a pretty neat concept. So glad I stumbled upon this when

researching for my builds.

Also, nice work! :)

Thanks for the guide Alpenwasser.

Thanks for posting your results!

BUILD LOGS: HELIOS - Latest Update: 2015-SEP-06 ::: ZEUS - BOTW 2013-JUN-28 ::: APOLLO - Complete: 2014-MAY-10
OTHER STUFF: Cable Lacing Tutorial ::: What Is ZFS? ::: mincss Primer ::: LSI RAID Card Flashing Tutorial
FORUM INFO: Community Standards ::: The Moderating Team ::: 10TB+ Storage Showoff Topic

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  • 4 weeks later...

So, a small update. A member on another forum asked me a while ago how I did the knots

on the double wire in ZEUS. I would have really liked to do a vid on this as well, but

at the moment time just doesn't permit that, so here it is in picture form. I hope it

is somewhat understandable nonetheless, otherwise feel free to ask for clarifications.

I didn't actually know what this knot was called until I did some digging and found

out that it's a sort of whipping knot, to be specific the common whipping if I have

understood things correctly.

It's not very complicated but not necessarily obvious just from looking at it.

Also, it's the same knot I'm using to make the sleeving ends on HELIOS' wires:

aw--helios--2013-06-16--13--unwanted-col

You can find a tutorial for a variation of this knot here. However, since I only found

that website after already having taken my pics I thought I might as well upload

them anyway. ;)

So, here we go:

A loop...

(click image for full res)

aw--lacing--2013-10-05--01--whipping.jpe

...and around the bundle which you wish to lace, over the original loop.

(click image for full res)

aw--lacing--2013-10-05--02--whipping.jpe

Press down where the two ends cross and hold tight.

(click image for full res)

aw--lacing--2013-10-05--03--whipping.jpe

Then wind the red end around the bundle as many times as you deem

necessary. I usually do at least a dozen loops.

(click image for full res)

aw--lacing--2013-10-05--04--whipping.jpe

Thread the end which you have been looping around the bundle through

the loop from step one on the side towards which you were looping (it sounds

a lot more convoluted than it actually is, just put the end, now yellow, through

the original loop).

(click image for full res)

aw--lacing--2013-10-05--05--whipping.jpe

Pull on the other end...

(click image for full res)

aw--lacing--2013-10-05--06--whipping.jpe

...and tighten the original loop until it slips under all those loops

you did around the bundle. Then pull on both ends and tighten things down,

(click image for full res)

aw--lacing--2013-10-05--07--whipping.jpe

which should give you this result. Cut off the ends as close to the package

as possible and you have a clean looking knot. :)

(click image for full res)

aw--lacing--2013-10-05--08--whipping.jpe

I hope this is somewhat understandable together with the additional websites,

otherwise don't hesitate to ask for clarifications. :)

It's really not a very complex knot, just a non-obvious one IME.

Happy lacing,

-aw

BUILD LOGS: HELIOS - Latest Update: 2015-SEP-06 ::: ZEUS - BOTW 2013-JUN-28 ::: APOLLO - Complete: 2014-MAY-10
OTHER STUFF: Cable Lacing Tutorial ::: What Is ZFS? ::: mincss Primer ::: LSI RAID Card Flashing Tutorial
FORUM INFO: Community Standards ::: The Moderating Team ::: 10TB+ Storage Showoff Topic

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  • 4 months later...

I'll take a shot at this :D 

I got some nylon thread that's quite elastic but seems to do the job right (i wanted something transparent and nylon doesn't really fit with the MDPCX sleeving)

Aragorn (WS): 250D | 6800k | 840 Pro 512GB | Intel 530 480GB  | Asus X99-M WS | 64GB DDR4 | Corsair HX720i | GTX 1070 | Corsair H115i | Philips BDM4350UC 43" 3840x2160 IPS

Gimli (server):  Node 304 | G4560 | ADATA XPG SX8000 128GB | 2x 5TB WD Red | ASROCK H270M-ITX/AC  | 8GB DDR4 | Seasonic 400FL

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I'll take a shot at this :D 

I got some nylon thread that's quite elastic but seems to do the job right (i wanted something transparent and nylon doesn't really fit with the MDPCX sleeving)

Thanks! :)

And yeah, you might need to experiment around a bit with MDPC-X (or Lutro0's plastic

sleeving) since it's a bit more slippery than paracord and the lacing cord might not

have as good of a grip on it.

Feel free to post results in this thread when you're done, I'd be interested in that.

BUILD LOGS: HELIOS - Latest Update: 2015-SEP-06 ::: ZEUS - BOTW 2013-JUN-28 ::: APOLLO - Complete: 2014-MAY-10
OTHER STUFF: Cable Lacing Tutorial ::: What Is ZFS? ::: mincss Primer ::: LSI RAID Card Flashing Tutorial
FORUM INFO: Community Standards ::: The Moderating Team ::: 10TB+ Storage Showoff Topic

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Thanks! :)

And yeah, you might need to experiment around a bit with MDPC-X (or Lutro0's plastic

sleeving) since it's a bit more slippery than paracord and the lacing cord might not

have as good of a grip on it.

Feel free to post results in this thread when you're done, I'd be interested in that.

Will do! 

It seems to be working fine so far :)

Aragorn (WS): 250D | 6800k | 840 Pro 512GB | Intel 530 480GB  | Asus X99-M WS | 64GB DDR4 | Corsair HX720i | GTX 1070 | Corsair H115i | Philips BDM4350UC 43" 3840x2160 IPS

Gimli (server):  Node 304 | G4560 | ADATA XPG SX8000 128GB | 2x 5TB WD Red | ASROCK H270M-ITX/AC  | 8GB DDR4 | Seasonic 400FL

 Omega (server):                 Fractal Arc Mini R2 | i3 4130 | 500GB Maxtor | 2TB WD Red : Raid 1 | 3TB Seagate Barracuda | 16GB RAM | Seasonic G-450w
Alpha (WS): 900D | 4770k | GTX 780  | 840 Pro 512GB  | GA-Z87X-OC | Corsair RM 850 | 24GB 2400mhz | Samsung S27B970D 2560x1440

                              ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

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  • 4 weeks later...

P1020572thumb.JPG

Just placed the GPU cable in this afternoon so havent had much time to get it looking 100% perfect. I plan to do another backplate to cover up the now unused bottom 2 holes.

Aragorn (WS): 250D | 6800k | 840 Pro 512GB | Intel 530 480GB  | Asus X99-M WS | 64GB DDR4 | Corsair HX720i | GTX 1070 | Corsair H115i | Philips BDM4350UC 43" 3840x2160 IPS

Gimli (server):  Node 304 | G4560 | ADATA XPG SX8000 128GB | 2x 5TB WD Red | ASROCK H270M-ITX/AC  | 8GB DDR4 | Seasonic 400FL

 Omega (server):                 Fractal Arc Mini R2 | i3 4130 | 500GB Maxtor | 2TB WD Red : Raid 1 | 3TB Seagate Barracuda | 16GB RAM | Seasonic G-450w
Alpha (WS): 900D | 4770k | GTX 780  | 840 Pro 512GB  | GA-Z87X-OC | Corsair RM 850 | 24GB 2400mhz | Samsung S27B970D 2560x1440

                              ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

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Just placed the GPU cable in this afternoon so havent had much time to get it looking 100% perfect. I plan to do another backplate to cover up the now unused bottom 2 holes.

Oh yes, dem cables :wub:

(rest doesn't look too bad either ;))

BUILD LOGS: HELIOS - Latest Update: 2015-SEP-06 ::: ZEUS - BOTW 2013-JUN-28 ::: APOLLO - Complete: 2014-MAY-10
OTHER STUFF: Cable Lacing Tutorial ::: What Is ZFS? ::: mincss Primer ::: LSI RAID Card Flashing Tutorial
FORUM INFO: Community Standards ::: The Moderating Team ::: 10TB+ Storage Showoff Topic

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