Squalor's Guide to Cable Rounding

Big thanks to Squalor's contribution. Below is his guide to a very nice DIY giude to cable rounding. You can apply it to any flat IDE or floppy cables.

I'm not sure who first came up with the idea of rounding a computer ribbon cable or the reasons they had for doing it. Theoretically, reducing the cross section of the cable would improve airflow in the case and aid in cooling so whoever this person was, they were probably overclocking. So many of the case mods we will be dealing with here at the Value Upgrade Labs were first done by overclockers seeking a few extra frames per second in their favorite game. Form follows function and to some of us, eloquent engineering is in itself, an art form.

A Word of Warning:
Computer manufacturers tests have proven that flat cables reduce cross talk and increase the performance of the devices connected to them. A flat cable is made with a ground wire between every function wire to reduce this cross talk. Rounding a cable defeats this design. If ultimate performance is what your after, seek other ways to improve airflow and leave your cables alone. If you just want a cool looking cable, read on !

I started with a single ended cable from Computer Geeks. (yup, $0.06) I used red 1/4 split loom from Home Depot. Now for the trick part. In the fabric section of your local Wal-Mart is material called Paddle Wire. It comes in many colors. Using paddle wire reduces the size of the bundle and lengthens the split loom. The bundle is more likely to retain a curve yet is still flexible. I used silver paddle wire for this tutorial. Splitting the Cable: When modders first started doing this, a X-Acto knife or razor blade was used to separate the wires from the ribbon cable. Often the cut would expose a bare wire. If two bare wires touch, instability will result. To minimize this chance, the needle method was devised. I use a #14 sewing machine needle.

This type of needle has a expanded shank made to go in the machine's pressure foot. It is more comfortable to use for long periods of time. How long are we talking ? For each wire you separate from the bundle, a series of five to ten closely spaced (almost touching) holes must be pierced in the depressions between the wires. Multiply this by thirty four for a floppy cable, forty for an IDE cable or even more for a SCSI cable and you can see how the proper tool can ease your burden.

Support the ribbon so the needle enters at a ninety degree angle to the ribbon to avoid piercing the wire. Once the holes are made, gently pull the wire to be separated away from the ribbon. You will see the holes elongate before they tear away as you pull. Inserting your thumb nail as the holes elongate helps.

Once this small starter hole is made, lift or push down on the separated wire and strip it away from the ribbon and to the connector. Never pull sideways on the wire. Doing this can cause the insulator to tear beyond the depression and expose the wire. A few exposed wires do not kill the job unless they touch the case, the paddle wire or each other. Problems with exposed wires do not always show up immediately; if your system has screen freezes or other problems over time, replace your modded cable with a stock one as one of your first trouble shooting checks.

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After awhile your project will look like this. Continue to split until all wires are separate. If you are doing a UDMA66 eighty wire ribbon split every other wire. Doing this will shorten the splitting time and may help with cross talk issues.