[gnewcomer@strate]

Dinobite:

Yes, the Y is the shell from a canare f-12 minijack. The shell comes off just by unscrewing it from the jack.

I don't know if you saw this post, but I've updated my cable: Instead of full thickness mogami w/ tecflex covering on both cables above the y-split, I've gone to a cardas-like twisted pair model. It's not as pretty, in my opinoin, but the full thickness was heavy, stiff, and unnescissary.

Thanks, and good luck on your projects,

-Sermon

 

[blip]

Great thread. Personally, if someone could develope a plug/pin combo that was somewhat easy to solder too, I know I'd pay $20 for it.... just to avoid the trouble of having to hack the cable myself.

Failing that, the epoxy mold idea sounds interesting... I look forward to seeing how it develops.

 

[dinobite]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gnewcomer@strate Dinobite: Yes, the Y is the shell from a canare f-12 minijack. The shell comes off just by unscrewing it from the jack. I don't know if you saw this post, but I've updated my cable: Instead of full thickness mogami w/ tecflex covering on both cables above the y-split, I've gone to a cardas-like twisted pair model. It's not as pretty, in my opinoin, but the full thickness was heavy, stiff, and unnescissary. Thanks, and good luck on your projects, -Sermon

Ah yes, I see how you did it.
I am planning on using mogami 2791 balanced mic wire after the split.
The cheapest retailer I have found is redco audio, they have the neglex quad 2534 for 59 cents a foot, and the 2791 neglex dual for 86 cents. I might try the 2792 instead of the 2791 as its 39 cents a foot and I'm only using a few inches of it for my 1/4 stereo -> RCA cable.

 

[setmenu]

Hmm, custom plug making.
I can think of a number of ways do accomplish this, but moulding would be
good for repetitive runs.
Off the top of my head.
I would firstly make a pattern model of the plug ensuring to add extra bulk where I can, this can be made from epoxy putty or metal.
The next stage would be to make a multi part mould that could be completely rigid or perform as a rigid bolster to accept a thin rubber [rtv silicone] skin if there were to be any undercuts or irregularities that would prevent the use of
a rigid multi part.
Within the mould itself I would create a location jig for the contact pins to be positioned prior to the resin pour.
The pins themselves would need some sort of shoulder to prevent them from being dislodged from the moulding when the plug is used.
As for the resin I guess some experimentation would be needed here but
some of the modern polyurethane casting resins or epoxies would probably
fit the the bill.

Approaches such as above would greatly benefit from having access to a vacuum tank [

] to aid the casting of air bubble free mouldings.

If I used Senns I would have probably made myself some plugs by now too.




Setmenu

 

[BradJudy]

Well, after the successful prototype, I went ahead and made a realy plug. Everything seems to be working well, so I'll start plug #2 today.

 

[individual6891]

Woah, that's really good. Looks like a green senn plug

GJ

 

[BradJudy]

Thanks. The green is actually the residual clay that I need to clean off. The plugs themselves are gray.

Plug #2 is in the mold now and will be ready to rock tomorrow.

I haven't decided what to do at the Y split on the cable. I may try and make a little mold to have a JB Weld Y there.

I like the Neutrik 1/4" plug, but I couldn't find the gold plated one in stock. The strain relief is great, but I can't screw it down all of the way with this thickness of cable. It definitely gives you something to hold on to when plugging/unplugging - it's beefy.

 

[dinobite]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BradJudy I like the Neutrik 1/4" plug, but I couldn't find the gold plated one in stock.

I have had a lot of trouble finding the gold one as well, and I"ve been looking pretty hard. I did find one place that had them, but they wanted 7 bucks for it. Performance audio has the nickel one for just 2.54 ... I think that will do fine. http://www.performanceaudio.com/cgi/...oductID=002753
They have all those cool colored boots too, so you can kustumize your kable.

 

[dinobite]

oh and nice plug by the way.
seems like everyone has been hemming and hawing and crying about those plugs for a while.. finally someone made one.

 

[gnewcomer@strate]

Bradjudy
That's awsome! Good work. What type of epoxy did you use? Also, how did you keep the pins in a constant position? I know you used a clay mold, as we've been discussing, but did you just push the soldered pins into the clay, and pray it came out right, or was there some other fixative? I assume the clay was still soft when you poured the epoxy, otherwise there would have been shrinkage.

Also, is that the Mogami Neglex I see in your picture? If so, I'll be curious to see how it sounds for you...

-Sermon

 

[BradJudy]

I'm using the 'clay and pray' technique. It worked for one.

I tried to hold the pins in vice grips, but since they are different sizes, the small one would fall out. I could have used something like leather to hold them in a vice, but then the mold would be more difficult. A rigid mold would be the best option.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'shrinkage'. Do you mean the clay shrinking or the epoxy? Neither shrinks. I am using the regular, long cure JB Weld.

Yes, I decided to try the Neglex. It didn't have anything in particular I wanted to try with these plugs, so why not?

BTW: It hadn't really occured to me until I did this that the Senn pins are hollow (or at least the base is). It certainly makes for a clean wire to pin connection.

 

[BradJudy]

I made the mistake of trying the second plug in my HD-600s with only ~11 hours of curing. One of the pins stuck in the headphone and I had to pull it out with needlenoses. Fortunately, the plug was still soft enough to be torn down with a bit of work. I will try recasting it tonight.

If you use the regular JB Weld, wait at least 24 hours before trying to use it.

 

[mono]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BradJudy I made the mistake of trying the second plug in my HD-600s with only ~11 hours of curing. One of the pins stuck in the headphone and I had to pull it out with needlenoses. Fortunately, the plug was still soft enough to be torn down with a bit of work. I will try recasting it tonight. If you use the regular JB Weld, wait at least 24 hours before trying to use it.

I suspect it's very important for the pins to be completely clean, not even oil from hands on it. I'd clean them with alcohol as a final prep step... not saying that was the problem you faced but rather a potential problem some might.

 

[beamrider]

Has anyone tried making a mold out of clear epoxy, and then using that to make a plug out of the same epoxy? Coating the inside of the mold with oil of course, but still slightly apprhensive about the epoxy sticking to itself somehow.... This way, your molds would be a little more durable in case you wished to make multiple plugs. Or perhaps even using RTV silicone to make the mold.....

 

[BradJudy]

How would you make the mold? I guess that has been covered a bit here already (rigs to keep it half in without sinking, etc). I have clear epoxy type stuff for making paperweights and stuff, but since my first clay one worked, I think I can get another one to work fine too. Then I'm done.