RJ45 Crimping Tool - Do u have to use one, to crimp connectors?

[Dorza]

As title please. Im makeing my network cables up bcos i cant find a precrimped cable that streaches to the lengh i need. I only plan on useing the tool on this job, so i cant see the point in me paying stupid money for a crimping tool if im not going to use it more than once or twice. So do u have to use one to crimp the ends, or can it be done without one? If not wheres the cheapest place to get one?

EDIT: Is there anywhere i can buy twisted pair by the metre, and not on a reel where im only going to use half the cable?

[Butuz]

You'd ahve a hard job crimping a RJ45 plug without a crimper.

Theyre only £15 quid odd for a cheap one?

Butuz

[5lab]

you physically can, but its hard. you might be able to buy small reels of cat5 from maplin

[directhex]

you can get a crimp tool for under a tenner, homebase might sell cable by the meter (or was it B&Q, i forget), and you CAN do it with a large & a small flat-head screwdriver, but it's bloody hard to do

[SilentDeath]

goto a small computer shop. usually they can make cable to the length you need and quite cheap..

[Twigman]

Find a mate who has one you can obrrow, or find someone who works with networks and hardware, and IM sure they'll let you borrow one.

[Dorza]

Thanks for ur posts every one. Sadly none of my m8s are into comptuers like i am, lol. Ill just buy one then. ill have one then IF i ever need it again (which i probably wont).

[Twigman]

You could always buy one adn buy the 305m cable things and then you can sell wires to people. Ok maybe none of your friends want them, but at about £7 for a 2m cable in my local PC store you can easily cut under that price and still make money. Everyone is happy

[Beer]

Maybe you could buy one pre-made about 1/2 of the length you need and borrow a good cable stretcher!

[Space Cowboy]

www.cableuniverse.co.uk has been pretty good for me in the past, but I do tend to crimp my own now.

[Enverex]

We had a few of those red ones at college and they were "ok" but we also had these slightly bigger green ones that were quite a bit better, no idea where to get the green ones though.

NS

[scottyman]

sorry...
LOL
it's a valuable skill to learn (esp if you're younger) - buy a cheap crimper, and 100m of cat5 UTP cable - utp as it's unshielded and easier to work with, and make sure it's solid core - find one with a sheath which is quite soft, as it takes you a while to get your fingers used to working the cable.

quite easy to do, and if you're going to do it yourself, spend the time getting it right -
I can do a cable in under a minute, where it still takes my old assistant over an hour (he is ABSOLUTELY USELESS!) simply because he can't be bothered memorising the cable positions (not hard) and keeps stressing out about making mistakes - meaning that he makes more than usual!
get some cables, some ends, and first of all get used to getting the cable fitted right, and just check it before you crimp!
Look at it this way, it's going to cost you less for the parts to make 10 cables, than the cables themselves.

[wol]

I did it at uni with a pair of pliars. Not too hard to do either.


Wol

[Trickle]

This thread requires a linky to the bargin hunt forum.
http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?threadid=8452

[revchris]

Once you strip the wires and slide them into place, try this:

1. Tape the clip temporarily into place so it doesn't simply fall off while you're working on it. I used narrow electrical tape.
2. To bring the plastic part down that holds the sheathed part of the wire in place, use regular pliars and the large end of a golf tee, or some other object, placed between the pliars and the plastic clip. Then just squeeze the pliars closed to snap it into place.
3. For the 8 metal pieces that need to come down to pierce the wires, I found it easy to do with needle-nose pliars that have an elbow in them. They look like needle nose pliars, except that someone has taken the needle nose and bent it down toward the ground in the middle. These are worth having in your tool kit for other items if you don't have them. I simply turned them on their side, held the clip in my hand, and squeezed the pliars shut. One arm of the pliars was lying on the metal piece, and the other was on the opposite side of the clip. I did one or two metal connectors at a time. They flattened out easily and it didn't damage the clip.

Thanks to other posters for the help. Good luck!

[schmunk]

Over four and a half years old. Four and a half!