Make your own braided lines for pennies

[Jiml0001]

A big part of this hobby for me is coming up with ways to make things myself.   Now there are lots of braided lines and ends available out there, and they are beautiful, but they are a little pricey.   I wanted to make my own for both fun and to save money.   I have put together a method that looks great and will only cost you pennies.

First are the three materials you will need.   

The most important is to find the smallest coaxial cable you can find.   I use coaxial cable that is 0.81 mm (.030 inches) in diameter and the last time I saw it was on AliExpress.   It was going for $6.96 for 10 meters and with shipping was just about $10.00.   That is two and a half cents per inch.  If you buy a 20 meter piece it is even cheaper.   There is also coaxial cable that is .64 mm.   I did get some of that but the inside shield was not braided, it was just a wrapping so it won't work for braided cables.

The second material are the ends.   I got hex "seed beads" in metallic silver.  There are hex beads in different colors and sizes.   In this tutorial I am trying to make the smallest cable possible so I use a size 15 hex bead.   That gauge is about 1 mm wide (1 inch in 1/24/ scale).   The hole in the center is 1/2 mm in diameter.

The third item is 28 gauge jewelry wire.   I use this down the center of my cables so I can bend them to any shape I want and also the braid won't flatten out when you bend it sharply.   The wire center also gives you a way to attach your braided cables.   I got my 28 gauge jewelry wire at Hobby Lobby for around $10.00.   For that price I got ten rolls of different colors.   I don't remember the length but it is easily a lifetime supply.

The first thing to do is to remove the outer insulation on the coaxial cable to get to the braided covering.   Cut a piece of cable to work with   Removing the outer covering works best with pieces about 8 to 10 inches long.    Any longer and the outer covering wont slide off.    If you want to get longer pieces, try heating the outer covering when it comes time to remove it.    Use a knife to strip away about a half inch of covering so you can get to the braid.

Grab the braid with tweezers or pliers and start working the covering off.   I rub it down the whole length using a fingernail over and over.   It doesn't take long for the covering to loosen up and slide off.   Now you have the braid.   (The outer covering could be used for other things of course).   Use tweezers to spread apart the braid at one end and find the center core wire.   This will pull right out .  (Again, the center wire is useful somewhere.   I have used it for fuel lines.)   Stretch the braid out to make it as small as it can go.

To add the hex nuts I cut the end of the braid at a sharp angle so it comes to a point.   Use this pointed end to slide into the hex nuts.   I always put the bead on its side and push the braid through it.   Put a second bead on the braid for the opposite end of your cable

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Here I cut the braid to length I want and be sure to make a straight cut.   If you look at the end of the braid you can see where the center wire used to be.   I take a piece of 28 gauge that is longer than the braid and slide it inside the braid.   This should go well as long as your wire is straight.   If the wire wants to poke out of the side of the braid as you push it through, straighten the braid out.

Now slide the hex beads to each end of the braid and secure with a drop of glue.   Push the bead out to be even with the end of the braid.    Be careful, if you push too hard the bead will slip off the braid and you will have to start all over.    A little clear red or blue paint finishes your homemade braided cable.   The materials cost about two or three cents for an average braided cable and the supplies you buy will make hundreds and hundreds of braided cables for your project.

I did this tutorial using the smallest stuff i could find.   The cable as shown above is a one half inch braided hose in 1/24 scale.  If you want larger, there are all kinds of sizes of both the coaxial cable and the hex beads.   Use the metallic silver color (which is chrome)  and the clear red and blue paint on the ends really pops.    Good luck and have fun.

 

[iBorg]

Great info......I'll have to look for the coax in other things.

[Jim N]

This is a great tip and I have copied it for future use.  Many thanks. 

I have a question if you do not mind.  The coaxial cable has a wire going through it that you remove and replace.  Why replace the wire in the coaxial cable?

[Jiml0001]

There are a couple of reasons.  If you don’t remove it you can’t stretch out the braid and make it small enough to fit in the hex bead.     By putting the small solid wire in after the beads are threaded on you can bend the hose and it will retain its shape and having the wire inside keeps the braid from flattening out and distorting when it gets bent, especially a sharp bend

[Ace-Garageguy]

Great info, Thanks.  

[Skip]

Thanks!  Great idea, this one should be pinned right up there with the others.  Those hex beads also work well with "rubber hose", or vinyl coated wire to represent the high-pressure fittings in use before braided stainless became cheap enough for the masses to use.

[CabDriver]

Good tips!  Where do you get your hex beads?  The website listed on the packet doesn't seem to be active anymore...

[Jiml0001]

https://www.firemountaingems.com/itemdetails/H20A8888SB?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_ZqZy5PX-gIVgBXUAR35BQLAEAQYAiABEgLQffD_BwE
 

number 15 silver hex beads.    

[CabDriver]

On 10/10/2022 at 9:44 PM, Jiml0001 said:

https://www.firemountaingems.com/itemdetails/H20A8888SB?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_ZqZy5PX-gIVgBXUAR35BQLAEAQYAiABEgLQffD_BwE
 

number 15 silver hex beads.    

Thanks Jim!  Nice find!