Cables steps

Tools

  • sharp knife
  • upright drilling machine with accessories
  • drill bit for wood, 3mm diameter
  • wood glue
  • lighter
  • scrap-wood piece (20cm x 50cm)
  • toothpicks (3mm diameter)

Materials

  • 130cm 4-core ribbon cable
  • 50cm shrinking tube, various sizes
  • 50cm acryllic glass rod, 3mm diameter

Files

Cables steps

Make it

Materials

Rainbow ribbon cable

Workspace

Completed template

End Result

Completed cable

Constructing the template

Template for the template Template for the template

Drill holes Drill holes

Insert toothpicks Insert toothpicks

Completed template Completed template

Folding the cable

Fold cable around toothpick Fold cable around toothpick

Regularly lined up cables Regularly lined up cables

Shrink shrinking tubing with lighter while cable is attached to template Shrink shrinking tubing with lighter while cable is attached to template

Continue folding cable around toothpick Continue folding cable around toothpick

Cut cable with scissors. Leave enough space for the connection, at least 15cm on each side. Cut cable with scissors. Leave enough space for the connection, at least 15cm on each side.

Make hinges

Cut nine 3cm long pieces from the acryllic rod. Cut nine 3cm long pieces from the acryllic rod.

Poke a rod through one of the holes of the cable (only to every second hole) and add shrinking tube on both ends. Be sure to leave just enough space for the rod to move freely. Poke a rod through one of the holes of the cable and add shrinking tube on both ends. Be sure to leave just enough space for the rod to move freely.

Use the lighter for shrinking. Use the lighter for shrinking.

Add layers of shrinking tube until the rod ends are slightly thicker than the cable going around the rod. Add layers of shrinking tube until the rod ends are slightly thicker than the cable going around the rod.

The resulting hinge should be easy to turn around and the ribbon cable should be slightly less thick than its outer parts. The resulting hinge should be easy to turn around and the ribbon cable should be slightly less thick than its outer parts.

Assembling cable into bellow

For this part, you need the completed bellow and four hands.

Use the bellow to measure to which folds the hinges should be attached to. Its connection points should be equally spread out. We put them roughly at every 3rd to 4th element.

Get help from another person to fix the bellow and attach the cable hinges to its inside folds with tape. This can be quite tricky and needs some time and concentration.

Use the bellow to measure to which folds the hinges should be attached to. Use the bellow to measure to which folds the hinges should be attached to.

Get help from another person to fix the bellow and attach the cable hinges to its inside folds with tape. Get help from another person to fix the bellow and attach the cable hinges to its inside folds with tape.

This can be quite tricky and needs some time and concentration. This can be quite tricky and needs some time and concentration.

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