Is there an easy way to straighten network cable individual wire pairs?

Question

Is there any easy way to straigten the pairs in a cat 6 cable? I've been making network cables lately, and I was wondering if there was a trick other than just a lot of practice for straigtening out the small wires.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Not really much of a trick, but I tend to get them in the correct order, and then massage them back and forth between my thumb and forefinger. Alternate directions as you do it, switching from pulling towards your thumb and towards your forefinger. With each pull, run your fingers from the sheath to the tips of the pairs, as though you're warming it up like putty. Usually works to make them nice and straight, for me.

Answer 2

I give myself a little extra wire when stripping the outer sheath. After that, I bend them all outward from each other, at a 45-90 degree angle and untwist the pairs. Then I bend them back, get the wires in the right order, and straighten them out just enough to push them into the RJ45 connector. After that, I push them into the connector a couple times to finish straightening them out. Then I trim them to the right length, push them in one last time, and make sure I can see the shiny ends flush with the plastic when I look through the end of the connector, and finally I crimp the connector.

It doesn't take many cables' worth of untwisting to kill your fingertips! In the past, when I've had to unwind about 10' of twisted pair for hobby projects, I stuck the end of the wire in an electric drill and tightened the chuck. Then I just pulled the drill's trigger until the pair was unwound. If you could figure out a good way to quickly clamp and release the pairs, you could do the same with an electric screwdriver to untwist the small amounts of wire needed for putting an end on.

Answer 3

Pinch each individual wire between your thumb and a screwdriver. Starting closest to the sheath, using the thumb of the hand holding the screwdriver bend the wire over the screwdriver and start pulling the screwdriver up the wire. It straightens the wire pretty well. If you need to terminate more than a few conenctors you may want to wear a glove to protect your thumb.

Answer 4

I just wrap my pliers jaws on some thin cloth, clamp the wire somewhat hard and then pull it.

Here, I drew it for you:

Answer 5

I leave the individual conductors a little long, get them positioned in the correct order, then grab them between my thumb and forefinger and bend them back and forth, uh, horizontally. I think the best way to describe the direction is if you had a flat piece of ribbon that you were holding in the same way, I'm talking about bending it the way the ribbon wouldn't want to bend.

Also, it's much easier to straighten solid wires than stranded wires.