Cable Lacing

[rprather]

A good friend introduced me to cable lacing a while back and it truly makes a huge aesthetic difference when cabling/wiring. It predates zipties and is/was used in aircraft and telecom wiring.

Cable Lacing Info
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_lacing

Below is my MCP wired using lacing. There are 72 wires for the 12 pushbuttons alone, so this would have looked horrendous without cable management. I didn't leave enough slack on the wires near the breadboard, so the terminations aren't as uniform as I would have liked. Not the best tie spacing and quality, but still a measurable difference.

The electrical interface consists of an Arduino Mega and two opto-isolated relay boards. I also used resistor arrays (yellow strips on the breadboard) instead of individual resistors. Saves lots of space and simplifies wiring.

[daveaust]

Looks beautiful! I have some spools of lacing cord but I wimp out and use wire ties. A lot of my old military radio equipment laces with a "running" stitch where each wrap around wire bundle isn't actually tied but looped around and under itself and then runs to the next wrap around point. Ends up the same but they could lace and pull it quicker without ties so often.

[rprather]

Thank you! The continuous stitching style looks really professional as well. I may use that technique on my overhead, especially since the runs will be a little longer.

[xplanematt]

Yep, that looks NICE! I started lacing on my Sabreliner project this year, just recently had my first go at it with my I/O box. I actually use the single-string approach, as I think it looks the best, and IMHO is actually quicker and easier than doing a bunch of individual knots.

Matt

[rprather]

Matt, very clean! I will keep that in mind. Thanks.

[daveaust]

You both have the knack for clean looking harnesses.

[bernard S]

It takes 5 minutes to learn if you were not a boy scout and its neater and faster than cable ties not to mention cheaper 

[rprather]

I agree it's neater and cheaper, but the execution takes WAY more planning and effort. Really takes a lot of patience to plan the wire routes, cut cables to size meticulously, keep wires from twisting, etc. That was the longest part by far. Once everything was in place, the lacing was elementary. I think for fewer/longer runs this process would be a lot faster.

[xplanematt]

Yep, I've been planning this from the get-go on my Sabreliner, so at the moment the wires look messy at the back of the cockpit, but each one is cut to precisely the right length for a specific path. I spent many sleepless nights routing wires and trimming them to the right lengths. It becomes relaxing after a while...it's the sort of thing you have to enjoy, or it's just not going to happen.

I would also point out that if you are using aviation-grade wire of a not-tiny gauge (typically 16ga or 20ga, in my case), the twisting/tangling doesn't seem to be much of a problem.

Matt

[Live2Fly]

Right on RP!!

That looks legit and professionally cabled!

Well done my friend 

[andthiel]

This is how it looks like in my AFT Overhead (737):



(pls apologize the poor quality, made with my iPad)


Cheers,

Andreas