I work for a Thread Mfg that makes waxed products for cable lacing.

We sell to various Distributors, Some of there customers like product and others don't, I'm trying to improve our product.

Sales can't give me an explanation of why.

Are there different preferences for different cable or other applications. What properties are users looking for in cable lacing products.

Looking for what uses like and don't like or would like to see improved.

Your experiences who be helpful to my understanding.

Thanks

1. Ability to reuse product. Say you run another cable into a bundle and need to undo the lacing product. Having to throw out the current lace (assuming it could handle more) is a waste.

2. Lacing product that does not crush the cable.

3. Installs quickly.

I don't do much lacing, and when I do, I like the two-sided velcro strips. Fits the bill on those requirements. Cheap as well.

If you're speaking of waxed cable lacing twine, then there's not much to say about it. I mean, it's not really a very high-tech product, is it?

Seriously - depending on the kind of lacing you're doing will depend on the kind of cord you use. I usually lace 72 strand fiber optic or 32 pair ABAM, but I recently had to lace miles and miles of 750MCM copper. We needed a much heavier cord to lace the power cable then we did to lace the fiber or the ABAM.

If your company doesn't make a variety of sizes maybe that's the problem? Or maybe there's too much or too little wax on the product?

What complaints are you hearing?

Sam

I guess you don't do too much lacing. The OP isn't talking about Velcro, ty-raps or anything like that. He is talking about the time-honored waxed lacing cord that has been around since before ty-raps and Velcro were even imagined.

As to the original question, I can't imagine how your product could be improved after probably 100 years of being in use. Whether it's the traditional cord or "tape", everybody has a preference but that's about it.

In this industry your products wouldn't really be used except for central offices. We are mainly concerned with premises wiring within buildings and for that ty-raps and Velcro straps are the norm.

-Hal

If you're looking to increase sales of the product, you are better off finding an alternative market or use of the product. Like it was stated wax twine is pretty much used in C.O.'s on ABAM cables and the like, not much room for improvement when it's been doing it's job just fine for a hundred years. Find another market.

When Arm&Hammer found sales of baking soda dropping because moms weren't baking as much they marketed baking soda as odor absorbing. Now everyone has Arm&Hammer baking soda in their fridge to fight odors. Making it bake better would not have helped sales.

Please disregard my post to the thread.

You might look into replacement for leather lace for wallets, purses etc. (See Tandy Leather's web site.) But, multiple colors will be needed. John C.

I am surprised there is much of a market for it, at least in this country. Lacing cables is a very elegant way of making up a pretty cable but it is labor intensive and time is money.
I see zip ties and tape.

Other then certifying it as cat-6 compliant and putting it in IT/PC magazines I have no idea.

It would be nice if I new how to lace cable, even though I would never really have a need to.

James -

If you're halfway serious I'll send you a PDF of a cable lacing manual. We could also have lacing classes at the next meet.

The old time carriers (Baby Bells in their current incarnations, AT&T etc.) and a lot of the Internet carriers (Level 3, Global Crossing etc.) require it - and are very, very strict about the quality. But really, it's all about longevity.

Tie wraps dry out and break off after a year or three. Lacing tape is forever. And if done right it looks great.

Sam

Other then certifying it as cat-6 compliant and putting it in IT/PC magazines I have no idea.

Hey, I think we are on to something. Those idiots will buy anything if it's in an IT/PC magazine.

Another even better group to market to is the lunatic fringe audiophiles. Just say how lacing their $2000/ft speaker cables together with your lacing cord will add unbelievable clarity and sonic dimension previously thought impossible to obtain outside the vacuum of outer space.

-Hal

I was serious about actually learning the basics for lacing just because I am amazed at how it looks when done properly. I always like to learn things that impress me. At the next meet would be fine. Manual's never correctly explain the nuances that experience has.

An old electrical engineer that I did work for in high school showed me how he wanted stuff laced. Don't really remember it much other then it was a continuous piece of line. You would tie it off to either the connector or chassis, then run down the cable and every 2" do a loop that crossed at the top and pulled the line down to the next loop. You would end up with the line going from loop to loop going down one end of the cable like a stripe, and you could then use this stripe from loop to loop to tie other bundles together or tie them to the chassis.

Kind of hard to explain in words and I'm sure it was probably wrong but man did it look good when you were done.

Here\'s an older topic on lacing, has some good information also. Sam's specs would be your best source.

Sam, I would like to see that PDF too.
One of the sound companies here in Toledo laced all the cables in the sound racks at the Student Union. Not sure if they still do it, these were installed 15 years ago. It looks pretty nice still!

Jeff -

PM sent.

Sam

I learned to lace when I was with the electronics company I worked for right out of high school. They didn't want a running lace however, we just did individual ties. Reason was that they were always doing changes and you would have to relace the whole bundle to add a few extra wires. They were a prototype company though. For production where nothing changes a running lace is the way to go.

-Hal

Yeah, what I did was mostly final dressing before shipping the stuff to the customer. When he was hacking away on stuff he would just use a couple loops wherever it was convenient for him.

Later on before he moved to Orlando and I lost the job he had switched to using nylon mesh tubing (looks like a Chinese finger trap) and non-adhesive heat-shrink tubing to kind of secure it to the connectors. It was faster and easier usually but sometimes the tubing wouldn't expand enough to slide over the connectors. This was always a pain as I would have to pull the pins or de-solder the wires from the cups and fish them through the stuff.

You must be talking about Tech Flex. Nice stuff but it frays if you don't cut it with a hot knife...

Nothing like cable lacing - its the way to go.

Nothing like sticking your arm in a rack and coming out bleeding because someone couldn't cut the tywrap flush either!

Sam, thanks for the info. Do you have a guide that shows how to do a running stitch?

I always leave about 1/8-1/4" tail on the tywraps because I don't buy the good ones. Get the bulk pack of 1000 at Rexel. I've had them slip a notch or two after install and that's why I do it like that. Have had stuff fall down before.

James, I hate you!! Buy quality tyraps, and then go to the craft store, and spend 8 bucks on a pair of Fiskars Flush Cutters. These will cut the tail absolutly flush and smooth.

Jeff -

For a running stitch we just used to put in a series of half hitches (with the knot in the back where you couldn't see it.)

Sam

I've always used a pair of wire cutters and they seemed to do the trick. Never really had a problem with sharp edges. These always seem to kind of mash the edge you are leaving. The tail that you cut off is pretty damn sharp though.

Most Electricians suffer from the fault of using their lineman's pliers for everything. If you try to trim a tyrap by cutting it with lineman's you leave a sharp edge, but if you TWIST the excess off it comes off nice and smooth and safe.

Sam