Hex Die Crimp ?????

[Paul Alciatore]

Ouch!

Every crimp tool that I have used, and I have used a lot of them, has had a way to release the ratchet. I have had to do it many times when an incorrect connector was placed in it or the correct connector was placed in the wrong die position. The poor person would usually come to me quietly and beg for help so the boss would not see the problem. It usually only took a second or two with a small screwdriver.

Once or twice I saw one where that person tried to use excessive force to complete the cycle and both the connector and the tool was ruined. No way to avoid the boss then as a new tool had to be purchased, usually for several hundred dollars.

in the '70s, crimp tools had a one way ratchet. no release. you got skin in there, squeeze until it releases. teach you not to get skin in there.

[Paul Alciatore]

Lakeside53 said in post number 7 that the 0.128" was measured across the flats. That would be the inscribed diameter, not the circumscribed diameter. But I have to say that if you are determined to do this, you will probably need to measure in tenths, not thousandths.

And this dimension can vary from one brand of connector to another. They may be standardized, but then again, they may not be. I always used tools from the same manufacturer as the connector.

If .128 is the size for the hex die I need then from what point to what point is this measured???? There are three possible choices.

http://www.had2know.com/academics/hexagon-measurement-calculator.html

JL.....................

[JoeLee]

Lakeside53 said in post number 7 that the 0.128" was measured across the flats. That would be the inscribed diameter, not the circumscribed diameter. But I have to say that if you are determined to do this, you will probably need to measure in tenths, not thousandths.

And this dimension can vary from one brand of connector to another. They may be standardized, but then again, they may not be. I always used tools from the same manufacturer as the connector.

It's pretty simple to make the die once I know the right depth and width, then it's three passes on the mill, cut it in half and it's done.

JL...........

[JoeLee]

If the IC is .128 then that gives me a depth of .064. What would be the width of the bottom cut or the length of each segment???

JL............

[RichR]

According to the calculator in the link you supplied, it would be 0.0739".

[JoeLee]

Rich, I guess your right. I should have looked more closely at it. The IC of.128 is the height h.

JL.........................

[JoeLee]

I finished the hex crimp die this morning. I ended up with a perfect .128 IC when the two halves are mated.
I may pin the two halves if shifting during compression becomes a problem or I may just clamp a block of steel on each side so they can't shift.
Also it looks like I have about .062 between the dies with the sleeve sitting in there but only about .025 at the top and bottom of the die. I don't think I'll be able to completely close the die during the crimp, unless I should have made it a little bigger but the next size up in crimp dies was about .250 which is way bigger than the sleeve OD so it has to be .128 for a sleeve that measures about .158 on the OD. We'll see what happens.

JL..............

http://s911.photobucket.com/user/JoeLee09/media/Hex%20Crimp%20Die%20RG-174%20to%20RP-SMA/Image006_zps8lpldseb.jpg.html?sort=3&o=5

http://s911.photobucket.com/user/JoeLee09/media/Hex%20Crimp%20Die%20RG-174%20to%20RP-SMA/Image007_zpsgehqoolm.jpg.html?sort=3&o=4

http://s911.photobucket.com/user/JoeLee09/media/Hex%20Crimp%20Die%20RG-174%20to%20RP-SMA/Image012_zpsvtrlbrnp.jpg.html?sort=3&o=2

[rdfeil]

Really nice looking die. Make sure to keep then in allignment. The spacing you mention sounds about right. As the sleeve is compressed the metal will deform to fill the corners which takes more metal than you would think. Good work

R

[JoeLee]

Today I put my crimp die through the test. It worked out perfectly. I pressed the dies closed and done, no need to rotate the crimp and re-crimp.
One shot and done. I guess the IC of .128 was right on. However........... after I crimped the first end I decided to check for continuity just to make sure before I crimped the other end. I found that I had no connection through the center conductor. No way to take them apart so it's snip and start over. The pin was soldered on good as I gave it the pull test. The only think I can think of that may have happened is when I inserted the pin in the body of the connector twisting it slightly may have broken the wire at the base of the pin. I double checked both ends this time before crimping. All in all, the short time I spent making the die was worth it as opposed to spending $50 to $100 for a set of crimpers. Probably never need to use it again but if I do it's here. SMA connectors a too small for me, I'd rather buy the jumpers made up but couldn't find the right length I needed and due to the loss I didn't want cables longer than I needed for the application. I'll take BNC's or N connectors any day, I used to think they were a pain to do.

JL......................

http://s911.photobucket.com/user/JoeLee09/media/Hex%20Crimp%20Die%20RG-174%20to%20RP-SMA/Image019_zpsetbwp4as.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

[Paul Alciatore]

I googled "custom SMA cable".

http://www.cablesondemand.com/pcategory/20/category/CO50OHM/URvars/Catalog/Library/InfoManage/50_OHM_COAXIAL_CABLES.htm

http://www.pacificcable.com/Custom-SMA-Cables.html

http://www.pasternack.com/sma-to-sma-cable-assemblies-category.aspx

http://www.fairviewmicrowave.com/sma-to-sma-cables-category.aspx?

Many, many more.

[JoeLee]

I did look at a few of those places........ not cheap especially for one or two cables, not to mention the high cost of shipping which looks to be equal to the price of the one cable. that's why I decided to just put together my own.

JL............

[kendall]

This thread takes me back down memory lane, the tool linked to in the photos was last used around 1995 and was used to terminate RG-58 cables for thin ethernet. Networking sure has changed since then.

Steve.

Was only a short while ago that I took out the coax to my shop computer in favor of wireless. May be switching back though, hate losing the signal if someone parks in the wrong spot, and honestly there's no detectable speed difference when using internet.