ribbon cables

there might be a topic somewhere for this but I cant find it .I know the gold pins in ribbon cables are worth good money. but is it really worth it . I cut all the ends off about 50-70 lbs of ribbon cables.i then started pulling the pins .I got thur about 30 ends and omg my arm is killing me .is it really worth the time. or is there a quicker method

Anybody ever dealt with an abundance of larger connectors? Such as the big printer serial connectors or SCSI centronics 50 pin?

Dude WAY TOO MUCH work for the return on investment of your yime. Use a small wire clipper or utility knofe to cut ends off and send in as computer cable ends. Use the time saved to find more stuff to scrap/recycle.

haha, looks like Burly's on! maybe he'll have something good to add ; )

I'm sure jghilino will chime in with the breakdown he did on ribbon cable connectors soon. It was his analysis that got me to pluck pins on ribbon connectors and I hated it at first but the muscle memory grew quickly and I started really enjoying it. What I learned is it is ten times easier to retrieve the pins if you don't cut the connectors away from the ribbon cable. Leave your cable as it is from the tower and it makes handling the connector so much easier. Many times the pins will come out on the ribbon cable after you've cut the plastic away.

I've never found a pair of pliers that I like for plucking pins. Most dikes/side cutters don't work that well either but I did find a pair with a super straight structure that grabs several at a time.

At my best I did 8 ounces in 3 hours. When gold was high these pins would easily bring $100 a lb. It's good money when you get good at it.

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

Don't tell nobody but I use a set of toe nail clippers, you can even get down there and pluck out the pins broke off down close.
Their about 4" long

Then when your done you can clip your toe nails. Kill two birds with one stone.

I don't have children .im just cutten the ends off and separating them

Just curious, do you guys only pull the visible pins out of male ends or is there a way to get the female end pins out too?

are you separating the pins on yours mech?

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

Here is what I do quite a few of, I think their easy to pull.
I would consider these female ends.

Thanks, I actually just noticed the related post showing the video on how to pull from those after I posted the question, lol.