Do you ever look at the coiled cord on your microphone and wonder “How do they do that?” It must be special wire. Then you look at the long straight cable coming off your headset and think – “Boy, that would be nice if it was coiled.” 

Untidy straight cables
That was what I thought when I got my Koss SB/45 headset to use with my ham radios and computer. It would be a lot nicer if that was coiled. So, off to the Internet I went, and Mr. Google to the rescue. It turns out that making the cable coiled is not that hard, if you are careful. This is the process that I found and use. It is relatively simple and yields good results. It takes a couple wire ties, a dowel (or other round object) and a heat gun (I suppose a hair dryer might do the trick.) I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR DAMAGE TO YOUR DEVICE CABLE/WIRE IF YOU FOLLOW THESE DIRECTIONS.
 
First thing,  think about how big around you want the coils, decide what to wrap the cable around. If the cable is heavy, like a microphone cable then a 1/2″ dowel would be fine. If it is a light weight cable, like that on my headset, I used a 3/8″ dowel.
3/8" dowel and wire ties
Start end held in place with a wire tie

You start by securing one end of the cable (wire) to the end of the dowel. I used a plastic wire/zip tie. You don’t want to start right at the microphone base. You want to leave a couple inches of straight wire going into the device, the same for the connector end. I left about 6 inches on each end.

Next you wrap the wire carefully around the dowel, as tight as you can without damaging the cable. The cable on the headset is thin and pretty fragile, but I did keep it snug.

Completed wrap, tied on both ends with a wire tie. Push the ends toword the center to get rid of gaps.
A couple things to keep in mind while wrapping the cable/wire; keep it as flat as possible, without twists. Now, this is difficult with a multi-conductor cable, like Cat5. Do the best you can. On the two conductor headset cable it was
relatively easy to keep it flat. Also, you do not want any overlaps in the cable/wire. Once you have the wire wrapped
down the dowel, secure the loose end with another wire/zip tie.
 
Now we do the delicate part. Once the wire is on the dowel, CAREFULLY heat it with the heat gun or hair dryer.
Wagner 1000 heat gun. Be careful not to melt the insulation.
Rotate the dowel so that you heat the wire evenly. Watch the color of the insulation. When the insulation starts to look shiny, and it is hot to the touch, turn off your heat source. Put the project off to the side to cool and walk away. Let the wire cool for about 12 hours. It is surprising how long it takes the wire to cool off.
 
What you are doing is retraining or forming the plastic/rubber to think that it should be coiled and not straight. Different insulation will handle this process better that others. The Cat5E cable that I used for the PTT for my headset adapter, worked really well, and the coils are nice and stiff.
CAT5E cable used for my PPT switch - Done two years ago

On the other hand, I did this same thing on a set of earbuds and another headset. The coils were not as stiff.

How long will this last? The first time I did this was two years ago. I used the headset quite a bit as well as the earbuds.

Earbuds coiled two years ago. Coils begining to soften up

You can see that the coils have relaxed quite a bit. Still, they are easier to manage than the straight cable that came on them. The PTT switch is still nice and tight, but I don’t stretch it like the headset or the ear buds.

Well, has it been 12 hours yet? OK, time to check our results. Cut the wire/zip ties off, careful not to cut the wires. Then, slide the wire off the dowel.

Carefully cut wire ties off
Now, the wires might stick to the dowel a little, because you have melted the insulation, so slide it off with care. I
thought of wrapping the dowel with wax paper first. But, I have not tried it.
Carefully slide cable off the dowel rod. Might need to twist it a bit.
Finished product. Nice and tightly coiled.
If everything has worked correctly, then you should have a nice coiled cable. If somebody sees it, you can tell them you ordered it special for five thousand dollars.
Comparison - Done two years ago and yesterday

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