"jim" wrote in message
...
I looked around and couldn't find an easy way to make the above cable from
seperate usb and parallel cables.

And I don't think you're going to any time soon. USB is, as the name
suggests is a serial protocol, using embed micro controllers, in either
stand alone adapter boxes or built in to the cable headers using SMD parts
to implement the control logic. The 40 to 50 bucks the cheap single port
adapters cost is going to be less that what your time is likely worth when
you consider the time and cost it's going to take you to duplicate such a
mass produced product.

http://www.create.ucsb.edu/~dano/CUI/
http://www.beyondlogic.org/usb/usbhard.htm

--
Regards,
Leland C. Scott
KC8LDO