Lift cable

[GeeTwo]

Originally Posted by Aur0r4

Another tip for spooling cable from the crane world is what we call "lagging". Basically, have your lathe team...

If you don't have a lathe, you could probably lag the spool with some epoxy and plastic wrap. Spread a relatively thin (about 1/4 the thickness of your cable) layer of epoxy around the core of the spool, wrap this in plastic wrap, then firmly wind the cable around the plastic wrap in a single layer to shape the epoxy. Remove the cable and (if you can) the plastic, and let the epoxy set. Note that I have not actually done this, so expect to have to experiment a bit.

Of course, I'd recommend an epoxy with a putty-like consistency that gives you at least 10 minutes to work with it.

[scca229]

Originally Posted by GeeTwo

If you don't have a lathe, you could probably lag the spool with some epoxy and plastic wrap. Spread a relatively thin (about 1/4 the thickness of your cable) layer of epoxy around the core of the spool, wrap this in plastic wrap, then firmly wind the cable around the plastic wrap in a single layer to shape the epoxy. Remove the cable and (if you can) the plastic, and let the epoxy set. Note that I have not actually done this, so expect to have to experiment a bit.

Could get cable drum meant to go on to the end of a garage door torsion spring shaft. They are already "lagged" and probably a whole heck of a lot easier to acquire than create. A 4" diameter drum that will hold 8' of 1/8" cable is under $18/pair in a real quick search.

[matthewdenny]

Originally Posted by Aur0r4

Every crane I've ever seen includes operating instructions to leave multiple turns of wire rope on the hoist drums...usually more than 3, sometimes as high as 9. This allows almost all of the force transfer to occur via friction and your mechanical connection doesn't see hardly any load.


Good luck!

I believe this is because of the Capstan effect:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capstan_equation