cables

Where is the most affordable place to buy vinyl coated cables, and what size and length do you guys prefer to use for parking lots and road striping.

In the past, I've tried bare stranded cables, vinyl coated cables, kite string, sash chain and metal banding tape. My personal preferrance is heavy gauge weed-eater string. It is strong enough to allow enough tension without breaking and stretches just enough to keep itself straight. It does not stretch too much allowing it to be premarked for long runs of banked parking stops and starts. 'Same for premarking 9 ft intervals. Paint doesn't like to stick on it for very long. 'Never had to clean any, yet. After having a stranded cable almost snagged by a car, I don't use them anymore except maybe on closed lots. I can only imagine the potential horrors of damage and/or injury that could be caused by having a cable being drug for any distance.

Our favorite string of choice is poly baler twine. It is orange in color and made by Magnum. In place of that, you should be able to get a regular ball (2000' plus) of poly binding twine at most hardware stores. We don't like the sisal string. It may be good for smoking, but lousy for striping. We like the poly because it does stretch a bit and it is easier to handle than most other products. You can pull it as tight as you want and it will not break. When finished you just cut off the used portion and throw it away. If you are working by yourself or with a helper, it is easy to tie it to your weighted holder or a nail for long runs. One note of caution like ////stripes\\\\ mentioned, never ever tie anything around your hand if there is any chance of a vehicle, including a LD or LL catching the line. (Be sure to tell your helpers also) You may not be ready for a career change at this point in your life. Keep in mind string is great for a reference line for straight runs but for laying out curves on roads you may need something a little heavier.

Sounds very similar but I bet the baling string is much cheaper! Thanks! I'll try some! You get a karma point!!! Good advice about not wrapping anything around your hand(s). That goes for stencils too! Recently I was dragging a firelane no parking stencil with couple of fingers thru one of the 4" letters. The tail end of the stencil got under the LL tire and almost took the skin off one finger.

We've lost two fishermen recently that accidently wrapped the leader around their hands and the fish decided they weren't ready to come aboard....Never found either one of them....So yes...quite good advice....

With all due respect to "everyone has their own opinion" we have used cables almost since the start (started with string until a fellow giving a demo-non-Expo by the way) showed me his cables. Have had literally hundreds of cars run over them through the years & that's a beauty of cables, they stay put. You don't normally have to re-stretch them unless somebody turns on one or something, If they just drive over it, it stays in place. NO on the vinyl coating. The vinyl would start to wear off from dragging on the pavement & you would have a mess. We've had cables last for years. All I did was go to my friendly local hardware store and ask the owner if he could give me a good deal on an entire "spool" of cable if I "special ordered" one. He did and it was less than half his "per ft" price. Then put the ends also from the hardware store (don't know the proper name) on them that are like little "loops", the cable goes through them and then they tighten down to hold it. And a couple of the double ended snaps that are like what's on a dog leash but the same "snap" on a swivel on both ends. Now you can (a) use the loops to attach to your weights or whatever or (b) hook two or more cables together for very long runs with a "snap". Catch the electric cord reels (cheap) and use them to quickly wrap the cables, 1 reel will hold well over 200 ft. A tip here, when rolling them up do not walk toward the cable, "drag" it to you. The tension will keep it winding smoothly. If you get loops "wound in" because the cable is loose it can cause slight "kinks" in the cable, it doesn't make them unusable but if you are painting next to one a kink can stick into the area being painted leaving a nice little "stencil" of the cable. (That's the only problem we HAVE had is cars run over a reel now & then & smash it, usually after hitting a couple of cones on the way...) We always carry two long cables (approx 200') for end marks or centerline use and 1 short cable about 75'. The short cable is not nearly as heavy and we use it for short bank ends or for "straightening" a previous banana somebody painted or on lots where the worn stripes are hard to see due to shadows or poor light (quicker than a chalk line). We have a couple of extras for big lots so we can do at least two "sets" of starts & stops at the same time. Also for newbies the 3 dimensional property of the cable makes it easier to visualize and learn your starts & stops. Another BIG advantage cables have over string, trimmer line, etc. is when doing layout and you want stripes to line up in either side of objects like medians or curbs or wheel stops. The cable will "drape" over the object & remain straight. Also cables don't move in the wind...if they do it's too windy to be striping anyway. Everybody has their preference. For 20 years cables have worked great, are cheap when you consider the lifespan, and have the advantages I mentioned. They work for me. I also have my "technique" of stretching a cable out when doing a curve and then maintaining a slight tension on it as I pull it across the pavement until the end marks are right. Sometimes it takes a couple of tries especially if the pavement is rough but done right the cable will tend to pull itself into a nice smooth arc. Because it seems the curb guys down here can never be consistent we do the center "tic" marks to be sure we are close but let the cable form the actual guide. I found this produces a far "prettier" result than tic marks alone in case the curb guy got off by several inches in one 20 or 30' stretch (in which case center measured tics would result in a "squiggle" matching the curbs. It's also very easy to see it laid out before you paint so you can be sure it will "look" right. Works for me. Ken's trimmer line is the next best idea IMHO but the wind plays heck with it, it has a "memory" from being wound up, and like string it wont drape over objects and must be weighted on the ends. Since I always use at least one helper I never owned a "weight" or bigfoot since once you pull it tight and have it laid down the weight of the cable itself holds it in place. To each his own...just what works for me...

Don, What diameter cable do you use?

Just finished large warehouse and we used 50# mono off old salt water reel. Works great in warehouse, of no use outside.. After several painted lines, we would hold tight and use rag to wire off excess paint to avoid unwanted lines.

I seem to remember from a couple of planets ago there was a preference for the strand of the cable even. Wasn't the strand preference because it didn't ravel or twist up? Who has what preference, size and strand?

e-willie wrote on Apr 19, 2005:Go to #7

Don, What diameter cable do you use?

I'm not ignoring you but a couple of years back one of my employees ran over the "spool" and we had to re-wrap it all so I don't have a label. First time I get by the hardware store I'll let you know. I don't want to be wrong about something that worked so very well for us.

Try a high strand count like 7X19. This makes the cable more flexible, lays flat easier and is less likely to kink. We used to go with 1/8" diameter but Chip advised we try 1/16" cable and I have to say I do like it better - half the weight and just as useful. Again, go with a high strand count.

thanx for the replies i bought some 7x19 grade 1/8" vinyl coated cable, coated to 3/16" from e-rigging.com, i tried the hardware stores they wanted .36 ft., got this or .15 ft., so i bought a 250ft. roll, sorry i didn't know not to get the coated, and does everybody use non-coated? Anyway that smaller dameter (1/16") might help when i buy the 500ft. roll next (long-line), after i try this one.

The only bad thing about the coated is that as you drag it around on the pavement the vinyl will start to wear giving you a fuzzy cable and over time overspray can build up on the vinyl where it tends to flake off the metal. Not a big problem just unnecessary...next time you'll know...

Im a newbie and wasnt sure what cables were used for, but Im assuming you use them for long runs that would be impracticle or impossible to snap.. I know...

I think the original question was reference to "squaring cables" which are a copy of Mick's "Chain Gang" method of layout. I have those and use them to layout stalls along a curve. I use a cable for layout of long runs (over 300') or when we a striping large parking lots with multiple bays and all the lines in a row, and there's three of us. We will mark each side, pull the cable, and paint along side of it instead of snapping lines. For that, I buy 1/16" cable and do like Don suggested, roll it onto an extension cord reel. I like the thin cable for that, it's not affected by wind, and if you accidentally start a line where you paint hits it, it's so thin that it doesn't leave a "shadow". I have a roll of 3/16" that I use to layout curves on long lines, it's better for dragging around into the proper curved shape. You wouldn't want to use coated cable for either of these uses, just galvanized. I also like Ken's idea of weedeater line - it's a lot cheaper.