oli Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Hey guys, I have googled this and one product was shown but I don't think it is the right one. I have heard rumour that stage electrics have a cable coiling machine. Does anyone know the name etc of this machine as we are looking for one in our warehouse. Many thanks Oli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gaffa Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Think its called apprentices? Or students... ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikienorth Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 The apprenticeThe WorkieOr another idea Google Rocks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkPAman Posted September 2, 2008 Share Posted September 2, 2008 Is this any good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 The rumour I heard a few years back was that stage had a very expensive custom build machine made for them which had a habit of chewing up some cables (i.e. those that were a little telephone like) and the coils it produced were tangles so that it looked neat but was a pain when you came to use it. Although that is very second hand information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_H Posted September 3, 2008 Share Posted September 3, 2008 It's strange that this has come up, I was at work a few days ago thinking about how/if it would be possible to make a machine to coil cables, now I know, cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genus Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 Also, in most hire companies warehouses whenever there's a cable to be coiled it needs to be visually checked for any obvious faults and then plugged into a cable tester before being coiled and returned to the shelf. When I worked at blacklights warehouse briefly last year, that was their procedure. It someone is doing all that, they may as well coil the cable themselves. Genus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryson Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 Taking a look at that cable coiler: Yes, all very well if you have a cable that's nice and straight with no knots or nasty twisty bits. But how often do you get one of those? Also, I can coil faster than that thing.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightsource Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 Would sort of agree with Bryson, but at the moment I'm working on a film set, with locations in the middle of nowhere, and 50-100m power / DMX and audio cables everywhere. The longer cables are really a nightmare, and heavy too, so some form of automated coiling (or even a basic cabe drum) would be useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kopy Posted September 6, 2008 Share Posted September 6, 2008 They used to have one at vari-lite in Greenford (which is now PRG). Dead handy - and also it would tell you how long the cable was one it had done it. If you ever see a cable that has a marker telling you that the cable ish 29.86 metres long or some such nonsense this is why! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leggy Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 They used to have one at vari-lite in Greenford (which is now PRG). Dead handy - and also it would tell you how long the cable was one it had done it. If you ever see a cable that has a marker telling you that the cable ish 29.86 metres long or some such nonsense this is why! That thing was a complete pain in the arse.Great for the warehouse staff I'm sure, but then they never had to uncoil the cables and deal with the tangles.Coiling machines don't put in the little twist you do when coiling manually, so the cable ends up kinked and knotted. Leggy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billy bobinski Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Come on now, People, What's wrong with wrapping the stuff around your hand and elbow??? ;) :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiefy Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Come on now, People, What's wrong with wrapping the stuff around your hand and elbow??? B-) ;)Quite a lot actually... this is one sure way of making sure that your cables don't last very long as you can put bends into the cable that shouldn't be there... The hand to hand method with the little twist is always the best option as this will nearly always follow the direction that the inner cores follow in the cable, if performed correctly. As to the magic cable coiling machine... I will ask our hire department to see if they can shed an light onto it for you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 They used to have one at vari-lite in Greenford (which is now PRG). Dead handy...That thing was a complete pain in the arse.Great for the warehouse staff I'm sure, but then they never had to uncoil the cables and deal with the tangles.Coiling machines don't put in the little twist you do when coiling manually, so the cable ends up kinked and knotted.+1 to Leggy, that Greenford machine was indeed a nightmare B-) Cable coiling machines: The lazy warehouse crew's friend ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billy bobinski Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Come on now, People, What's wrong with wrapping the stuff around your hand and elbow??? :( ;)Quite a lot actually... this is one sure way of making sure that your cables don't last very long as you can put bends into the cable that shouldn't be there... The hand to hand method with the little twist is always the best option as this will nearly always follow the direction that the inner cores follow in the cable, if performed correctly. As to the magic cable coiling machine... I will ask our hire department to see if they can shed an light onto it for you... Pedant Alert!!!!! :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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