Needed Metric Coated Wire Rope 4mm OD on coating

So we have an older SMW Spacesaver 2000 pneumatic bar feeder that we bought used a couple of years ago. Essentially the feeder moves the bar via a longitudinal dual acting air cylinder wherein a plastic coated cable attaches to either side of the piston and then seals via a block on each end that also has fittings for the air inlet/exhaust. The SMW were built in Spain so all is metric.

The cable is about 16 feet long x 4mm in diameter on the OD of the plastic coating, and is thus far unobtainium in the good ole USA. Might one of our Non-US or European comrades be able to help a brother out? Feel free to PM me if you have a source.

Thanks in advance!

Tim

4mm is almost exactly 5/32

McMaster-Carr

@gustafson

Good one! I missed that one when looking Friday and even the customer service tech I talked to missed it.

Thanks!

The McMaster-Carr has coated cable as well.

I am frequently moved to search mcmaster when someone says they can't find something, they have friggin everything..........

I’m pretty sure you can buy a human kidney from McMaster Carr… you just have to call and ask… theres too many variables for them to publish in the catalogue.

That said, you can also try a specialty rigging outfit such as Jack Rubin and Sons:

Wire Rope Locations

They carry a ton of cable and rigging products and tend to be my go-to.

It sounds like the coated cable is functioning as a rod in this application, so I imagine the size to be critical. It’s possible that a brute-force approach might overwhelm any blow-by past the seals. The size difference between 4mm and 5/32” is negligible enough that with a 2” piston you may be able to just turn up the air coming into the cylinder and the system would just be a little louder.

In any case, I would give Jack Rubin a call and see if they’ve got something on the shelf, before altering the system with incorrectly-sized cable.





Be safe




Jeremy

As a seal guy, I can state that the difference in nominal is approximately half of the tolerance (i.e. you'll be starting halfway through the low end of the band) for the seal itself. If the cable is good you'll likely never notice.

So, you are rolling the dice to some extent, though in a practical sense (especially considering it is pneumatic) I would anticipate the drop-in replacement to go without a hitch.