Wire Protection
 This homemade cable carrier was made by dadoing a 2 x 4 which had been ripped to 3 inches wide. The wood was cut into sections with 5° ends. A strip cut from a piece of vinyl siding was screwed to the bottom inside of the channel. |
 The carrier is attached to the gantry and rests on a ledge on the side of the table. |
 The servo and encoder cables were originally bundled together, but this caused encoder problems. The symptoms were the inability of the machine to hold position. The servos moved but the motion was erratic. |
 The encoder wires were then replaced with shielded cable, and they were run on the outside of the cable carrier. This eliminated the interference. Another option builders have used is clamping ferrite chokes around the cables. |
 The wire to the router spindle is attached to rods which are held together with springs. The rods and springs hold the cord above the gantry and permit free movement. The rod to table attachment permits the rods to swivel. This base is made of soldered together copper pipe and flashing. Bottom of lower right photo. |
 The cables are held to the table with basic cable clips made of thin sheet metal such as a drink cans, aluminum flashing or siding coil stock. The power cord for the router spindle plugs into an extension cord which is permanently attached to the gantry. This permits the easy exchange with other tools. The system below uses a strip of plastic, in this case a nailing strip from a piece of vinyl siding J channel, to support the stepper's wire. |
 The plastic holds its shape and prevents the wires from falling into the work or kinking. Zip ties hold the wire to the plastic; they are loose enough to allow the wire to slightly shift as the plastic straightens. One end of the strip is screwed to the middle of the top of the gantry and the other is attached to the stepper. |
 Another simple option uses a spring and dowel to hold the wire. The arrow in the image points to the spring which is attached to the end of the gantry. A dowel is inserted into the spring and the wire is clipped to this mast. This holds the wire above the machine while allowing it to move with the carriage. The wire is attached to the top of the carriage and to the end of the gantry. It should be routed so it will not fatigue as the mast bends. |