Installed cable carrier
The cable carrier arrived a couple of days after I ordered it. I was a little too busy with “real work” to deal with it for a while, though. With help from Bill at Shaltz, I finally got it installed tonight. It was pretty easy to install. First, I removed the T bar from the top of the cart and attached the moving end of the carrier to the T bar (actually Bill did this, since it involved drilling and tapping holes in metal). I put the T bar back on the cart and started to figure out where to connect the stationary end. I held it where I thought it should go, then moved the cart from end to end. I realized I had about 6 extra links that I didn’t need, so I removed 5 of them. I double checked the new position and drilled a couple of tiny holes in the shelf, then used a couple of small screws to mount the stationary end. At this point, everything moved very smoothly with minimal effort. I disconnected the last link from the stationary end and threaded each cable through one at a time. I had to cut the connectors off to get a nice clean end for threading. After threading all three cables through, I used a cable tie at the cart end to secure the cables and keep them from moving around. I reattached the stationary end and put a cable tie on that end as well. It looks really nice.
Now the down side. The cables I used seem to be fairly stiff and don’t like bending as much as the cable carrier wants them to. When I move the cart all the way to the left (smallest carrier radius), there is much more effort required to move the cart either direction. When I move it all the way to the right, it is much easier to move because the carrier makes a bigger radius. I am kind of wishing I had selected carrier with a bigger radius. It would be sticking out above the cart, but the motion would be a little easier. I just hope the difference in effort doesn’t totally mess up my cart dynamics. Hopefully it will be a simple force that is just a function of position and velocity and can easily be corrected for.