High Strung

Well, I think the photo above sums it up.  I made a lot of progress this week on my project (thanks to a long anticipated "stay-cation").  As you can see, I finished my cable railing and sheet rock has been hung. 

Since my last post, I was able to put the finishing touches on my metal work and prep everything for paint.  I initially was planning to purchase an industrial grade pressure sprayer to use with my compressor.  Upon the recommendation of a friend, I went to National Coating and Supplies and discussed my project with the guys there.  One of the guys recommended I simplify everything and use a product called KBS Rust Seal.

Rust Seal is a self-leveling product that is applied with a brush (self-leveling = no visible brush strokes).  This stuff is bomb proof...its usually used to paint restored car frames.  He showed me a few pieces of metal they had painted with this stuff and then pulled out a hammer and beat on the painted surface 4 or 5 times....not a scratch was left on the metal!  After weighing the cost of buying a pressurized paint sprayer, the specialized paint used with these guns, and a special respirator with buying a can of this stuff and a few paint brushes, the choice was obvious.

Using rust seal is basically a 3 step process.  First, you clean the surface to be painted.  Second, you etch the surface of the metal with acid.  Finally, you just paint on the product.

Dry time is 6 hours.  I applied 2 coats for good measure.

With my railings painted, it was time to start stringing my cables.  As discussed in previous posts, I purchased all the components individually.  I bought a 500 foot spool of marine grade 316 stainless steel 1 x 19 cable.  The 316 grade cable is the most corrosion resistant stainless steel cable available and is an industry standard for cable railings.  The "1 x 19" refers to the fact that 19 individual strands of stainless steel are woven together into a single strand:

1x19 configured stainless steel cable has a tensile strength of 2100lbs.

The other commonly used type of cable is a 7 x 7 configuration stainless steel cable--this cable is more flexible and typically used in rail designs that necessitate bending of the cable.

7 x 7 configured stainless steel cable has a tensile strength of 1050 lbs.

As discussed in my previous post, the fittings used to secure and tension each cable are ridiculously expensive (some in excess of $25 a piece).  After scouring the internet, I found some relatively inexpensive fittings made by AGS Stainless.  These fittings are extremely basic and not necessarily the sexiest on the market, but the price was right and I think they will more than suffice for this project:

The concept is simple...you insert the cable into the end of the fitting and then crimp the fitting (also known as "swaging") using a swager:

Swager...a large bolt cutter-like device used to crimp the fitting around the cable. Yes, I am the proud owner of one of these devices..anyone want to buy a lightly used swager?

With the fitting crimped, you just slide the your fitting through your terminal post, tension the cable, and lock the bolt in place with an acorn nut...and viola, you're done.  I only had to do this 72 times for my project...lets just say the novelty of this process wore off quickly.

This project is really starting to shape up and  every day is getting closer to the original concept I conjured over a year ago:

While I am certainly making progress toward the original concept, I do have one big confession to make...I waived the white flag on the sheet rock.  As you can see from the photo above, I hired this portion of the project out...and I must admit, it has proven the easiest phase of the project thus far!