Cable and support spacing
The two photos below show 10 cables approx. 3" apart vertically and posts at 3 ft. horizontally. Often a bottom rail
is installed for style or possibly a little more stabilitiy as shown in some of the aluminum framed photos. The left photo is done
with 4 x 4 cedar posts and the white sample was done in our standard aluminum system that uses 2-3/8" square posts. The small
vertial 1 x 2 in the wooden system is a cable "seperator" to hold the cables together and was done to show how it changes the cable movement when the horizontal gap is varied by sliding the "seperator" from side to side. Basically the smaller the vertical cable
spacing and the closer the posts or "seperators" are ogether the less tension is required to keep the cable from opening up should someone or something impact the cable in a fall, etc.
The photos below show a system with 1/4" cable installed and post spacing of almost 8 ft., but with very high cable tension. The posts
are made of steel and it is a commercial job which is 2-1/2 times the normal requirement for a residential deck or cable application. It was with marine quality fittings with one end factory swaged and the other field installed using a mechanical swage with only a cutter and some
wrenches.
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