You are never sure what products will be in demand, so you make your best guess. I had a number of ARRI 2B and 2C cameras with the traditional pistol grip motors in stock, but many of the power cables had decayed to the point where they were unusable, or were missing entirely. Since these motors have a proprietary power connector, you can’t just go to the hardware store and buy another cable, and as far as I know, ARRI doesn’t make them anymore. So I came up with a solution that would allow you to use any standard 4-pin XLR power cable. The first batch sold out quicker than I expected, so I spent some time this week printing the shells and machining the connectors to make a new run. I use heavy gauge copper for the contacts, and machining copper is laborious, so I made a fixture to make this process a little easier. The first step in the manufacturing process of the copper parts is on the lathe, knurling the outside, drilling the proper size hole in the center, cutting them off to length, and then putting them in the fixture I made so I can complete the finishing work on the milling machine ten parts at a time. Once all of the machining work is done, I am able to finish assembling the adapters. If all goes well, this new batch should be available next week.
