Perfect $10 spring
 

I needed a way to control the lash of 3 flat wires being fed from dancer
controlled, power fed 250 lb. spools into a machine that jerks 3" at a time.
I tried different ways of taking the inertia out of the wire to keep the
feed queue smooth and low tension and have even posted a man on the infeed.
Today I had an inspiration, walked out to the van and retrieved the perfect
solution...a FISHING ROD!!! The wire now loops through a bearing race tied
to the rod tip with "Spider Wire". I did stop at Wally World and picked up
a $10 rod to replace my $120 MW Pike rod. Now I'm looking for a mannequin
hand to permanently use for a rod mount. I may have to buy a bunch of rods
and field test them for a few years before I put them into service in the
plant. This will forever quell the" "What do you need ANOTHER fishing rod
for?" Which sounds just like: "What do you need ANOTHER gun for?"

Perfect $10 spring
 

Do you remember the old vacuum column tape transports of computers gone
by?
They worked by using sensors to keep a loop of tape free of tension
between the two spools.

Also the mechanical solution you have is pretty elegant-look into those
curved fiberglass strips they use to hold reflectors between the
highway that look like venetian blind slats and the fiberglass rods
they sell in home depot to mark driveways for the snowplows.