Hi all,
I need a wider drag chain than what I could put on the top of the Y-axis. The 20mm drag chains are just too tight for the USB cable, the power supply cable and the rather thick power cable of my spindle. Do you have any recommendations on how to mount a 30mm wide drag chain to the side of the right Y axis of a standard SO3 without drilling holes into the Y axis extrusions?
Best regards,
Reiner
It should be possible to just clamp the drag chain bracket to the outside of the extrusion.
To the top and bottom outside 20-30mm? Wouldn’t that loosen over time from vibrations?
Yes. The outside frame of the machine doesn’t vibrate that much — add some adhesive or springs or something?
Not sure if this will be helpful but I 3D printed my own cable chain and mounts. For the Y-bracket mount I designed it to slip over the Y axis bracket and sit on the Y-axis extrusion. Then I used a cable tie to to tie it down. The details are here http://www.shapeoko.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=7883#p62287
Looks interesting! I have a 3D printer - I was just not sure if it is economic to print all the parts.
Probably not since drag chain is so cheap, but it’s more fun to make your own and you get to use custom attachment brackets.
I think I will go for some Igus drag chains - they offer the STEP files for all of their products, so I can create custom mounting brackets and 3D print just those.
Definitely agree. I printed mine mainly because I could but also because I needed open drag chains since my wiring was in place and I didn’t want to rewire to install them. I’m also in Canada which always makes selection, shipping and price an issue…