Reply with QuoteThat looks awesome, great job. That is exactly what I am looking for.
Crash5050
Finished carrier
Here is one I did last fall. I used drawings from this thread and modified them to use a 3/16" end mill for everything. I don't remember whose drawing I ended up using. I thought I would glue the bottoms on and use the dovetails on the top so they would be removable. Discovered that 1/8" PVC doesn't really flex enough for that to work. Although the dovetails did help hold everything together during glue up, they really are not necessary. I ended up gluing the tops and bottoms. I just made it big enough to fish all the cables through from end to end. Works like a charm.
Mike
If you can't overbuild it, what's the point?
DIY Cable Carrier
That looks awesome, great job. That is exactly what I am looking for.
Crash5050
Here is my chain installed
Thanks,
Joe
www.joescnc.com
joecnc2006 at yahoo
Got the other chain cut and built, here is a quick video of the Gantry chain working.
"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwEkrQo6740"]YouTube- Joe's CNC 4x4 Hybrid R&P Breakin
Thanks,
Joe
www.joescnc.com
joecnc2006 at yahoo
DIY cable carrier
I thought I had posted my carrier in this thread but I don't see it anywhere...
You can find the solid files and the 2D DXF file I used to generate my tool path here
The test piece worked perfectly although I would recommend using a material other than MDF unless you soak them in epoxy. Holes in the spanners allow for visual access to the cables and reduced weight. I glued the sections together and was able to 'snap' together the chain.
I hope you post the results!!
I've devised a sheet metal cable carrier. Each link is a single piece, and is joined to the next via rivets. To keep the rivets from drawing too tight, I'll be using slightly over-length ones, or, if that fails, some sort of thin, low-friction material between the sections.
I've made a prototype from 26 ga galvanized steel, as soon as it's run through the press brake I'll put it together and post pictures/a report!
Success!
I've figured out how to get the metal links to pivot freely when riveted.
I used a small washer between each piece as a spacer, and when riveting, I stuck a slotted shim into the stack. The rivet always pulled very tight, and wouldn't allow the pieces to pivot freely, but as soon as the shim was removed, the links would pivot.
I'll be posting pics of the chain tonight hopefully. In the meantime, here are two CAD images to get the point across...
Picture of the assembled chain...
where on earth do you find flat sheets of pvc to cut these out?
Check with you local plastic supplier, thats where i got mone and have made 5 chains already.Originally Posted by Arbo
Thanks,
Joe
www.joescnc.com
joecnc2006 at yahoo
Yeah, small town we have no such thing... even the big town an hour down the road is iffy as I know the last such place went out of business a while ago.
Gonna try some sign shops and see if I can come up with anything local before having to pay more shipping than what the material is worth.
Thanks
eBay?
Had not thought of that. Just checked, no .25 sheets there. But found an actual plastics place up the road, so will swing by there tomorrow. Looks like they might be quite handy.
There are lots of ABS@ .25 in various sizes. I should be able to use ABS instead of PVC corect?
Uh, I don't know. Not familiar with the different types of plastics. Was just going with PVC as it seemed to be what others used successfully with this project.
I hope I'm allowed to post eBay links...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT
Got a piece in the big town up the road. What rpm and ipm do you guys cut PVC at so it cuts well?
I love the various ideas and design aspects of DIY cable chain carrier...My router speed is 25000RPM and unfortunately i can't cut E-chain.. However seeing others people work is really interesting and motivating..
Keep up the good work guys and keep posting the pictures and the progress...
http://free3dscans.blogspot.com/ http://my-woodcarving.blogspot.com/
http://my-diysolarwind.blogspot.com/
My PVC attempts were a disaster. So much went wrong it would have been funny, if it wasn't.
Either way I realized made stuff wasn't all that expensive for used and smaller lengths. So I placed a few bids on ebay and actually won a IGUS 15.3.48, Zipp chain cable carrier 67"Lx1.50"x.65" for 99 cents. Sweet.
My PVC attempts were a disaster. So much went wrong it would have been funny, if it wasn't.
Either way I realized made stuff wasn't all that expensive for used and smaller lengths. So I placed a few bids on ebay and actually won a IGUS 15.3.48, Zipp chain cable carrier 67"Lx1.50"x.65" for 99 cents. Sweet.
