DIY Cable Carrier

[twistedfuse]

Shannon,

Great job. Stumbled across this thread the other day as i have been looking for something like this for my own chains along with a mini cyclone(Damn MDF dust clogs the filters) for my next couple of projects for my mahcine.

This is another one of these great posts that everyone will refere to and it will help every hobbyist make a professional looking machine cheaply and easily. Again its another step towards a completely homemade machine. Great work.

Looking forward to cutting my own chains for my machine soon. You've just saved me alot of money.

Thanks again.
Daniel

P.S Now if only someone can't make their own cheap CO2 laser. lol

[joecnc2006]

I'm trying to see what keeps them locked together?

Joe

[Big S]

Hi Joe,

The outsides face each other so one link is comprised of two 'pin' side pieces facing inwards, the next link is comprised of two 'hole' side pieces facing outwards. When the top and bottom plates are attached they then hold the whole lot together.

I can put up some pics to make it clearer if you like?


Shannon.

[Big S]

Here's some pics to make it clearer.

Enjoy....

[joecnc2006]

i see how you have it, i was just curious what keeps the sides from sliding outwards other than a tight fit of the top and bottom pieces, but i tight fit should work fine.

Joe

[Big S]

Friction fit.

I am thinking with the acrylic they can be glued (carefully) with some sort of solvent, the chain in my previous photos is a really tight fit and shouldn't come apart under normal use. Saying that, I may still end up gluing it all together.

Shannon.

[flyboy1015]

Thanks for sharing. Just found the thread after seeing the pics in the gallery a few days ago. Great job. I've been thinking about this for a while. Kudos on your work.

[Big S]

No problemo I now need to finish a machine so I can use some of it

Everyone don't forget to put some pics up when/if you have made some.


Shannon.

[Khalid]

good job
if some body still copying then pls post some more pics

[drafterman]

I have been using some bonded hydraulic hose for a cable carrier. It is basically four 3/16" dia. hoses bonded together side by side. The hose is very flexible so it has a good bend radius, but it doesn't "walk" around as it rolls. I can pass my motor wires through one wire, limit switch wires through another, and 110V through yet another. I have about 10 months of use without any failure. You can find this in various diameters and numbers of "circuits". I crimped regular hydraulic fittings on the ends of the hoses and then used bulkhead fittings to attach them to my machine.

drafterman

[mindstorm88]

See my carrier from this design in my thread :http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61076

[DougO]

Big S, thanks for sharing your ideas. This looks like the way to go.

Does anyone have the file in Vcarve format? I loaded the posted dxf file into Vcarve but the parts were huge and I don't know how or what dimensions to make them. After I loaded the file into Vcarve, the individual parts might fit on a 4x8 sheet of plywood.

thanks,
Doug

[Big S]

Hi Doug,

The files are in metric, so if you set that when you load the file it may help. I could convert it to vcarve if that doesn't help any though. Great software that Vcarve pro.

Shannon.

[mindstorm88]

Doug , the parts in the dxf are in mm (millimeter) you have to scale them if your using inches !!!!

[Big S]

OR you could make HUGE cable chain

Shannon.

[gadman58]

I would like to thank Shannon for posting the original dxf.

I model this up because I want to make it different sizes, for different locations.

This particular one is Shannon's dxf scaled for inch with one or two changes for the way I am going to cut it. I put on some dimensions just because I was apparently bored.

I have not cut these yet, I am looking for some plastic that I can afford.

Thanks
Glenn

[DougO]

Would somebody give me the dimensions of the CNC that I would need to go with my cable chain Just kidding..

I think you guys have given me enough information to get these cut. I should be able to let you know tomorrow night. Don't know if I have a bit small enough to make the radii (I guess that is the plural of radius).

thanks guys,
Doug

[epineh]

Would somebody give me the dimensions of the CNC that I would need to go with my cable chain Just kidding..

At a rough guess... about 25.4 times larger than you were thinking of

Russell.

[Bertram]

A big THANK YOU to Shannon for posting the original files.

It had to happen.... I have been very lax with my cable management. In my own carefree way, I had been "making do" with hanging the wiring and power cable to the X axis from a hook, dangling from the open garage door. Well, last week I accidentally closed the garage door while everything was still attached, Unfortunately the garage door is a LOT closer to the X axis when open than it is when closed
I had been shopping online, along with everyone else I guess, for some cable carrier when I decided to make my own. I followed the lead of Shannon. A few dimension changes and a couple sheets of PVC later and my cables were neatly packed away.

[Big S]

That looks great, the CNC almost looks like a commercial one, I think the purple and grey go together well too. Glad to see someone making the most of the files.

Did you manage to get the parts to fit together tightly or did you just glue them together (or both)?

Shannon.