DIY Cable Carrier

[WoodWorkerB]

I made a very simple yet quite effective carrier. I can provide drawings if anyone is interested.

[brtech]

Looks pretty interesting. Are the side pieces just edge glued to the canvas?

In most of the pics, it looks like the sides of the flat base are straight cut. In one of them, it looks like it's chamfered at the same angle as the side pieces. What are they like?

Does the chain have any tendency to bend at an angle perpendicular to it's axis of motion? The canvas would twist, but maybe the fact that the bottom pieces practically butt together prevents any twist.

[WoodWorkerB]

I have documented the build in more detail. The tray consists of three main components:

1. The actual "angled" cable tray
2. The canvas "hinge"
3. A square (not angled) bottom piece that prevents bending-backwards

The way the canvas is 'sandwiched' between the two pieces of wood, no twisting can occur. It is surprisingly sturdy. Of course, this design is not for a system that slings cutting fluids all over the place!

[tracyranson]

Originally Posted by Big S Here is the new acrylic chain. It works really great, nothing is glued together but it takes a bit of tuning to get the offsets for the tight fit right. The red top plates are clear red acrylic as an experiment to see how it looked. how do I go about uploading the dxf? http://www.cnczone.com/gallery/data/...m/DSC02735.JPG Shannon.

I know these chains can be rather spendy so let me ask you this, did you save any money taking the time to machine your own chain?

[Big S]

If you have your own machine then its doesn't cost anything apart from time...

[tracyranson]

Originally Posted by Big S If you have your own machine then its doesn't cost anything apart from time...

That's AWESOME, I have three machines so where do I get the free HDPE so that I can make some of these chains

[Big S]

hmmm there are ways about that... I made mine out of acrylic offcuts so they didnt cost me anything....

[ger21]

Originally Posted by Big S If you have your own machine then its doesn't cost anything apart from time...

Usually, I don't concern myself how much time I spend building machines. But I had to draw the line here, and am going to purchase my chain. Even though the cost may end up being 5-10% of the total machine cost, I think the Igus chains are a much better choice for me, as they are stronger than a homebuilt chain, and will outlast the machine.

[tracyranson]

Originally Posted by tracyranson That's AWESOME, I have three machines so where do I get the free HDPE so that I can make some of these chains

I will look for some materials to recycle, good Idea. thanks for sharing

[flakey]

Originally Posted by dpgoldberg Here's my version of the cable chain. Based on the drawings provided by others on this thread (thank you!), I modified the design so that both limit stops for the flex are part of the sides, rather than a combination of the sides and the bottom plate. I also changed it so that the tabs were on the top and bottom plates and the notches in the sides. Made it a little easier to assemble. I used ABS which could be glued together with a solvent cement. ABS is also a little bit more flexible than PVC which allowed the individual links to be assembled first, then snapped together after the cement had set. I cost about $80 in materials (ABS ain't cheap!) and took a couple of days to make something I could have bought from McMAster Carr for $110. But I guess that's not the point is it? It's kinda cool to be able to point it out on the machine and say "I made that!". Attached is the dxf file, designed for a 1/8" cutter.

hi there I would like to try cutting this but i do not know the pocket depths could ypu please post them.Thanks for the file.

[joecnc2006]

The pocket depth should be 1/2 the thickness of the material used, be sure to mic the thickness as materials vary in thickness.

[interzis]

Hello,

I have a little modifications of the base project of these types of cable carriers.
I've tried to obtain a simple design which don't need to glue parts.

I propose a little bit different design here:



The cable carrier was just "released"
I'll publish more detailed information ASAP.

I'll try to answer your questions here but full and faster support will be available on the project's website

CNC Cable Carrier - HTM Modified Design - DIY - YouTube

CNC Cable Carrier - HTM Modified Design - DIY - YouTube