DIY Cable Carrier

[Vogavt]

Lexan? Wow! That would be more than I'd want to spend but I suppose the durability would ultimately offset the cost. I may have to think a bit harder on that.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

[Woodjunkie4evr]

Hey vogavt.
Had same prob till figured out u just have to draw a rectangle with
No depth. Move the drawing over it and conect it to the face. Then
The phatboys works.
also if the outside doesn't work. Zoom in and check that all lines intersect. Did notice to that some of the small inside cut have to be
played with to get it to recognize the cut.

[Vogavt]

@Woodjunkie4evr

I think you were responding to ttruex66.


Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

[Bashere]

Great design! I made a cable carrier years ago, never liked it all that much. Going to make these out of 1/8 lexan. Thanks!

Not sure on the durability. Cutting lexan introduces stresses in the plastic that may show up as cracks an any sharp corner. I had that problem before. But I may be wrong.

Kindly post some pics if you do. I'd like to see how it works out.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

[Woodjunkie4evr]

Vogavt.
Soory I thought I saw a post from you saying you were able to import dxf but
Not able to use inside outside cut tools phlatboys plugin for sketchup.

[Rhino3Master]

I made an alternative version of this energy chain, but optimized for laser cut plastic with 3 mm thickness. That also requires a slightly different way of attaching the parts together, but in general the principle is same. Attached below is the 3d file in millimeters, saved as IGES (compatible with Rhinoceros and SolidWorks, and most CAD programs). With this design, the external radius of bending for the energy chain is about 67.5 mm, so when fully bent in a 180-degree U-shape, the energy chain will be 135 mm tall.

However, there is one important weakness of this type of assembly. The locking piece (the vertical one) may cause unwanted friction and even damages to other members of the energy chain in situations where the chain is so long and heavy, that it will cause a collision between both halves (see the picture that explains the problem).

You will notice that I made the cable carrier wider and also added 6 separators, so that now it features a total of 8 separate holes for the cables (enough to allow you put any cable individually in its dedicated hole, and keep spindle motor and water pump cables or pipes far away from the stepper motor cables). This also should solve the problem with undesired twisting of the cables which happens quite often when using a regular energy chain/cable carrier.

[whang07]

thank you for sharing

[Third-Gen]

so awesome. gonna be my first cut project on the new machine!!

[deilyn]

Calidad, yo hice una en mdf pero mas grande en 4mm...!! gracias.

[wannaporn]

brilliant job

[hanspeter043]

Hi ! - I need help!!! I am looking for DIY Cable Carrier DXF or NC file!! Where can I download this file?? Many Thanks Peter

[LeeWay]

In Postnummer 8 dieses Themas.

[Jack21]

However, there is one important weakness of this type of assembly. The locking piece may cause unwanted friction and even damages to other members of the energy chain in situations where the chain is so long and heavy, that it will cause a collision between both halves.

[RCaffin]

Awful complex.
I just used some flexible electrical 'conduit', the sort with a soft body but a stiff spiral plastic reinforcing 'wire' embedded in the wall. Secured each end with saddle clamps. It moves exactly like the far more expensive carrier chain. But dead cheap.

Cheers
Roger

[meshman2000]

I hate to sound like a newb but........... where are the downloadable files ? I don't see them anywhere.



NVM... I found them.

[LamprosPat]

How do I open the dxf file please thanks a lot...

[jilt]

Added a vacuum line to it. Works pretty good.
Loren

[mthboards]

I was thinking there has got to be something else that works just as good that's already on the market, Thanks.

[rachid2fm22]

thank you

[rachid2fm22]

good work