I want to add an air assist to my K40 but I’m having troubles finding a cable drag chain that’s not too big…
I have some cable chains here but when folded they measure about 100m and that’s too big. I only have about 60mm or I lose working area in my K40.
Anyone here using an air assist in combination with a cable chain?
Do you happen to have a link to the cable chain you’re using?
Thanks
This is what’s in my machine: http://r.ebay.com/6XjG1P
You can see how I have it on my gantry in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TuKdvnA5lE
Use a coiled tube instead of a cable drag it works great and super easy to install
With the cable drag chain I bought you could just pry the segments off with a screw driver and make it shorter or maybe I misunderstood you
@Phillip_Meyer You misunderstood (I did at first). He’s measuring the width of the chain, or more specifically the tightest radius it will fold into.
@Ashley_M_Kirchner_No Are you the one with the chain running across the top of the gantry? I kind of liked the look of that, rather than my (the usual) setup.
@TwelveFoot , I’m one of a few that has it that way, yes. There’s one running ontop, and one running along the right side (on the cabinet floor).
I printed one of mine and it has a much tighter radius than the bought one. You can see both in the photo, the one on the gantry being the printed one.
Dunno @Domm434 , the 7x7 I’m using has a very tight radius. It looks even tighter than what you have printed there but it could just be the angle too. Being that mine is mounted on the top of the gantry, I needed to make sure the head can travel all the way to the front without the drag chain hitting the cover. It doesn’t, there’s still room if I wanted something with a less tight radius (which I don’t need.) Look at the video I posted in my first comment, somewhere around 1:30 you can see it in action.
yea that’s about at tight as mine but not all are, and 3d printing them was waay cheaper to me 
still like your orientation better than mine.
It’s $3 (free shipping) for 1 meter of the chain. While I have a 3D printer, there are other things I do with it. Spending the time to print that just wasn’t worth it for me.
Wow… that is small Ashley, Mine is 10mm x 15mm a little big but works find. I live within 25 minutes of Lightobject andas I recall they may have one in between. Next time I go up there Ill have to check them out. Something in between would be nice to find. Also mine is like Phillip’s you can take off or add segments with a flat screwdriver.
Yep, the tube isn’t very big at an OD of 5mm. There’s plenty of room still left in the chain to add wires for the laser pointers I plan on adding later. I just bought 1 meter of it, split in half and run one above the gantry and the other half along the side.
@Domm434 I tried priting a cable chain on my ultimaker 3 but i can’t get them to move smoothly. It’s a very very tight fit. I had to use a lot of force to get them connected together and it’s not moving smoothly… can you tell me where you got the STL’s from?
here’s the link for the one I used. Moves fairly smoothly, just make sure to clean out the dimples and any burrs on the internal surfaces.
@Andy_Knuts I’ve 3d printed cable chain before. It starts stuff, but once it’s run in it should be fine. I had to pull mine apart to clean the links. In the end, I just buy it now. For a few dollars, the time and effort savings where worth it.
Exactly why I also just buy it. $3 plus a few days is worth it versus
holding up the printer to print those.
I used this one from amazon. Fit just fine.
Alfahobbies, That is the same one I have. I think I got it off E-Bay.
