Do want to increase the build quality of your Kit 3D printer?
Then stick around to see what you can 3D Burn!
I recently purchased a Kit 3D Printer from China, and I put it all together and it’s
not bad.
One of the issues that I’m having though is that the cables keep getting in the way
and I’m afraid that they’re going to pull and actually rip out.
So I did a little bit of research and there’s something that I can 3D print to actually
make this work a bit better.
It’s called a cable chain, or a cable carrier.
Now cable chains have been out since the 1950s so it’s nothing new, but for the 3D printing
scene it really helps.
So what the cable chain is, it’s a group of links that all link together and once it’s
all together it bends with the motion – in this case the X-Carriage.
So I did a little bit of research and I went onto Thingiverse and they didn’t have exactly
the one that I wanted.
I wanted mine to be about 2 cm on the inside diameter.
So what I did is I pulled it into a program called Autodesk 123D Design and I made some
modifications.
And I’m going to show you how you can do that too.
So I downloaded the file off Thingiverse and you can find the link down in the description,
or if you go up into the little eye in the top right hand corner.
So this was the original file.
And as you can see there, it looks really nice.
It’s really nicely well-made and they’ve even left in the original 2D sketch in case
you wanted to modify that further.
So the next step is to change the view to a top view.
OK and what we’re going to do is we’re going to create a polyline which will start
there and finish there.
I’ll just press Enter…
I’ll just hit Exit mode…
there we go.
Ok the next step we’re going to do is we’re going to split the solids, so we’ll go up
to here, under the Modify, and go Split Solid.
So the body we want to split is that one there and then the splitting entity is the line.
Then press Enter.
Now we can safely pull that apart.
So what I wanted to do now is I wanted to move that 20mm.
So zooming in, I can see there, if I rotate around, that split line is definitely in there.
First things first, just so I can see a little bit better, get rid of that, and I’ll also
hide the sketches.
That’s better!
What I need to do is I need to use the measuring tool, measure from that point there to that
point there, and that distance is 10mm.
So, in knowing that, now what I want to do is select the whole object, and I want to
move that by a further 10mm, and press Enter to confirm.
Now we have 20mm there.
But I’ve got to extend these points across so that way they’re touching.
What I’ve done is I’ve selected the top one, I select the bottom face as well….
And we’re going to use Press Pull, pull that across by 10.5 just to be sure, press
Enter.
And now we have a 20mm diameter gap in there that will fit the cables with the plugs on
the end.
Great!
So now I can just simply go to Save a Copy, to my computer, and that will save it as an
STL file, which will print in just a second.
The footage that you’re now seeing has been sped up so that way you don’t have to sit
through it and get really bored.
So this particular 3D print was printed using ABS plastic.
What you’re seeing is the ABS plastic being heated and melted onto the build plate and
it was printed using the Simplified 3D program.
Simplified 3D isn’t a free program but I’ve got to say, it is worth every penny that I
spent on it.
And they’ve just recently upgraded to Version 3 and the improvements are amazing.
So if you do have a 3D printer and you don’t mind spending a little bit of money on some
quality software, then check out Simplified 3D.
And, here’s the final product.
So you can see that the cable chain does work.
The only issue that I had is that prior to finishing this, my hot end actually broke.
So, I’ve upgraded to the E 3D Version 6 and I’m in the process of creating a new
mount for that.
So that will be in an upcoming video but for now, I don’t actually require this at this
moment.
So, it looks great, but I can’t really use it right now.
I’ll have to put that one in the pile…
Well, that’s it for another episode of 3D Burn.
I really hope you liked it.
If you did give me a big thumbs-up and maybe even leave a comment down below.
If you do enjoy the content that I’m providing, please make sure you subscribe to my channel
because it really helps me a lot.
And as always, Imagine Learn Create
Bye!