Drag Chains

Good day all.

Upto now I have just been hanging the cables above my unit, This has been working fine, but is not tidy and does not look nice.

I am now thinking about getting a drag chain for my z-axis.

Michael (m.marino) sent me a link to igus E-Chains, And thats like being a kid in a sweet shop, I have no idea what one (type) to get.

I want to keep the drag chain as small as possible, but still have room to feed all the cables & tubes I need.

I need to get the follow cables & tubes down the drag chain.

Spindle Power Cord.
Spindle RPM Sensor Cord.
Spindle Coolent Feed & Return tubes.
Air Supply tube.

My Z-Axis has 200mm of travel.

What would you advice?

Thanks for your time.

Best Regards.

The chains are sized by internal width and height and then bending radius. What you could do is bundle together the cables and hoses that you need to run to the z axis. Try laying them in a 2 layer formation, ie the two coolant tubes and the air tube on the bottom then the two power cables on top then measure the width and height then add at least 50% for "design modifications". Then just pick from the Igus charts. Igus does make good chain. We use it alot at work.

Good chains. If they are to expensive try these. There the one I used on my m/c.

18mm x 37mm Flexible Drag Chain Wire Carrier Black 1M Length | eBay

Bruce

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mad Professor

Good day all.

Upto now I have just been hanging the cables above my unit, This has been working fine, but is not tidy and does not look nice.

I am now thinking about getting a drag chain for my z-axis.

Michael (m.marino) sent me a link to igus E-Chains, And thats like being a kid in a sweet shop, I have no idea what one (type) to get.

I want to keep the drag chain as small as possible, but still have room to feed all the cables & tubes I need.

I need to get the follow cables & tubes down the drag chain.

Spindle Power Cord.
Spindle RPM Sensor Cord.
Spindle Coolent Feed & Return tubes.
Air Supply tube.

My Z-Axis has 200mm of travel.

What would you advice?

Thanks for your time.

Best Regards.

---

Hi,

What size did you get in the end? I am trying to build cable chain into my design and want to get the size right! I am looking to run all that you mentioned and the cables from the Y axis stepper along the back of the Y gantry...

ebay drag chain seems pretty reasonable in price - is the quality lacking??