Ender 3 Direct Drive Compatible X Gantry Cable Chain Mounts

thingiverse

First, I'd like to say how awesome both JohnnyWhiskey and CouterMash's designs are. If I hadn't done the direct drive extruder mod to my Ender3, their designs would have been amazing solutions. Obviously, none of us would be making these remixes without JohnnyWhiskey's original design. These parts are only intended to work properly if you have installed the Direct Drive Upgrade Kit sold by Basaraba Innovations on Ebay. I could not find the kit for the Ender 3 on ebay anymore, but it might be this one on Amazon. It looks the same anyway... The other mod that may be of consequence is that I am using the Hero Me Gen3 by MediaMan and the subsequent remix of the main duct itself (due to the Direct Drive kit changes) by TeachingTech who also reviewed the direct drive kit on his Youtube channel. I am really happy with all of these mods mentioned and recommend them for anyone with interest. These designers are amazing, and I cannot thank them all enough. Finally, if printing in an enclosure with PETG or ABS, please use the appropriate material. The extruder carriage mounted chain bracket WILL warp (and the extruder bolts will loosen up because PLA will squish) in an enclosure if printing at higher temps. As for the parts, they are a pretty straightforward print, they should work with JohnnyWhiskey's original chain, but I wanted more Fusion360 practice so I made some small tweaks to the chain links. I still recommend his links, since it is a lighter design, but if you can't get them to stop breaking, try these (or fix your printer settings, which apparently I was too lazy to do). I needed 18 links when its all said and done. Both brackets will need full supports, the cable channel facing to the side (longer side down), and it will need full supports. This part has two holes for bolts not supplied in the kit or stock (listed below) and two cutouts at the bottom to rest on the two carriage wheels. Believe it or not, these cutouts caused the most trouble, which was solved by adjusting my "horizontal expansion" setting in Cura. This is just the bottom part of the extruder carriage bracket (below the slight setback under the chain shelf), if you want to check your slicer settings against the spacing of the wheel sleeves and the two mounting bolts. It is much less PLA than the main bracket and prints in under an hour. I have modeled and added a copy of the Spacer that goes between the extruder stepper and the aluminum plate that holds the wheels and belts. This part began warping for me while printing ABS in an enclosure, and I didn't like it (The original was PLA for me). (2) M3 x 50mm Socket Head Cap Screws (supplied in Direct Drive kit) (2) M3 x 30mm Socket Head Cap Screws (user supplied) (1) Small Ziptie (optional) (1) Courage... liquid variety (this is a suggested starting point, add more as necessary)