Ender 3 Max Rear Y Axis Cable Chain Mount

thingiverse

Here is another Ender 3 Max part for those who own an Ender 3 Max and struggle to find anything for it! This is a Y Axis chain mount for the Johnniewhiskey cable chain. As Ender 3 Max owners know that there is a rear cross member that makes mounting the cable chain for the Y Axis using the stock mount provided not possible. What was needed was a ready-made mount and I found none that worked for me. I took a 40mm blank frame cover from Bryan Vines Ender 3 Max drawer (https://thangs.com/BV3D/BV3D-Ender3-Max-Drawer-Unit-32280) and modified the JW Cable Chain Y Axis mount to attach to the 40mm blank cover to align with the bed. The 40mm blank had two holes for screw mounting the whole fixture and the location is perfect to align the chain mount in-line with the travel needed to the Ender 3 Max bed chain mount. I used TinkerCad for this and took about 20 minutes. On my E3 Max it aligns up perfectly. Note I do not use the chain link covers as I could not get them to stay put reliably. Instead, I alternated the V3 links up/down and printed red PETG for top and black PETG for bottom. I believe this helps make the chain more practical to use and was a design influencer in my mount (re)-design for the Y Axis chain mount. Materials: I do not recommend PLA for any enclosure 3D printer as a mere 120F degrees is enough to deform your cable chains - my chambers hover around 100F-120F and I had a comical chain failure with a PLA chain while printing ABS. ABS as a material can work but I found PETG works best for the cable chains as the surface seems to be naturally slick and moves great. ABS was too stiff and rigid and made the chain move outside of the normal travel of the chain. ABS also shrinks more than PETG so use one material or the other but not a mix of both. The Z Axis mount in the JW set moves nicely to accommodate the cables as the Z axis moves - the mount I made is fixed. I found with the Ender 3 Max that messing with the number of links for the Y Axis chain you will find the right number to give the chain enough free play to move and keep the cable in one plane as the bed moves back and forth.