paramchain: re-parametric OpenSCAD library from Open Cable Chain

thingiverse

I decided to add cable chains to better control the cables' position in my 3Drag. I started looking on Thingiverse for a good cable chain design that met my needs. My requirements were: one, open designs since my 3Drag was fully built; two, large or parametric designs because 3Drag uses flat cables; and three, minimal work required after printing. I found some interesting designs online, including one at http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:868040, but it resulted in spider webbing during the printing process, requiring a lengthy cleaning time for each element. I needed another solution that met my third requirement: minimal post-printing work. The winning design was the 'Open Cable Chain' (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:611593), which required very little work after printing. However, this design was not large enough to accommodate my 3Drag's flat cables, so I created a parametric library starting from some .stl files by Claghorn. The 'paramchain' library builds open cable chain elements and chain ends with parametric size options in three different rotations: A type rotates 0°/45°, standard; B type rotates -45°/0°, reverse of A; and C type rotates -45°/45°, autoreverse. The open chain can be closed using bits of 3mm filament or alternating normal and reverse elements. To assist users, the type and size of each element are printed inside the element.