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Improved Chain Mail Link

The rectangular posts in my chain mail resemble Zomboe’s original design, but with dimensions computed directly from the bar (and, thus, thread) widths and thicknesses to ensure good fill and simple bridging:

Chain Mail Link
Chain Mail Link

They fit together well, but the angled post edges make the bridge threads longer than absolutely necessary along the outside edge of each link:

Chain Mail Sheet - detail
Chain Mail Sheet – detail

A bit of fiddling produces a squared-off version:

Chain Mail Link - Improved Posts
Chain Mail Link – Improved Posts

Which nest together like this:

Chain Mail - Improved Posts - Bottom View
Chain Mail – Improved Posts – Bottom View

Now all the bridge threads have the same length, which should produce better results.

The OpenSCAD source code for the link:

module BaseLink() {

	render(convexity=2)
		difference() {
			translate([0,0,BaseHeight/2]) {
				difference(convexity=2) {
					intersection() {		// outside shape
						cube([BaseSide,BaseSide,BaseHeight],center=true);
						rotate(45)
							cube([BaseOutDiagonal,BaseOutDiagonal,BaseHeight],center=true);
					}
					intersection() {		// inside shape
						cube([(BaseSide - 2*BarWidth),
							  (BaseSide - 2*BarWidth),
							  (BaseHeight + 2*Protrusion)],
							 center=true);
						rotate(45)
							cube([BaseInDiagonal,
								  BaseInDiagonal,
								  (BaseHeight +2*Protrusion)],
								 center=true);
					}
				}
			}

			translate([0,0,(BaseHeight/2 + BarThick)])
				cube([(BaseSide - 2*BarWidth - 2*BarWidth/sqrt(2)),
					  (2*BaseSide),
					  BaseHeight],
					 center=true);
			translate([0,0,(BaseHeight - BaseHeight/2 - BarThick)])
				cube([(2*BaseSide),
					  (BaseSide - 2*BarWidth - 2*BarWidth/sqrt(2)),
					  BaseHeight],
					 center=true);
		}
}

Comments

One response to “Improved Chain Mail Link”

  1. MakerGear M2: PETG Chain Mail | The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning Avatar

    […] the initial slicing parameter setup, I ran off several chain mail patches for fine tuning; they test platform adhesion, first layer thickness, bridging, and general […]