Those ugly square cable clips cried out for a cylindrical version:
Which prompted a nice button:
Which suggested the square version needed some softening:
Apart from the base plate thickness, all the dimensions scale from the cable OD; I’ll be unsurprised to discover small cables don’t produce enough base area for good long-term foam tape adhesion. Maybe the base must have a minimum size or area?
I won’t replace the ones already on the saw, but these will look better on the next project…
The OpenSCAD source code as a GitHub Gist:
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| // Cable Clips | |
| // Ed Nisley – KE4ZNU – October 2014 | |
| // February 2017 – adapted for USB cables | |
| Layout = "Show"; // Show Build | |
| Style = "Button"; // Square Round Button | |
| //- Extrusion parameters must match reality! | |
| ThreadThick = 0.25; | |
| ThreadWidth = 0.40; | |
| HoleWindage = 0.2; // extra clearance | |
| Protrusion = 0.1; // make holes end cleanly | |
| function IntegerMultiple(Size,Unit) = Unit * ceil(Size / Unit); | |
| //———————- | |
| // Dimensions | |
| CableOD = 3.8; // cable jacket | |
| Base = [4*CableOD,4*CableOD,3*ThreadThick]; // overall base and slab thickness | |
| CornerRadius = CableOD/2; // radius of square corners | |
| CornerSides = 4*4; // total sides on square corner cylinders | |
| NumSides = 6*3; // total sides for cylindrical base | |
| //– Oval clip with central passage | |
| module CableClip() { | |
| intersection() { | |
| if (Style == "Square") | |
| hull() | |
| for (i=[-1,1], j=[-1,1]) | |
| translate([i*(Base[0]/2 – CornerRadius),j*(Base[1]/2 – CornerRadius),0]) | |
| rotate(180/CornerSides) { | |
| cylinder(r=CornerRadius,h=Base[2] + CableOD/2,$fn=CornerSides,center=false); | |
| translate([0,0,Base[2] + CableOD/2]) | |
| sphere(d=CableOD,$fn=CornerSides); | |
| } | |
| else if (Style == "Round") | |
| cylinder(d=Base[0],h=Base[2] + 1.00*CableOD,$fn=NumSides); | |
| else if (Style == "Button") | |
| resize(Base + [0,0,2*(Base[2] + CableOD)]) | |
| sphere(d=Base[0],$fn=NumSides); | |
| union() { | |
| translate([0,0,Base[2]/2]) // base defines slab thickness | |
| cube(Base,center=true); | |
| for (j=[-1,1]) // retaining ovals | |
| translate([0,j*(Base[1]/2 – 0.125*(Base[1] – CableOD)/2),(Base[2] – Protrusion)]) | |
| resize([Base[0]/0.75,0,0]) | |
| cylinder(d1=0.75*(Base[1]-CableOD), | |
| d2=(Base[1]-CableOD)/cos(0*180/NumSides), | |
| h=(CableOD + Protrusion), | |
| center=false,$fn=NumSides); | |
| } | |
| } | |
| if (Layout == "Show") | |
| color("Green",0.2) | |
| translate([0,0,Base[2] + CableOD/2]) | |
| rotate([0,90,0]) | |
| cylinder(d=CableOD,h=2*Base[0],center=true,$fn=48); | |
| } | |
| //———————- | |
| // Build it | |
| CableClip(); | |
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 