The New Hotness

Those ugly square cable clips cried out for a cylindrical version:

LED Cable Clips - round - solid model — LED Cable Clips – round – solid model

Which prompted a nice button:

LED Cable Clips - button - solid model — LED Cable Clips – button – solid model

Which suggested the square version needed some softening:

LED Cable Clips - square - solid model — LED Cable Clips – square – solid model

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:

	// 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 = [4CableOD,4CableOD,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();

view raw Cable Clips.scad hosted with ❤ by GitHub

The New Hotness

Improved Cable Clips