The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

The New Hotness

  • Thing-O-Matic: Cable Clampage

    The snarl of wires, cables, and filaments inside a Thing-O-Matic is a wonder to behold. A few cable clamps can tidy it up and reduce the chance that a loose wire will snag on a moving stage.

    It’s probably a Good Idea to keep the thermocouple cable out of the bundle with the stepper cable, but, other than that, a few clamps inside the body work fine:

    Cable clamp inside body
    Cable clamp inside body

    There’s another clamp inside the right-front corner that corrals the ABP cabling.

    Atop the body, a clamp keeps the Z axis cable and Extruder motor wires under control. This was before I added Powerpoles and the Safety Lamp into the DC motor cable.

    Cable clamp atop body
    Cable clamp atop body

    A little clamp immobilizes the thermocouple cable near the Thermal Core. The fat red wire across the top is the Thermal Core static drain and ground connection.

    Thermocouple cable clamp
    Thermocouple cable clamp

    These clamps have an adhesive backing, which means you don’t have to drill holes and lose screws under the bench, and it’s not the end of the world should you stick one in the wrong spot.