Wire guide and cover for V-slot/T-Slot rails (CNC mills and 3D printers)

thingiverse

Our robots have a lot of exposed wires. While I was building my CNC mill with V-slot rails, I kept pushing the wires into the rails to get them out of the way and wishing that they would stay there. Looking around online, it seems as though most people revert to cable ties, but those things are awful! Here's my solution. These little plates cover the open slot and hook into the rail to stay in place and keep your wires tidy and secure. They snap in and out easily. No more plastic bands cutting into my wires, and no more accidental wire splices when I need to move things around! This is working better for me than cable ties or velcro, and the pieces are easier to work with. I made this for a CNC mill, but V-slot rails are common in Open Build machines, so this should be a good piece for a lot of applications, particularly those involving CNC machines (mills, routers, 3D printers, etc.). I started with a 30mm (wide) cap, with the intention of placing them every few inches to keep the wires secure. Then it occurred to me how easy it would be to make the code produce these at various lengths, and I decided to completely cover all of the openings on rails that have wire runs. I included STL files for the lengths I needed for my build (18, 25, 35, 120 and 160 mm). If you need different sizes, you can use the Thingiverse Customizer, or open the included SCAD file in OpenSCAD and modify the capWidth parameter. This is for a 20mm V-slot rail. It should be interchangeable with a 20mm T-slot rail, but I don't have one of those for testing the fit. 20mm seems to be the common size for Open Builds. Adjustments can be made in the Customizer or in the included OpenSCAD file. Now that I've got this going, the CNC mill is self-contained, and my only exposed wires are power, the USB cable that connects the Raspberry Pi (used as a dedicated gcode sender), and the short runs into and out of the harnesses. Nice! Other pieces that are photographed: - Box to contain the GRBL controller: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2781593 - Cable chain: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2775316 - Raspberry Pi case: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:922740 Now my robots are making things for each other. Crap.