Since I’ve got a few dozen tape measures floating around, the idea of using one to manage cables is intriguing. I’ve seen plenty of pictures of people who have the setup, but I can’t really tell from the pictures I’ve seen how to attach the tape, if at all. When people do the printed cable chains, there are end mounts. Is there something similar if you want to use a tape?
I just used heat shrink at the ends and some e-tape here and there along the way to keep things tidy. What didn’t really like was the wire sleeving I was using - it was too big and baggy for the task. I’d like to know what size sleeving others have used and how snug/baggy it was/is.
I saw your pictures Ryan, but I couldn’t tell where the tape started and stopped, and how the one for the Z axis was mounted. Looks like you have the X,Y one just tied vertically, and let the tape flop around from there?
Here is what I did at the Z stepper motor - made a little porch for it, zip tie to the Z pipe. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3395777
I ran the tape measure all the way to the stepper down along the side and tacked it to the corner with a homemade strap. So it supports wiring for two axes (or is it axises?).
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Ok. Then the pictures on the original hack a day thing that Ryan shared a while back, had cable braid around the wires, then that braid and the tape inserted into another braid. Is that recommended?
Opinions will probably vary, but I don’t think it matters for the way I did mine. I have no movement where the wires come in contact with the tape. So maybe if wires were sliding against the tape (edges) a bit then braid in braid may save some abrasion.
I drilled two holes and used zip ties.