Sleeved cable exit by Nordln

Last crawled date: 3 years, 3 months ago

The Part
This part is modelled from the 'cable exit' part present on all the data mode interface products available over at https://radioarena.eu. These units are typically used for interfacing amateur radios with PCs for digital modes but sadly the cable exits are glued on to the stock cables as a rule. As the interface's mainboard is the same across their range, this printable cable exit will allow you to properly rewire them with replacement interface cables to suit a different radio.
Possible Customisations
By default, the printed part itself is rather small (approx 16mm x 10mm x7mm) but when resized to suit, this model may serve as a general cable exit across a range of uses. I have made the foot, stork, surround and cut-outs fully customizer-enabled. The original SCAD file is included for those who wish to tinker further. For OpenSCAD users, I have also included a debug mode that shows the primitive and intermediate geometry. This helps to explain the model's construction and opens components up for further customisation.
Printing
Being intended for cable stain relief, it's best printed in flexible PLA. It prints fine on an Ender3 printer on high quality fitted with Joshvv's flexible filament extruder upgrade (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2144277) using budget-brand flexible PLA. I am informed that using TPU also produces good results without an updated extruder. At the default size, printing it in flexible PLA may require fewer or no cut-outs (as shown in photo 2) depending on filament quality.
It prints well as just a cable exit on a stock Ender3 using standard PLA at high quality also although it will be lacking in stain relief of course.
Printing with a raft is recommended if your bed adhesion is a little off.