gathering parts while waiting on my elite foreman ill be using a water cooled spindle what is the maximum size cable chain that will fit on the machine. i want to put my water lines inside the chain not on the brackets. also what is the total length of chain needed for the x and z
Hey Jeremy,
if you have a water-cooled non-ATC spindle, see here for drag chain width computation. Usually with 60 mm you are on the safe side, but 50 mm may be enough. Tom @TMToronto which uses an ATC spindle, that additionally needs compressed air for tool change and also for sealing air, plus air for the Minimum quantity workpiece lubrication (MQL), uses a 100 mm wide chain
I think you can fit a drag chain of any width, it’s more that you have to reserve the space needed around the machine (= make the table top big enough).
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The chain is a 20mm tall x30mm wide OD and fits very well on the bracket. If you get a bigger one you’ll either need to come up with a solution for the bracket, which has a lip the full length or risk losing the back due to the chains ability to bend…
On my other cnc i have 30x50mm chains and that fits my water and spindle line nice, but that’s all that’s in there.
Rowdy Roman has water line drag chain clipons and the spindle cable is said to fit inside the existing chain
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Some ppl have installed an additional drag chain running in the opposite direction for the cooling lines and spindle cable. Looks like a decent solution to keep everything tidy and separate.
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