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3D Printed Cable Umbilical and Trunk

Simple project to make a cable umbilical for my desk so I don't keep tripping over a power cable

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Cable umbilicals for office desks are so incredibly expensive, so why not build my own! Designed for an IKEA Bekant conference table, but I'm sure it can be adapted to just about anything. Includes the vertical umbilical, as well as the floor trunking. OpenSCAD file included!

The umbilical/trunk was designed to clip over a 7mm diameter cable - if you're in Australia it should fit most power strips, extension leads or any 3-core mains cable. If you need to use a larger cable, or want a snug fit with a smaller cable, you might have to edit the SCAD file. If someone wants to make a version that takes a power cable and a Cat6 cable, I'll buy you a beer!

Similarly the vertical umbilical is designed so that an Australian mains plug (AS/NZS 3112) can be passed through. It should fit the plugs of most other countries, except the UK (sorry chaps).

A note on 3d printing: all of the files are designed to be printed without supports, and are in the best possible orientation. However, I did have some trouble with the prongs on the vertical umbilical vertebrae sections. If the layer bonding isn't good enough, they will just break off, especially as they need to be flexed slightly for assembly. I first tried to print them with carbon fibre PLA, and just couldn't get it to work, but normal PLA worked just fine, and these have been hanging from the bottom of my desk for months now without issue. if you do have layer bonding issues, try tuning your print settings, and maybe try a different material. It would be possible to print these in another orientation, but I _hate_ using supports, and that's the trade-off I chose.

A note on the base piece that is the interface between the vertical and horizontal sections. This piece has a couple of cavities on the bottom that can be used to add weight. I used a handful of screws (which turned out cheaper than lead weights), and glue. I chose PVA glue which was absolutely the wrong choice, and I'd probably try polyurethane glue (gorilla glue) or 2-part epoxy next time. The cavities should print just fine without supports, but tune your print settings if you have any issues with bridging.

vert_vertibrae_printplate.stl

plate of 6x vertebrae sections for the vertical cable umbilical

Standard Tesselated Geometry - 10.12 MB - 11/09/2024 at 03:27

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floor_vertibrae_printplate.stl

plate of 3x vertebrae for the horizontal floor trunk section

Standard Tesselated Geometry - 4.52 MB - 11/09/2024 at 03:27

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floor_discs_printplate.stl

plate of 3x of the discs that are used to join the floor vertebrae sections

Standard Tesselated Geometry - 3.51 MB - 11/09/2024 at 03:27

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floor_base.stl

baseplate that is the interface between the vertical and floor/horizontal sections

Standard Tesselated Geometry - 2.38 MB - 11/09/2024 at 03:27

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vert_mount.stl

piece that mounts to the desk and from which the vertical umbilical hangs

Standard Tesselated Geometry - 1009.42 kB - 11/09/2024 at 03:27

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