Fidget chain with long links
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Print links to form a loop chain which bends in all directions to make various shapes
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Model information
- Source
- Printables
- Category
- Puzzles & Brain-teasers
- License
- Creative Commons — Public Domain
I wanted to both build my blender skills and build something for a granddaughter. Her sister had a commercial one of these. So I delved into joints.
These are printed with PETG on an Adventurer 5M pro.
IMPORTANT POST-PRINT NOTE: While NO SUPPORTS are needed, they do fuse ever so slightly as is typical of a print-in-place hinge.
Loosening the pin/hole joints is a trivial task with just your fingers
To loosen the hidden joint, I found it best to use two pair of pliers - put one on each side of the joint (obviously, close enough to the joint that you're not squeezing the fork - and twist a 1/4 turn - that's enough to "break" it; then you can loosen it up all you want with just fingers; it needs to be worked a few turns back and forth
The construction of a chain is essentially a series of the "inline" link (separate file; can be appended into any length chain, being careful to get each link at the exact right place ... eyeball getting the pin centered hole), with an "end" link on one end (another separate file - you need one). I've included a file with a 12 link chain where the final link is the appropriate "end" link. This, not coincidentally, creates a single print at the top length that one can fit diagonally on the print bed of that printer.
The key elements of the model components:
Both kinds of links include the hidden ball joint of sorts (actually the fat end of a pyramid embedded in a slightly bigger inverse cavity - not a round ball)
Both kinds of links have the same length, the same blind joint, the same tongue and fork dimensions, and the same diameter hole in the legs
The difference is the pin (though in neither case a separate pin - integral part of the tongue)
The pin in the inline link is longer so when printed in place adjacent to other links, it becomes a stronger link
The pin in the end link is much shorter - short enough to be squeezed into place in the fork of the other end of the chain
Obviously any number of the 12 link chains can be assembled end-to-end. Or you can create your own chains by building up from the STLs.