Foil Drive low-tape mast cable guide

Important Disclaimers!!

• This is an experimental design. You accept all risks associated with using it. Use more tape, even fully wrapped, or stick with the original manufacturer's part, if you aren't comfortable with any aspect of this.

• The single strip of tape shown in the animated GIF / video was done for dramatic effect, to demonstrate the concept.  Use more and as much tape as you feel necessary.

• This part was designed to fit the author's Armstrong mast. YMMV. 

• The full single file printed part (base+middle+motor) was designed to fit the author's 20cm cable. Your 20cm cable might be slightly different.

*If you find these parts work on other mast brands besides Armstrong, let me know and I will update this description and give you credit.  Similarly, if you confirm the length needed for other cable sizes besides 20cm, let me know and I will provide that part for download and give you credit.

Why??

I recently purchased a 60cm cable from FoilDrive (to compliment my 20cm cable) so I could swap between foil assist surfing and full eFoil cruising, but the tape swaps were still quite cumbersome. So I created this design to fit my desire for a quicker and easier way to assemble and disassemble my motor from my mast, and adjust the cable length.  Features include:

• Tape only the printed part to your mast - not the entire cable system.

• The cable then snaps snuggly into the C-channel for assembly and yet is easily pulled out for disassembly.

• The V-channel (over the mast) is deeper than the one provided by Foil Drive, reaching farther back on the mast, giving more surface area for tape. I think it also makes for a more fluid-dynamic flow around the cable and mast. (The cross section profile is smoother - not shaped like an hour-glass.)

• The base-end of the guide is curved to fit the base of a standard Armstrong* mast, snugly holding the cable up to the base unit connection.

• The motor-end of the guide has a widened section of the C-channel to accept the motor.

How??

1. Print the base and motor ends separately first.

2. Snap the motor end part on your cable first, fitting the black motor connector section of the wire into the wider section of the C-channel at the top of the part.

3. Plug your cable into your FoilDrive base unit, press the base end firmly against the mast, and snugly snap the cable in place.

4. With both ends of your cable where you intend them to be, measure the distance between the two printed parts. This is the length your middle section should be.

5. In your printer slicer, scale the middle section part in the Z direction only (height) to match your desired height measured from step 4.  (The default height is 10cm.)

6. Print and complete assembly.

7. Tape it to your mast.  Use as much or as little tape as you feel comfortable with.  Options include (a) vertical strips only; (b) horizontal strips that wrap from one side to the other but leave the cable C-channel open for easy removal of the cable; (c) fully wrap the entire thing including the taping the cable in place (you benefit from the fluid-dynamic improvement only); (d) something else - your call

8. Optional - if you have multiple cable lengths, then print only the middle section(s) and motor end, and stack them on your mast.  For example, I stacked 3 middle sections and a motor end section on top of my short 20cm cable guide to adapt it to fit my 60cm cable. See animated GIF.

Once you know what length the entire part should be, you can also print it as a single combined part:

• The FreeCAD FCStd file is provided here. It is parameterized - meaning you can edit any dimension in the provided spreadsheet. But only one edit is really needed - the first parameter is the length of the middle section for you to customize. 

• Toggle the visibility of the parts in FreeCAD to print only the section (or combined sections) you want.

• Select the part(s) in the design tree that you want to print, File > Export > STL, and print your custom part

I've provided the full single part print that works for my 20cm cable on my Armstrong mast.  It might fight other mast brands, but I have no way to test that. It might fit other 20cm cables, but I don't know how consistent FoilDrive measures those cable cuts. For those unable or unwilling to tinker with the FreeCAD file, I'd be happy to entertain the creation of additional custom sized parts that fit your mast and cable length.

What??

I used PETG, as I think it combines the strength and flexibility needed for this application.  A stiff 95A TPU might also work, but I haven't tested that.  I would shy away from PLA, as it starts brittle, and becomes more so when exposed to moisture.

See my other related parts here: