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Print-in-place: articulated chain, 6 links, 20 mm pitch

Name: Print-in-place: articulated chain, 6 links, 20 mm pitch dimension sheet
Creator: Xem Studio
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

How do you 3D print a chain that comes off the printer already linked? · Hardware · basis: Xem Studio design: identical links on 45° cone pivots; one designed running gap of 0.40 mm

Also called: print in place chain, 3d printed chain links, articulated chain stl, print in place cable chain, flexible chain 3d print

Exact dimensions. True size, with no printing tolerance added.

length: 128.0 mm
width: 18.0 mm
height: 8.0 mm

Notes

3D print in place — prints already assembled, moving, in one job. Drawn at true size with no printer tolerance added; the 0.40 mm running gaps are part of the design.
Running gap 0.40 mm per side, 0.80 mm on diameter — part of the design, drawn as is. On the 45° faces the same 0.40 mm is measured square to the face (0.57 mm along the axis).
Bed: laid out straight, every link flat on the bed, joint axes horizontal 4 mm up; knuckles stand on their 45° feet.
Support while printing: each joint is a fork of two knuckles whose 45° cones point inward into sockets in the next link's centre knuckle; cones on a horizontal axis stay within 45°. The plates are cut back round every knuckle so nothing of one link sits over another.
Captured: the two opposed cones of each fork hold the next link's knuckle between them; no link can come off.
Freeing it: bend each joint up and down by hand, link by link, then roll the chain over a finger.
Motion: each joint bends 162.2° one way and 99.5° the other from straight (computed by turning one link against the next), so the chain wraps round a small radius and lies flat.

Print-in-place: articulated chain, 6 links, 20 mm pitch size chart

key	value	what
gap_mm	0.4	running gap per side on every moving interface (radial, axial, under captured parts) — part of the design, not a tolerance
pitch_mm	20.0	joint to joint
links	6
chain_l_mm	128.0	laid straight, as printed
chain_w_mm	18.0
knuckle_d_mm	8.0
pin_d_mm	5.2	45° cone pivot base (two per joint, from the fork into the next link)
plate_t_mm	3.0
bend_up_deg	162.2	each joint, from straight
bend_down_deg	99.5	each joint, the other way

Where the files are

Other publishers' files are linked, not hosted. "verify" = check the license at the link before commercial use.

Xem Studio

Print-in-place mechanism design (geometry computed in the generator)

web

Xem Studio design

Free files

★ Free files 7 parts. Xem Studio design: free to use, print and sell things from; not to be republished as files. Xem Studio Design License. index.json

print-in-place-articulated-chain-assembly	The whole print as laid on the bed (6 bodies, already assembled); STEP keeps each moving body a separate solid	STEP · STL
print-in-place-articulated-chain-link-1	Link 1: centre knuckle with two cone sockets, fork with two 45° cones; pitch 20	STEP · STL
print-in-place-articulated-chain-link-2	Link 2: centre knuckle with two cone sockets, fork with two 45° cones; pitch 20	STEP · STL
print-in-place-articulated-chain-link-3	Link 3: centre knuckle with two cone sockets, fork with two 45° cones; pitch 20	STEP · STL
print-in-place-articulated-chain-link-4	Link 4: centre knuckle with two cone sockets, fork with two 45° cones; pitch 20	STEP · STL
print-in-place-articulated-chain-link-5	Link 5: centre knuckle with two cone sockets, fork with two 45° cones; pitch 20	STEP · STL
print-in-place-articulated-chain-link-6	Link 6: centre knuckle with two cone sockets, fork with two 45° cones; pitch 20	STEP · STL

Let your AI pull this. Add https://xemstudio.com/mcp to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP client (free, no account, one minute) and it can look up exact sizes, mating fits and free STEP/STL from every chat.

Set it up →

Plain text: sheet.txt · JSON: /api/geometry?object=print-in-place-articulated-chain