Best practices for routing wires through chassis?

[hapki]

My number one challenge in this hobby is to arrange wires neatly in the chassis. Try as I may, I always end up with something like a bird’s nest. I’ve taken to using chassis, e.g., 3D printed from Shapeways, to help keep wires neat but that leads to the problem of getting wires through the channels. It’s like trying to push a string. So, here are some questions for master sabersmiths about best practices.

1. Do you thread wires through chassis before installing in the hilt, do you install the chassis and magically push wires through the chassis, or what?

2. How do you manage the inevitable problem of having too much slack in wires versus cutting a wire too short to manipulate toward the board?

3. Do you allocate a hidden space for messy wiring, for example for slack in wires?

Thanks in advance.

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

See replies in Blue.

My number one challenge in this hobby is to arrange wires neatly in the chassis. Try as I may, I always end up with something like a bird’s nest. I’ve taken to using chassis, e.g., 3D printed from Shapeways, to help keep wires neat but that leads to the problem of getting wires through the channels. It’s like trying to push a string. So, here are some questions for master sabersmiths about best practices.

1. Do you thread wires through chassis before installing in the hilt, do you install the chassis and magically push wires through the chassis, or what? Normally, yes.

2. How do you manage the inevitable problem of having too much slack in wires versus cutting a wire too short to manipulate toward the board? It all depends on the hilt, and your design.

3. Do you allocate a hidden space for messy wiring, for example for slack in wires? Sometimes.

Thanks in advance.

[Tom Tilmon]

I'm no "master"; however....

I normally leave my wires long. I do string them through chassis. STRING. depending on the bundle, sometimes using string like a fish tape will work, other times I've used wire clotheshangers to act as wire fishes. I try to plan my nest to be out of sight, and to be as in-nested as possible. shrink on wire groups can help keep things a bit more organized. I shrink my LED feeds together. I shrink switch wires together. I shrink accents/chamber led wires together. I only separate them near the board, and cut to length, and generally this leaves a neater internal area. Sometimes I think it could be better, but others it works out like a charm. The more experience you have with a particular chassis system or set up, the neater you can make the wiring. Experience counts oodles.

[TwinMill]

In this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrA-FiAvR5U
Madcow shows (at about 13:25 thru 15:23) how he uses a
rotary tool (Dremel) with a stone or burr type sanding/grinding tip
in order to cut a channel for wire management, in the acrylic chassis
discs sold here.

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

In most cases, wired can be run through existing openings. I’ve used PC/18650 disks for CF builds and I’ve ALWAYS been able to run wires through the existing openings without trouble.