Since quite some time I am working on a wall clock (work in progress...). The Wall clock shall be powered by weights on chains, so I need chains and sprockets - which are harder to find than I thought.

Inspired by https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3480133, I decided to design a chain on my own. It should be as lightweight and small as possible while strong enough to carry the clock weights. After having printed some trials I found that it's best to print the chain print-in-place, so there is no chain lock or need to assemble the chain. The drawback is that all hinges have some initial friction.

The OpenSCAD file also generates sprockets for the chain. The sprockets are designed to mach the chain perfectly, so the sprockets must be generated with the same paramters as for the chain. Sprockets may only have an even number of teeth.

In order to reduce the friction in the chain hinges, I desiged a chain smoothener: A small case in which the chain is guided in small circles around 4 sprockets. By pulling the chain through the smoothener, the friction reduces over time.

(Not yet sure whether I will use this chain in the clock because finally it is almost as heavy as a metal chain. However, it's nice to see that a chain and the corresponding sprockets can be printed.)

The design is a customizer. You can alter most of the dimensions and create STLs for the chain, the sprockets and the chain smoothener.