Chain Link

Chain links are actually sort of tricky to model for a plastic extrusion printer like the Makerbot- there aren't very many variations that don't feature too extreme of an overhang anywhere. This one has been working so far, inspired by http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:519. The main difference in mine is that both the 'ball' and 'socket' of each link face the same direction, so a pieced-together chain has links that alternate direction (Check out the pictures). I'm not sure how excited one should get over this, but it does give the chain a sort of flattened, "belt-like" quality that might lend itself to use as some sort of belt that can be attached to a large wheel? Note that each link can only pivot about 35-40 degrees before it becomes in danger of detaching from the link behind it. I plan on creating a second version that addresses some problems:

-Deeper gap between the "fingers" of the fork, to increase range of pivot.
-Higher "thumb" section to increase pivot in opposite direct