What to measure
Thin cables are soft, and a caliper squeezed onto one reads low. Close the jaws until the cable just stops sliding between them and read that. Charging cables run from about 3 to 4.5 mm, and figure-of-eight speaker wire is not round at all: measure its wide side and use that as the diameter, since the wide side is what has to pass the gap. Plugs do not matter here. The cable enters the clip sideways through the opening, so even a moulded plug far wider than the cable is no obstacle.
Clearance, wall and material
The values are 0.2 mm of clearance, a 1.6 mm wall and an 85 degree opening, which leaves a gap of roughly 2.8 mm. The cable squashes a little to pass and then sits loose enough to be pulled along its length, which is what you want when a desk moves. The wall is four lines of a 0.4 mm nozzle; a thinner wall on a clip this small prints as two separate shells that peel apart. PLA is fine: a soft cable flexes the arms very little.
Printing
The part is about 16 by 7 mm on the bed and 7 mm tall when it stands on a C-shaped face, so heat is the problem, not time. Print six or more at once, spaced apart, so each layer cools before the next arrives; a single clip printed alone comes out soft and rounded. Use 0.12 to 0.16 mm layers and slow the outer wall. No supports.
Fixing it
The tab is 9 mm long and 2.4 mm thick with a 3.2 mm hole for a 3 mm countersunk or pan-head screw. Under a desk, a 12 mm long screw is plenty and will not come through an 18 mm top. Space clips every 20 to 30 cm on a horizontal run so the cable does not droop between them.
Outline drawing
Schematic, not to scale. The clip is 7 mm wide along the cable and about 6.8 mm high.
Parameters the generator will use
| Setting | Link parameter | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Model | model | pipe_clip |
| Cable diameter | diameter | 4 |
| Fit clearance | fit_clearance | 0.2 |
| Clip wall thickness | wall | 1.6 |
| Clip width along the cable | width | 7 |
| Opening angle, degrees | opening | 85 |
| Screw tab length | tab_length | 9 |
| Screw tab thickness | tab_thickness | 2.4 |
| Screw hole diameter | screw_diameter | 3.2 |
| Number of screw tabs | tabs | 1 |
All lengths are in millimetres. Outer size from these values: about 16.4 x 7 x 6.83 mm.
Open the generator with these values
This model needs the $7 licence key: one payment, one key, and it opens all five paid models. Get a licence key on Gumroad ($7)
The pipe and cable clip needs a licence key: without one the generator shows the model locked, lists the values from this link and fills them in as soon as you unlock. The fitted drawer organiser bin is the free model and downloads with no key.