Split bar clamp

A bit of a setback tonight. My last barclamp split.

The bar clamps hold bars at right angles to each other. They have a hole at right angles to a hook. The hook goes on one bar while the other bar slides through the hole. Pretty simple and a fairly small piece - one of the printed components of the printer.

I did notice that some of the bar clamps are not of great quality with some fairly rough edges but, since they are doing a fairly simple job, I didn't feel it mattered.

There are six of these in all and I was just inserting a smooth rod into the hole (oo err) when I noticed a crack and that the rod slid in rather too easily. I took it off again, flexed it slightly to get a better look at the crack, and the whole thing split in half. It has split "along the grain". In other words, between two of the layers that these things are made up of. If it hadn't split while I was building it probably would have as soon as any stress was applied.

Anyway, I'm calling it a night again. Here's some more pictures.

One broken bar clamp

Frame so far. The broken bar clamp is supposed to attach the vertical rod on the right hand side to the threaded rod going across the middle of the base.

In that last picture the frame looks a bit skew. I don't think it is bit I'll take a closer look next time.

My next step with the bar clamp is to see if anyone has a spare. Failing that, I'll try and glue it.