[2544HCRC]

Late the the posting I knw but.. I agree that chains should be a little slack. If they are stretched like rubber bands you are putting torques on everything. It's far easier to throw a chain or break a chain if something gets slightly out of wack and it will if chains are too tight. If sprockets are inline Chains can be pretty darn loose without a problem. Avoid really small sprockets if possible, they don't handle loose chain as well as a slightly larger sprocket.

I always roll the chain up onto a sprocket and put the master link in on a sprocket. It's easy and it works every time. Half links are invaluable and I'm always happy if I can get one in on a new chain. I know that after the chain settles in and stretches I will be removing the link.

Practice keeping your fingers out of the sprockets. I NEVER stick my hands in between a sprocket and chain loop. I see kids do this all the time and it scares me. If you have to work on something, remove the chain or keep your fingers on the outside of the loop. Worst case you loose a finger but a much more common situation is where I've seen students really pinch themselves on a chain when the robot moved or a wheel rolled on an unpowered machine.