BETTER, FASTER, STRONGER 3D Printed Bolts | Errata

[@Denis_v1.0_beta]

A common terminology mistake I hear a lot on YT is using "tolerance" when referring to the gap between two parts. This designed gap is referred to as "clearance", not "tolerance". Tolerance is the potential allowable variation with a part's dimensions so that it will continue to perform the desired function, while clearance is the space designed between two parts when they're assembled (like a bolt and nut).

[@dacthewerewolf8425]

alternatively, cut the chamfer first, then the threads, then just move the chamfer after the threads in the feature timeline

[@CADclassOfficial]

That works really well too! Great trick!

[@osmanpasha_diy]

Huh, interestingly, if you edit the chamfer after rearranging, you can see how to do this without rearranging (by creating the thread first) - just select the edge that was there before the thread - it's a small section or arc near the lead-in point of the thread

[@ShopTherapy623]

This is what I do

[@magicshon]

The treasure is in the comments! I used to do the revolve as well. It has one huge advantage that its reliable. I have done chamfers before but often when i changed parameters or anything they would break. This short little thread made me test it and understand why. The chamfer before thread and then moving it is a bit random - it may or may not compute as it either picks the right spot or not and this has caused me issues in the past when it randomly changed. Just now testing it i made the same chamfer a few times and once it computed and twice it did not after moving it in the timeline. Knowing how to pick the correct edge to do the chamfer on once the thread is already made is the big lesson i got from this. It also works on inner threads and on both the ends (open or closed) but its a bit more difficult to tell which line to pick the chamfer on there (luckily trial and error works) With 3d printing its often a good idea to limit the movement of the threaded object (so there is pressure on the layer lines rather than ripping them apart) and to know where exactly the threads end when tightened and since this workflow does not move the threads it can finally be done chamfers included. I tried changing the threads and chamfer dimensions and it does seem to be stable. I have yet to test it on custom threads. Offset face seems to be more stable if done before chamfers, after them it does not compute well for some reason.

[@AllanMacMillan]

@@osmanpasha_diy Excellent tip! I can confirm that moving the feature in the timeline won't work in onshape, it won't compute. Your method of selecting the portion of the arc that would have originally been the edge of the cylinder works perfectly.

[@fiendfyre1726]

Good tip, but could have been condensed into a much shorter video.

[@KarlLew]

This comment was too condensed and should have been expanded into a synopsis.

[@frankbauerful]

Making a shorter video requires even more skill than making a CAD model in fewer steps.

[@valentinpianta]

no

[@b03tz]

@@KarlLew Good this, shorter next.

[@migueljgonzalez]

They get paid by the second, every second counts

[@valseedian]

I know this is an old video but I've spent the last week prototyping bolts and internal thread for 3d printing. I've found that reducing standard bolts by 2% in x and y, and scaling all internally threaded nuts by 10% in x and y screw together very smoothly without any skipping. useful if you're printing nuts, useless if you need threaded holes in any precision part.

[@GarthSnyder]

Oh wow, thanks for this, can’t wait to try it. I’ve been doing the rotated triangle thing forever. 0.4mm is a crazy large amount of easing, though. If you need more than 0.15mm, I suspect that something in your printer or slicer setup is not tuned correctly.

[@CADclassOfficial]

The 0.4 is mainly for some of our student that use older printers like the Ender 3 that doesn’t have super tight tolerances or for threads that may get fuzzed up over time with constant screwing. But yeah they could totally be tighter :)

[@osmanpasha_diy]

I agree, for my FDM 0.2mm is good enough. And 0.4 won't even work for smaller threads like M3.

[@dylan-nguyen]

@@osmanpasha_diy yeah on my used Ender 3 from Craigslist where the dude left it on 220V mode in the US and rammed the nozzle into the print bed (giant groove in it) after fixing it up I was able to easily get 0.2mm to work (0.2mm total, so 0.1mm when using the offset tool since you're offsetting the top and the bottom) I've been wonder how to get the bolts to fit into the holes easier though. I was doing a countersink on the hole-side threads but now that I think of it a chamfer on the bolt is indeed what store bought bolts do...

[@gromain]

0.4mm offset is wild and depends a lot on the printer's calibration. I'm using between 0.1 and 0.2mm (the bigger the thread diameter the lower the offset) and my screws and nuts work fine. For the chamfer, I'm usually catching the overhanging part of the thread and round it to 0.5 to 1mm. Works great for catching the nut and bolt together and is easy to print.

[@Fahnder99]

Yes. And there are also non-fdm printers around.

[@michaels3003]

​@@Fahnder99, I am betting he uses a good FDM printer...

[@MyChannel3141]

Create the thread, right click and choose supress feature on the thread, and then create the chamfer. Then you can unsupress the thread and everything works.

[@MrDB42]

I only model the threads and create the face offsets at the end of the entire design process (before exporting either the STEP file or STL for printing). Again, saves computational time, and then the chamfers work on male or female threads.

[@dylan-nguyen]

I just tried this but it didn't work for me. the bottom of the thread is all sorts of messed up. it's like going inside of itself maybe this only works if your cylinder and thread diameter are the same and using ISO metric threads but I like to use ISO metric trapezoidal for 3d prints. it gives more coarse thread pitch making it easier to screw in

[@JLake3D]

Been doing this since I’ve started 3D design for 3D printing. It’s a great self-aligning feature 🤘

[@josephpk4878]

Excellent presentation of a more refined solution. I figured out the triangle sweep method on my own, but always felt it was a sore thumb in my workflow - trying this mthod out right now. Subbed.

[@CADclassOfficial]

Cheers :) thanks for the sub. We’ve got more content coming down the line this week

[@CareyBarnett]

A couple of things: 1. If you do the surface offset some on the female thread, and some on the male thread, you get a better, stronger thread profile, and not that 'blade' like thing you're showing here. 2. If you already have the hole modelled, and you right click the interior surface of the hole immediately after applying the male thread, then select 'Repeat Thread', you get a female thread with an offset. Admittedly, F360 uses 0.1mm in this case, but that also is something you need to be aware of.

[@BitSmythe]

*SO. How does this make bolts stronger? The weak link is layer adhesion. You’ve not addressed that. Use supports and print the bolt at a 45° (or whatever your machine can handle) for layers that transcend the threads.*

[@CareyBarnett]

I think this is solely about design, and not the 3D printing.

[@jimbass6575]

Draw cylinder, go create - thread, pick the tread you want, do not check modeled box, close that window. Pick modify-chamfer. Here is the secret Apply the chamfer to the CYLINDER, not the flat face. Now go to the timeline and right click the thread, select Edit Feature and check the box labeled Modeled. You now have the proper lead in for a thread. And you can simply edit the chamfer for more of less lead in.

[@elijahle7936]

I go chamfer(just deeper than the thread), thread, delete flat end of the thread. Sometimes it bugs out but usually it works great.

[@CADclassOfficial]

Interesting :) one of the other comments said to make a chamfer, add a thread under it and then move the chamfer after it in the timeline and it does in fact work

[@HLModTech]

Awesome project! So cool that a user took the time to share the idea. 💯👍

[@jamiemacdonald436]

Great chamfer trick. I can't believe I hadn't thought of this. Very simple and effective.

[@SerdarMutlu]

Thanks for the tip! it's time saver, yet simple.

[@iansmashracing]

I learned the chamfer trick a while ago messing with bolts in fusion 360 from the McMaster carr catalog If you take one of their bolts and delete the threads off, the shank is not just a cylinder

[@bobfre1]

Great video with some good information. You've confused tolerance with clearance, though. Tolerance is the difference between the maximum and minimum dimensions of a part, such as its length, width, or diameter. Tolerances are used in manufacturing and engineering to allow for variations during production. Clearance is the gap or space between two mating parts, such as a shaft and a hole. Clearance is determined by the size difference between the parts. Especially when 3d printing, you need to deliberately add some clearance to account for the inaccurate tolerance of the process.

[@avenuex3731]

3:27 start the cut path at the end of the cylinder form. Done. Perfect lead in.

[@electronsmove]

I don't make a lot of threaded parts. When I do, I make the female and male threads from the same geometry. They are exactly the same. Then I scale the male part on x and y axis to 0.9. Adjust as necessary. The threads always fit and work great.

[@CADclassOfficial]

thats essentially what is happening here with the offset, the only problem is your 0.9 scale may get out of wack for really small or really large diam threads

[@electronsmove]

@@CADclassOfficial maybe, I don't see how. A fixed offset would be more likely to fail at different sizes as opposed to a relative percentage. IMO.

[@electronsmove]

@@CADclassOfficial Forgot to mention I found a big improvement by switching the slicer parameter from print inner then outer to print outer first then inner walls.

[@JOEDHIGGINS]

For 3d printed threads, I find that especially with materials that require a heated enclosure, standard ansi and iso thread profiles can have overhangs that make coarser threads not print cleanly. This doesn't generally stop them from functioning, but it is annoying. Three solutions for folks that have this issue: 1 Use inner-outter or inner-outer-inner wall printing order (do this anyway, it makes everything better). 2 Use a tighter thread pitch. Not appropriate for all applications. 3 Model threads with a 45 degree overhang. This is pretty easy. Just add a helix around your cylinder and sweep the profile you prefer. Generally, you can just do this to the male thread and boolean it with an offset to create the female. I will write a script that auto generates these shallower threads at some point, when I get sufficiently annoyed modeling the thing. For now, I just have a parametric thread model I use.

[@CADclassOfficial]

Fantastic :)

[@andrewlee4102]

do you need to offset i'm guessing its "offset plane" don't see to do anything can you just "chamfer" without offset plane?

[@rharris22222]

I like this, but there is a good reason to keep that chamfer-by-rotation in mind. That would be a great way to do it if you wanted a pilot section on yout bolt. By that I mean a short length cylinder at roughly the minor dia to help locate the bolt during assembly. A great feature for bolts that line up and hold a sliding mechanism, for example.

[@WerneckDexter]

Hello there. Thanks for the video. I coincidentally was looking for this solution few days before your video, just found out those techniques was not working for me. Either the partial thread with chamfer and the timeline one. At the end I realized these don’t work with BSP. 🙄

[@RixtronixLAB]

Nice video, thanks :)

[@jackykoning]

Just use inline easy bolts for openscad. It will suit most requirements.

[@CADclassOfficial]

We haven’t discussed doing a course on openscad yet but we’ll see if any of our other students are interested :) our next course and book is going to diving into Onshape with a slight robotics team lean

[@jedisct1]

Subscribed right away.

[@CADclassOfficial]

Cheers :)

[@colynrobinson212]

KZbin not in dark mode is a psychotic move

[@dtdionne]

What printer did u use? That embossed lettering looks great. Well done.

[@CADclassOfficial]

Prusa MK4. But you can get the exact same quality of vertical wall text; it's just based on the amount it's extruded from the surface, too far out, and it will droop too much. If you have a great 3d printer with great cooling then thats no problem, but if you have a basic printer then you need to reduce the extrusion to about 0.25 or 0.5 mm

[@JoepSwagemakers]

Thank you for keeping me from screwing this up (pun intended)

[@TheExtremeElementz]

Do you have a video of creating the nut?

[@CADclassOfficial]

No but its pretty simple :), just extrude a hexagon, and add a hole to the center and set the hole type to Tapped

[@JoeMakes]

Great tips!

[@juanrambler]

thanks ! I learned a lot !

[@leapnlarry]

Time to make a video about why be more efficient , and how to do it. Larry

[@lexdysic416]

It seems ridiculous that F360 still hasn't implemented threads with 3d printing tolerances.

[@church493]

Even better workflow optimization would be to not design bolt or nut at all. Just use predesigned ones of type/length/thread from library or parametric model, done by self earlier or 3rd parties. "To not reinvent wheel" in each project all over again. And it's not applicable to just bolts/nuts. There are loads of standartised parts, including various fasteners, out there, including libraries or models for them. At most, it should be extended with some 3d printing custom nitbits, like smart bridging for dealing with hex hole quality/supports/postproduction, and maybe adding flank-drive rounding or corner hollowing of hex holes to increase resilency to stripping, and even such customisations can be reused from previous work/models.

[@CADclassOfficial]

Definitely :) this video isn’t about making a bolt in heart thought it’s about any threads for any project

[@GRainwater13]

Very helpful. Thank you!

[@CADclassOfficial]

Cheers :)

[@AdminAlley]

Very cool, much quicker to implement!

[@H34...]

In what way are they stronger...?

[@terryd8692]

Printed vertically the thread will be weak as hell due to layer lines. You can get away with it if you're printing fisher price nuts and bolts. Anything small and they'll be useless

[@patrickh9810]

Designing and error over here, do you need a offset on/in the nut also?

[@lucmartz]

6:24 I like it!

[@creamofbotulismsoup9900]

A lot of the time you're better off just using a tap/die. Unless it's an unusual size, or for some reason you need to print off a ton of parts with threads, it will often make more sense to just cut the threads rather than take the time to design them. The cheapest tap and die set you can find will work perfectly fine since it's plastic. Plus the threads will be way better quality, especially on smaller sizes that an FDM printer has no chance of printing well.

[@CADclassOfficial]

Definitely although I have had to put in so many threads into prints that my tap heats up from friction and melts rather than cuts the plastic prints so best to keep an eye on it :)

[@AM-jw1lo]

Another content provider that likes to see himself talk. And talk talk talk you do. Anyone watching skip to the last minute save yourself alot of time.

[@johnslugger]

*I always print nuts or bolts with 100% fill and set the nozzle temp up by 15% hotter so they melt together with a 100% bond.*

[@DJSean00]

Thats the bolt, how do I make the nut? :/

[@mattharvey8712]

Bravo.....acme thread.......cheers

[@CADclassOfficial]

Love me some ACME threads. Always reminds me of my milling days with those gigantic vices :)

[@ja-no6fx]

the tangent squiggle made me giggle haha, Also... Still waiting for the STRONGER part of the clickbaity title. Almost got a sub

[@SerPorit]

Well, actually there is a way to do it using only one feature (the chamfer itself) and a small trick with timeline. Make a thread, then go one step back in timeline (before the thread creation) create a chamfer, move the timeline to the end and swap the thread and the chamfer in the timeline (change the order). The result will be the same, with ONE operation .

[@ocieward]

I’m sorry, this was in my feed and I watched it and could tell that at the 1:00 mark, all the information that was going to be said was already said. Yes, time can be saved by doing this, but how much - 20 sec? The video title is also misleading, since the faster refers to the modeling and not the printing and is only 20 sec improvement, and the. Idea does not address better or stronger in any way.

[@CADclassOfficial]

We’re not a massive fan of unnecessarily long videos that bait the solution till the end. If you get what you need at the beginning, fantastic, and if you want to learn a bit more about the topic then stick around :)

[@RealSnail3D]

Thanks!!!

[@saumyacow4435]

What's Autodesk really like to use? I see mixed reviews on it. And what does it actually cost? And how well does it handle PCB design?

[@CADclassOfficial]

It’s my personal favorite CAD software. It’s very powerful for hobbyists but probably not the best choice for an engineering firm. It’s completely free but there is a paid version but in our course we tell you how you can get it completely for free. I don’t have a ton of experience with the PCB side but from what I’ve seen it does in fact work well. A few of our student have gotten prototype boards from their PCB CAD models and I think this is where fusion updates a lot of tools every month too.

[@saumyacow4435]

@@CADclassOfficial As I understand it, the free version of fusion is limited to 2 layer PCBs. Which is a showstopper for me. Also, I want a painless way to do 3D metal printing. Does the subscription version of fusion allow me to get stuff made? I see Autodesk touting its additive manufacturing extension, which is more expensive than fusion itself!. And I'm assuming its not really necessary to actually get something made. I mostly do electronics design, but I'm interested in learning CAD. Thanks.

[@strongme80]

Where's the "stronger" part? Or did I miss something.

[@itigg]

As an engineer doing complex injection molding design for a decade and a half I would say the number of features in the model timeline is far less important than if your timeline represents design intent and how fast you can make the inevitable change requests to the model. For less complex designs it’s also better so that you can make configurations of the same model for use at different sizes. Less features is maybe great for a competition recreating an existing design but falls flat in the real world of designing something new.

[@uiopuiop3472]

i use the decal bolts. as god sayd: they decal bolts work as well for cad!!

[@CADclassOfficial]

Preech

[@BillyStanley]

What is meant by "decal?"

[@uiopuiop3472]

@@BillyStanley above the top af. like in fakery but in rl... you get it! not the truth bolts in cad!!

[@uiopuiop3472]

@@BillyStanley the fakery of bolt. in the cad!

[@Yavor_2YVR]

Hi that is a nice trick to it, but unfortunately it dosen't work with any of the Pipe Threads. At least not for me. Does anyone have an idea why?

[@hurricanenzl]

Just go yo the 3min mark and watch 30 sec is all you need to know. The rest is painful dribble

[@jondoough]

You miss the most important factor.. different filament needs different calibration

[@fedemon76]

on M6 threads doesn't work for me, any tips?

[@julianopolito]

After using face offset, chamfer doesn't work. If I do thread+chamfer, offset faces will undo the chamfer. Any tips?

[@johnnycardoso1965]

alternatively, cut the chamfer first, then the threads, then just move the chamfer after the threads in the feature timeline

[@julianopolito]

@@johnnycardoso1965 doesn't work. at least not like in the video. When he chamfers, he can chamfer any length. Here it won't work. Is it because I'm using the free version? @CADclassOfficial

[@johnnycardoso1965]

@julianopolito, create a 1mm chamfer, then create the thread, with modeling and displacement of 1mm (the same as the applied chamfer). I use 1mm+25%=1.25mm. It will work depending on the thread size you are using. It doesn't matter what version of Fusion it is, as it's just a build operation. This tip I gave is more complex, as you create the thread with displacement, suppress it in the history and then create the chamfer and then move the chamfer to before the construction of the thread, in the history. Then you cancel the thread suppression. @julianopolito, are you Brazilian?

[@julianopolito]

@@johnnycardoso1965 Sim, brasileiro. Você também?

[@paulmeynell8866]

Very cool

[@jamiethomas4079]

I'm usually in too much a hurry when I need threads for whatever reason. I've found the faster solution to be goto mcmaster and download the 3d model from there and modify it if needed.

[@BitSmythe]

5:35 *Stop all the hand waving!*

[@GlazserBozso]

🙏🙏🙏

[@VEC7ORlt]

3D printing threads is kinda meh to begin with to even bother, unless its something mildly cosmetic, fasteners are the only way. That tangent on 2 vs 3 features - oh geee, just staph - things like that tend to iron out automatically the more you use your CAD.

[@shawnlund]

I wanted to listen to this entire video but I just couldn’t do it. Once some starts a video explaining in great detail, all the stuff they are planning to explain in detail in the video I’m totally done. Adios

[@ArcAiN6]

2/3 of the way into the video i stopped... because you literally when nowhere... what a colossal waste of time

[@CADclassOfficial]

That’s alright mate :)

[@paleopteryx]

Thumbs down for not mentioning it was EXCLUSIVELY about the stupid Fusion 360. Made me waste my time. It's not "CAD", it's just Fusion 360. Other "CAD" have different ways of making threads. There's even a brilliant library for OpenSCAD that creates wonderful threads in seconds.

[@CADclassOfficial]

There is also this faster library in Fusion too, this was more about making custom threads for any type of project, not just for bolts :)

[@Dark_Phoinix]

BLA BLA BLA AND PRINT?

[@caiocallor]

"CAD Class", not "printing and filming"