Easy to 3D print threads - Blender

A tutorial on how to use Blender's built-in free add-on, Bolt Factory, to make threads for 3D printed models. The Bolt Factory's values for the presets are not correct, and in this guide, I will show you how to solve it. This works for the 3D printer I have used, but the tolerances can differ from machine to machine. Note that this method will work for both coars and fine metric threads.
The links to the pages used in the video:
fullerfasteners.com/tech/thre...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_met...
0:00 Final results of 3D printed threads from Blender
0:16 Activating the add-on to make bolts, nuts, and threads
1:49 Getting the major diameter for the threads
2:36 Understanding and getting the values for the pitch
3:38 Getting the minor diameter for the threads
5:01 Shade smooth will not export; this is the solution

[@Aklidien]

This video is excellent and is exactly what I needed! I've been learning Blender for 3D printing, and bolts are the one thing I haven't touched yet. Thanks for the great walk through - I'll be using this a lot, moving forward!

[@3dplockis]

Thanks! Happy I could help, I hope it works for you as well that it worked for me! :)

[@mantiswhale1252]

Thanks for directing me to this video from your other one! I'll try it out hope it works

[@3dplockis]

Happy to help! Thank you 🙏🏻

[@WayneRiesterer]

Thanks for sharing this. It's really cool to learn how to make bolts to spec. I notice the geometry of the head has some distortion, but I managed to clean some of it up using Bool Tools and just slice the top off, extrude it a little bit and then bevel it. I can't wait to get home to try and print one and see how it goes.

[@3dplockis]

Thanks! Wish you best of luck :)

[@ricks3754]

i definitely have to try this, i print a lot of bolts and nuts. i'll update how it go

[@3dplockis]

Please do, hope it works as well as it did for me.

[@g0me2z]

How do i use it to operate on real size of bolt? For example i can not use pitch value lower than 10 cm.

[@3dplockis]

By default, it is 1000 times bigger. Build your bolt like that, 1000x bigger. When it's done, just scale it down 1000 times. Then apply the scale.

[@WayneRiesterer]

You can also set your units to millimeters, unit scale to 0.001 and grid scale to 0.001. When you design your parts, they will then show the correct dimensions. Also, when you're entering the values into numeric inputs, it will round the values off for display purposes, but it still keeps greater precision for the actual value stored with the model.