Learn Fusion 360 or Die Trying LESSON 8: Design Knurled Nut and Bolt for 3D Printer

In this lesson we present step-by-step instructions on how to design a nut and bolt with knurls for fabrication on a 3D printer.
Learn more at our www.toptechboy.com WEB site:
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[@dereisen772]

3 Years later, and there is still no better Fusion 360 Turorial on KZbin. And honestly, it doesn't, because this is just top of the line teaching-material! I suggested this course so often by now! Keep up the awesome work Paul! Very greatful for it :)

[@ellerycadel]

I love that you are going slow and proceeding step by step. So many videos on KZbin for these CAD programs go so fast and use multiple shortcuts - I don't know how anyone can follow if you are not an expert user to start! Way to teach to the rest of us!!

[@whkiess]

Thanks for your lessons Paul. I've been following since lesson 1 and guess what? I'm still alive! I love your lessons, you explain things in every detail, and you're not rushing through it. You take your time and when things don't quite work out you show us how to go about rectifying the issue. Keep up the great work!

[@flyinlo1474]

It has been said multiple times but I will echo it. I love that you talk through EVERY single step you are doing. Silly thing is when I go back to do the stuff with no video, I do the same talking to myself and it is a HUGE help in remembering what you are doing. So again, thanks for the great videos! I am one happy camper now that I am learning this program!!

[@alexisalexopoulos4008]

Thanks Paul for the lessons! These lessons helped me so much. Taking the time to explain all the tools and design basics is something I really miss on other YT tutorials

[@Walt1119]

Again, Thanks so much for putting together these lessons! I am learning Fusion 360!!!! I have wanted for years to learn a cad package, have tried a few times with sketchup and was unsuccessful, I talked to a person that was using 360, I had not heard of it until then, started investigating and fortunately ran across your site! Again, Thanks so very much Paul!!!!

[@GraemeCallander]

Don't stop teaching the way your are now, I have found your thorough and systematic teaching approach very efficient ...Thanks so much for being there

[@jhgpsimons]

Hi Paul,I really love you're lessons, and intent to follow them to the end. I'm using a newer version now, but with a little bit of searching, I'm still able to follow. You are very well explaining the underlying reasons why things happen when they happen, and that's a huge plus compared to other courses on KZbin. Thanks for everything so far and now I will continue the lessons, hoping that it takes me a long time, because I really enjoy it.

[@jstef4136]

Thank You so much for your tutorials, i think you go at just the right speed for learning. I appreciate all your hard work. Joe

[@TomHodder]

I found an option under General->Design for "Auto hide sketch on feature creation" which can be de-selected... Great video, Thanks!

[@rukidding7588]

Nice catch! Just set it on mine. Even 2 years later, it's still a useful tip :D

[@jarkle87]

Sweet. Just set it. Thanks!

[@markvk42]

sweet thanks

[@krayfox]

I just set it up on mine also. Thanks

[@haziqiqbalhussain]

Thanks man

[@simguns8388]

I love your videos. What really helps is when you make some mistakes and then go back and correct them. That teaches me a lot. Thanks!

[@billmartin6687]

Thank you for taking the time to make these videos, as a senior citizen I find that your videos are at the correct pace for me to follow on. I watch on a small screen and do the lessons on a larger one. Please keep making them. Keep safe. Bill M8-) Scotland

[@rjlatheart]

Paul I am really enjoying your lessions. I am doin this in 4/18. Thanks for being there for us. This is better than others out there

[@tgirard123]

Hot Damn, that was an excellent tutorial. I followed along and printed out the nut and bolt and they looked great. I'm using the latest Fusion but had no trouble following along. Knurling is just one of those things you really want to be able to do for a lot of things. This was a great base to experiment from Thanks again. One suggestion. When you have finished creating the knurling. Create a cylinder on each side and add a Chamfer on each. This adds a nice finish to the knob. Thanks again Paul!!!

[@sleeplessdev7204]

Your lesson on parametric modeling was very powerful. I've been following along with the last few videos but using parametric design - I can feel myself becoming comfortable with design intent and the Fusion interface. Plus it's awesome to be able to tweak my parameters and watch everything automatically update to the new values!

[@RandomMusingsUK]

Very useful series of tutorials, paced just right and follows a logical thought process, thanks Paul

[@rwfisheriv]

One of the best tutorials on knurling i've seen. Thank you!

[@grokscience8673]

Outstanding as usual and expected! I tried to work in TinkerCAD for a bit and, of course, ran into limitations for my needs. Back to Fusion 360 and your tutorials. Slow is good for some of us. Thank you for all your time and effort to create your videos. I am fascinated by all your topics and will probably work through them all before I'm done. A lot of work on your part, but a tremendous amount of information you are sharing.

[@jamessturgeon7025]

This is a really clear and to the point explanation of knurling...entertaining, too. Thanks!

[@mcpojack]

I really have been enjoying your Fusion 360 series. I check KZbin several times a day waiting for your next lesson.. Keep it up!!

[@paulmcwhorter]

Thanks, and I appreciate the feedback!

[@MrEngineer_]

Yeah...in this lockdown...I came with you upto this lesson and will complete all of them.I have been watching all lessons fully ...and learning a lot!Thanks!

[@1130jeff]

I took a different approach to this lesson. Created a 3D donut with the ID,OD, Height. Applied the knurl. Made a copy to the left on x axis. Extruded the right view to 35MM. Added thread to the extrusion and the ID.

[@wallymurray620]

Struggled a little with this one, not sure why because it seems pretty simple now. One thing that helped me was laying out parameters, even my construction lines and not doing copy paste of the bodies. I could never get my sketch’s to lock down otherwise. Once I did that it all started to work like yours. Looking forward to the next lesson. Thanks Paul.

[@nicholasjacobs1967]

another fabulous video. Paul, you can select a plane or axis from the origin branch of the main tree (under document settings, views) if a body or something is obscuring your view to select it with the mouse directly. Also saves hiding and unhiding just to select the plane/axis.

[@aliank77]

I am learning a lot from your tutorial. Thank you. Great tutorial for newbie cad like me.

[@coledunlay7876]

Thank you, Paul for another excellent series of lessons. I'm also following (and doing) the Arduino series. I've been considering getting a 3D printer but didn't want to be limited only to models I could download. With this series I'm beginning to see that I soon will have the skills I need to make my own models. Then I will seriously consider a 3D printer. Between this and the Arduino series I should be able to make some great projects. Thanks again for another excellent series.

[@dougkluender9007]

Great series. Makes sense to me based on the drawing skills I learned in High School. The young guys are too fast for this old guy to follow. Thanks Paul.

[@JesusHernandez-uj6wk]

I've seen this one too. Its great! I wish I had a 3D printer to see how this things work! Than Paul. You are the best!

[@vaughntaylor2855]

Excellent lesson Paul! It is appreciated the time and patience you have! One request is that perhaps if there are future lessons, when you send to slicer, you might make mention of the printer settings you are using for that particular sketch? Again, Thank You!

[@PaulLemars01]

Many thanks Paul. Just sent this to my Anycubic Linear Delta. Looks great!

[@brandonleirer4928]

Loved the video. Your enthusiasm is fun to watch.

[@vincentliet7995]

I like your style very much. I appreciate it. I can do what you do in real-time here on fusion-360. Thanks a lot. Keep going this way.

[@blackburd]

Love it. I went and put a negative offset on the OD of the bolt head at 0.5mm and extruded it up to cut off the tips of all those sharp points. Looks fantastic.

[@paulmcwhorter]

Nice work!

[@Helbur_RoboGym]

Good work once again Paul! It is really helpful to understand the fundamentals which you have been reiterating. Thanks very much!

[@paulmcwhorter]

Glad it was helpful!

[@StreetWorkout]

Great video! Thnx!

[@Zone1242]

Another great lesson. I printed off the previous nut and bolt and it worked though the fit was a bit tight. Of course wiht 3D printing there are many variables that dictate the final result in terms of dimensional accuracy. Cheers, John

[@tonyd7177]

Hi paul discovered you through another learning fusion 360 guy a ( Mr Lars Christensen ) who has been my go to teacher in fusion for around two years now , he mentioned your name in his tutorial on how to do knurling and posted link to ur page where i found this awesome clearly narrated 360 tutorial .. I have now bookmarked this page and a few other tuts of urs to watch at a later date, im really happy i have now found another awesome 360 teacher ;) thank for this video tutorial look forward to watching more :)

[@alexrafie162]

thanks Paul these lessons are absolutely useful.

[@kirillbez386]

Paul if you are wondering if we are following along, YES YES we are and thank you!

[@deonholt]

Great tutorial from an EXCELLENT tutor. Thank you very much.

[@NwoRun]

Great Lesson, Paul. Thank you!

[@petermferguson]

Still useful - I've followed all these 'die trying' lessons :)

[@francescodigiovanni4632]

Great video. Very appreciated the name the commands you type!

[@jwalsho93]

Thanks again Paul for a great video, so far I'm not dead!

[@AlvinEvangelista]

Always excellent and useful lessons!

[@ifonlyeverything]

Thanks, exactly what I was looking for!

[@ericbrunstad]

Great video. Would have been nice to have more of an explanation on how circular patterns worked though.

[@grover1989]

Another great one. I only put a bit of chamfer here and there to smooth the knurled a bout on the edges

[@flyinlo1474]

Love these tutorials!! In your other tuts you placed additional components to the right but this one was to the left (negative area). Is there ever a reason when you should not go into the negative area and stay to the right or does it simply not matter?

[@codyphillips6737]

Good Lesson Paul!!!

[@RainbowCircus]

Great video, as always, love this series. One thing though. I did everything like you did and printed the nut and bolt. They look great but the won't screw together. The bolt goes in for about one turn and then it gets stuck. Any ideas on why and/or how to solve it?

[@ginobee2000]

The best of all tutorials.. Other tutorials on youtube are rushing as if they are making the tutorials for themselves and not people to watch..

[@philnewman1110]

Two videos tonight Paul, might be trying to run before i can walk, my question in the last video number 7 regarding helix's is probably being answered here using the coil tool. Great video again as always!

[@davidayre310859]

Really feel like I am getting my head round fusion 360 with this series of lessons.. Thank you so much... A quick question..... I have noticed some things are different or don't work if done in a slightly different sequence. I noticed this while trying to put a small chamfer on the edges to make the edges on the knurling look better. The chamfer needs to be done before the spiral sequence. Is there a list of sequences or do I just need to work it out as progress and things either work on don't work. Again thanks a good series of lessons

[@jim.c6780]

great job Paul I was always wondering how they made those knurled bolts and nuts seen in other videos thanks for this tutorial this is more of my style at this point thank you keep them coming. P.S. I'm glad you're not going hundred miles an hour like some other tutorials where you can't understand what the even doing.

[@bobkehoe-wc3nm]

thanks paul for a great teaching experience. just one thing to note, when i used faces i got a compute error but used features and all is well. thanks again

[@ammaratef45]

I have the same situation but when I use feature only one coil can be selected (its mirror is not selectable(

[@dpbahena]

Thanks...your explanation is great.

[@billfield8300]

Hi Paul, Another lesson on something I didn't know how to do. Thanks.

[@paulmcwhorter]

Great, hope you continue to benefit from these lessons.

[@ernestasvaikasas6528]

Great series, thank you!

[@MrElpelusa]

Learning Fusion 360 without a computer Boom!!! jejeje , you the best Mr Paul !! thank you !!

[@BrianVillegas67]

Another good one. Keep on keepin' on, good sir!

[@TheKverbeeck]

Thx Paul for another great tutorial. Very simple and cool. Also, i would suggest to use the mirror feature (coil) instead of faces.

[@TheKverbeeck]

Same for the circular pattern, select the coil and mirror feature in the project timeline as object

[@StefanFahlberg]

Greetings from Sweden ... I really enjoy your videos :-)

[@newalla344]

Yes, very good lesson. Thanks.

[@StephenBoyd21]

Great tutorial Paul. I knerl that we could do it.

[@bhavesh505]

Hello Paul, Thanks for another great lesson. I learn something with each project. I will say that it is difficult to wrap my head around the concept of how to use planes and how the different orientations look in space. Until I get a clear understanding of this concept my design work will continue to be a challenge. I am looking forward to the next lesson. Thanks Thank you,

[@paulmcwhorter]

Just keep practicing. It will make sense with time.

[@ruuppp]

Very cool. Thanks again!!!

[@AnthonyWebb7]

Great video, you have a talent for teaching, look forward to more of these!

[@paulmcwhorter]

Glad you find them useful!

[@goofyinestherville]

@@paulmcwhorter Boom!

[@repeters1]

Hi Paul, I am enjoying this series very much and actually learning quite a bit from it. I was wondering if there is a way to put this knurled pattern on a flat surface? I would like to design some model train boxcar walkways with a similar pattern without having to make each individual line. Thanks again for the help in learning this program.

[@tdeaguirre]

Thanks for your instructional videos. Can you tel me the path of the 3D printer to do the inside thread of the nut on your video. How thr bid grinds the inside of the nut? Thanks!

[@Gallardo6669]

QUESTION: am i right, i had the impression that the actual print had a way less knurling cuts as the computer model!? Something silly the printer software changes to make it printable????

[@Tj6139]

Great Video! Thank you

[@1000mattyr]

Hi Paul , I really enjoy your lessons and am learning so much ... I have one issue ... When I print the designs they never fit together... If it's the glasses boxes that can't close or the screws that don't fit the bolts ... Shouldn't we take into consideration the tolerances of the 3d printer ? By the way I am using a prusa 3s

[@yadmoto1607]

Amazing video thank you!

[@joebgoodus]

Very helpful!!! Thanks!!

[@danbirch8939]

Excellent explanation.

[@mohamedmohudoom5473]

Great content sir highly helpful

[@JuanAdam12]

Still no luck with this one. Something has been left unsaid about creating a second vertical axis. I cannot get Fusion to act in the same way McWhorter does here. I go from working on the bodies to trying to create a new sketch using the Y-Z axis to add the construction line but I end up in the top-view of the sketch. Impossible to make that vertical line while in that view. (I'll leave this comment here as a message-in-a-bottle for someone who may find it some day. Thanks in advance!)

[@danielyou1]

I have the same issue that I can't draw a vertical line.

[@puzzelpalace9669]

I'm sure its too late but here we go. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iZLKn36Nd9mmhKs video is timestamped so pause there and notice he has his mouse over the 3 different planes that appear above the Origin Point when creating a New Sketch. He picks the X,Z plane(Vertical) because he started his drawing in the X,Y(Horizontal) plane. One of the reasons he stresses starting creations in the X,Y plane. Guarantees Up/Down is always on the X,Z plane. Not sure if that helps anyone.

[@mikedoingmikethings702]

Since you created the bolt and nut at the SAME diameter and height, would I be able to do 2 bodies on the bolt first, once knurling is done, copy the half part of the bolt with out the threaded part (diff body) paste, create circle, extrude, create thread to get the nut done? Then extrude the other one, extrude and create thread? Another question, is knurling process the same with all types of face, i.e. flat, 3d triangle, oblong etc? Thank you sir! Mine

[@Tom9Zawodny]

Hi Paul; just recently started going thru your series, got thru lessons 1-8 so far. Really good series for learning Fusion 360. Don't have a current need/interest in drawing gears tho, so lessons 7-11 are of lesser interest. Lessons 1-6 were great; I expect 12-13 also to be helpful. My real interests for Fusion 360 are for creating CNC 'cutting files' from RC aircraft plans AND designing 3-dimensional structures (like workbenches) from dimensional lumber , plywood sheets, and even PVC tubes and fittings. Any plans for adding lessons like these to your series ??? TomZ

[@scratchinjack608]

I have a much newer version of Fusion 360 than being used here. I found I only need one set of 2 concentric circles. I first extruded, threaded and knurled the nut and then moved it aside to do the bolt. I had to hide the bolt to find the Z-axis to revolve the coil in a circular pattern.

[@pedropintogarcia617]

Maybe for a more efficient way of mirroring the inside cuts. We can select "Features" instead of "Faces" while mirroring or making patterns. With more complex bodies it might be time and patience consuming to be selecting every single face individually. We can access these features at the bottom left side of the screen under the timeline. I found out about your channel because of the Arduino tutorials, and got right away interested on your educational videos, we can feel your passion in teaching and it's a pleasure to follow along!

[@johnm4962]

Thanks you Paul

[@chuckgreen355]

once again great video

[@sortofsmarter]

I know this is a older lesson but I'm glad to see my computer isn't the only one that chugs slowly on these calculations...lol

[@DanCoastie]

Great tutorial and came out looking great on my prusa. Only issue I had was the threads didn’t line up correct and were super tight and I couldn’t thread it. Need to look further into this. Thank you!

[@paulmcwhorter]

I love the prusa! Please check out my new fusion 360 lessons on this channel. Fusion 360 changed their gear cutter since I made these videos, and now for a 3D printer they are too tight. I have an upcoming lesson where I show how to properly correct it. With your present nut/bolt if you put it on and off slowly, little by little, it will loosen up.

[@skipblu3508]

Very interesting lesson. Do you have a lesson about tweaking the threads to compensate for your printer error? I printed a nut and bolt using Fusion 360 (Fusion 2.0.18950 x86_64 [Native] ), but my diameters were off .31mm (a built in error of the Ender 3 printer).Is there a way to build that compensation into a standard thread?

[@kevintomas]

gracias maestro sos un maestro

[@vincentjanse]

thank you!

[@zero00tolerance]

I did it ! thanks a lot !

[@bossecarlberg]

Very god lesson thank you I look forward to next lesson

[@paulmcwhorter]

Good deal . . . glad you are sticking with these.

[@JerryFountain]

Nice job. I came over after watching Lars' video.

[@paulmcwhorter]

Lars is the master . . . much better than I will ever be. The one thing I offer is a more methodical start from the very beginining. I sure like Lars . . . he seems like a very happy man.

[@jkepps]

Same here!

[@jacobteasley206]

What a knurley video! 🤙

[@michaelbourke4032]

Hi Paul thanks for your great tutorials. I whave used other programs such as solidworks and find 360 quite easier to use. Can I ask what printer you are using and if it is satisfactory? I purchased a printer previously and managed only 20 hours before returning to china.

[@mickredfox]

Hey Paul, how can you put this knurls on the bottom of the nut(face)?Same Great videos as the videos on the arduino

[@JuanAdam12]

When I try to create a new sketch for the vertical construction line centered in the nut, the line gets drawn from the center of the bolt instead. I wonder if this has to do with the copying of the concentric circles in the original sketch.

[@johnmainville6512]

Well again great job! However, I am running into a problem with applying the knurl . Selections of greater than 17 cuts to the secound knob face I get "C Pattern 2 error" or "C Pattern 1 " and then everything stops. Aarrgh! Any help here would be appreciated.

[@michaelglinz3535]

I have learned so much. Thank you. Never seen fusion 360 before , but am picking it up slowly.Please donate to Pauls PATREON WEBSITE he is well worth it.

[@alfredometz2118]

Paul, I have successfully created the knurled faces on the bolt segment. In trying to do the knurls on the nut body I find I can't do the mirror step. The following sketch pallet commands greyed out (can't be selected): SKETCH SCALE, MIRROR, CIRCULAR PATTERN, RECTANGULAR PATTERN. Even going to a new design, these same selections remain greyed out. What is going on?

[@matthewdick6063]

Question. What am I doing wrong or what setting is wrong that won't allow me to send both to the slicer?