Joining Features | Design for Mass Production 3D Printing

[@micahkruzel1766]

I don’t mean to be rude, but those “snapping” pieces that you said cannot be done with regular manufacturing techniques do exist and are used extremely regularly in injection molded plastic parts. If you look up “plastic snaps” you can find entire design guidelines to create permanent or temporary snaps. Those guides are usually made for injection molded plastics so you have to change them slightly for 3d printing but they are very common

[@NicksStuff]

You need a more complex mold but they're reasonably easy to make. He also said they couldn't be machined, that's ridiculous

[@SaHaRaSquad]

Yeah that was a weird statement. Basically every other consumer device uses these for the case. Sometimes in addition to screws, like with many laptops.

[@Segphalt]

That doesn't conform to the "3d printing is magic and can do things no other process can do..." claim you see quite often but is very rarely true. Additionally many of the options provided in this video are also just generally bad and extremely fragile when not assembled and some when assembled.

[@hauntycz5191]

Well thy can be machined.. T types of mills easy...

[@BuzzingGoober]

​@Segphalt literally this. This dude is an amateur.

[@dominik7841]

7:04 Such snap-in joints are actually manufacturable pretty good without 3D-printing. If your part doesn't have to be fully closed you can simply machine the recesses from the outside. Another option for fully closed surfaces would be injection molding with movable core pins. That's actually pretty standard in the industry and mainly limited by size. Another option would be milling or even EDM machining with special diamond shaped tools.

[@slant3d]

So not manufacturable as is. Correct

[@LittleT2]

I had the same thought when I saw that. I have actually machined parts that are virtually the same with internal diamond shaped tools.

[@LittleT2]

@@slant3d These parts can absolutely be manufactured with traditional methods. Fisher Price Snap Lock Beads are basically exactly what you are describing and have been made since the early 70s

[@wynerro6680]

@@slant3d if its a plastic part using a collapsable core in injection molding should allow for production as is.

[@Raz_Tactical]

Yeah snap links are easy to manufacture and have been around for years. While set up is a bit more expensive than traditional moulding it can be moulded or machines easily. A lot of toys are actually manufactured with those exact joints. Of course this is assuming the geometry of the product allows for it.

[@mattbivi]

Honestly never thought about joining 2 pieces together without additional hardware/glue, or going for a woodworking like joint. Amazing design videos; you guys present these concepts in a super engaging way.

[@slant3d]

Glad to help

[@tankuman]

I have been in engineering design for 50 years + and at 69 years still going strong. I find 3D printing with a combination of laser amazingly useful for prototyping and congratulate you in your channel and videos. Unfortunately you will always get negative comments generally from those not involved in design and lacking in lateral mindedness which of course is essential in design. Your objective of giving inspirational ideas to others thus enabling them to make informed decisions is excellent. Well done...

[@NoMoreBsPlease]

No, you haven't! If you did, you would have caught the many lies he told. I've only been designing a decade and I noticed multiple untruths. Such a dumb thing to lie about.

[@syriuszb8611]

7:00 Worked as injected plastic part constructor, and yes, you can make such geometry in injection molding. With some small changes to geometry, like adding drafts to some faces. However, it would be expensive because you would need two very small sliders. And in traditional plastic injection molding, we would use proper positioning and proper hook (meaning, contact only on line, not surface to surface). I suspect it could be done in metal machining, but again, would be expensive, delicate work, with some changes in geometry, slot in corners would be rounded at least.

[@phasesecuritytechnology6573]

He did say "as is."

[@JesseSchoch]

tapered dovetails for the win. They do it all and are easy to design. Just make the profile, project it to the other plane. Run an offset and finally a loft.

[@chuyskywlk]

Indeed; can't believe dovetail joints weren't on this list.

[@nolansprojects2840]

I was looking for my dovetail peeps!

[@ianbelletti6241]

You can even make dovetails into a form of locking tab.

[@Internet-Antics]

Thank you! Must have slipped his mind when filming, but could easily replace the t and circle on a stick designs.

[@Internet-Antics]

​@@chuyskywlkinsanity right?

[@tonycerniglia4777]

Great content and truly enjoy the re-education. Being in the injection mold industry for nearly 1/2 a century there is an ingrained way at which "we" see designing and producing parts. It's this type of content that truly helps to advance my (our) thinking. However, there are techniques and processes that may not be top of mind for making some geometries that have been referred to as "impossible to be made any other way" on this channel. In the last example with the internal grooves, fully enclosed, there is a method to release that geometry in production mold tooling... I developed it for molding internal hinges on the Motorola phones in the early 90's. This comment is meant only to inform and I realize has nothing to add to the 3d printing world. Please keep up the content as it is truly informative.

[@ghostdog0424]

Don't discount your knowledge. Engineers need to listen to people with your level of experience more.

[@SweHam]

I love how this channel features solutions that are genuinely useful but somehow so easy to understand. Anything that removes the absolute need for glue or screws is a pretty helpful design solution 😊

[@slant3d]

Thanks for watching. Happy to help

[@ZURAD]

no part is the best part!

[@Amipotsophspond]

​@@ZURAD what do you work for apple? no part last for ever, even one solid piece. replaceable parts means ability to repair. destroy the whole thing and make a new one or replace just a part that all the strain is shifted to. if the whole item is made from replaceable parts it can last forever, but that's not good for apple's profits. also mass production metal screws can provide a lot of cheap structural support to plastic.

[@brian-uz2gx]

... and if I may add - to print it without supports! Having over 25 years of woodworking experience, I too was thinking dovetails! :) Keep up the helpful videos...

[@AkaBigWurm77]

That snap together design at the end led me to rethink a snap together design that's been in my head and now physical. Interesting how a design can change so much in prototyping.

[@KamilBanc]

This type of content is gold. Thank you!

[@slant3d]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@nexusnui]

I sometimes use Lego Technic Pins to join 3D printed parts.

[@ambersample3354]

Im here because of the last video. Enjoying the rabbit hole!

[@Maoda-p3t]

@@ambersample3354 me too😂😂

[@ParametricCPA]

Just started a 20 hour print where I opted for bolts and encapsulated nuts… wish I would have seen this video first! Nice work!

[@robgoodsight6216]

Coming from mechanical field I always use nuts and bolt myself. For dissimilar parts...a interlocking system is extremely useful... I know what you mean.

[@cadmiral3d146]

As a mechanical designer, this is an excellent explanation for anyone. Great video!

[@slant3d]

Glad we could help. Thanks for watching!

[@aswells3]

Designing for the the process you'll be manufacturing with is a huge step that is often overlooked. Features like this can make or break the manufacturability of a part. Great video!

[@slant3d]

Thanks for watching

[@benkeller3]

This one of your best videos for expanding my thoughts on 3d printing. I echo the person that said uploading your model would great. Keep up the good work!

[@a99thomas]

Excellent job with this video. But the snap-in joints are typically called snap fits. They are actually used a lot with injection molded parts but if I need a semi-flexible yet strong part, their basic design has almost always been the answer, especially when 3D printing.

[@jacowaes]

I recently discovered your channel/company. This type of content you share testifies how knowledgable you are with 3d printing

[@slant3d]

Appreciate It.

[@nathanp3366]

Thanks for giving your expertise out to the community, it’s people like you that push the industry forward.

[@slant3d]

Thanks

[@eyeonus]

7:34 it's called a buckle. It would certainly be difficult to make the buckle receptacle part using traditional subtractive manufacturing techniques, but I do not believe without evidence that it is /impossible/ to make that part except by additive manufacturing.

[@johnnycruiser2846]

I am working on a racing sim periphery and my main goal is the least amount of parts for ease of assembly. After about half a dozen iterations i managed to remove 80 % of the added joining hardware like bolts and nuts. This video showed me how to remove the last 20 %. Thank you so much.

[@slant3d]

Thanks for watching

[@arildedvardbasmo490]

I really love these! I design for both printing (MJF, FDM and SLA) and for CNC and injection moulding. This is also good - but locking, flexing clips are very possible and very common in injection moulding. Sure, this exact execution is not but the concept is exactly the same. I think the lesson is that we can use a lot of the same thinking, but applying slightly different optimisations and exploiting different strengths is important.

[@tobola28]

This video series is great! I want more!!!

[@slant3d]

thanks for watching

[@SmithyScotland]

Very inspirational. I appreciate the amount of models produced for this vid

[@slant3d]

Our pleasure!

[@connorcleveland9166]

For this type of content it would be sweet if you could upload f3d/step files somewhere so we can take a closer look in 3d or print them out at home.

[@drkzilla]

Best design for additive manufacturing account on the KZbin 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥰🥰🥰🥰 I've learned so much from your channel! Thanks 😘

[@slant3d]

Wow, thank you!

[@Ty-zd2ts]

Omg this is exactly what I was looking for for the past 2 weeks 😮

[@CANONinDEVIN]

I found this extremely helpful in thinking through different designs for joining. Thank you for sharing!

[@IanBradbury]

Brilliant. I'd never thought of snapping together joints. Thank you for the inspiration.

[@slant3d]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Dater]

Wow! 3D Printing is super interesting! snap-in joints are super innovative! Thank you so much for sharing!

[@ranyalbegwein7470]

You're awesome man! Thanks for the lesson! subbed.

[@timothymeade-on-twitter]

Incredible. I was thinking this morning I needed a better way to combine two parts and POW this shows up. Amazing timing! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@slant3d]

Perfect!

[@renegaed]

just found your channel and absolutely love your content. keep making detailed videos about functional 3d design. could listen to your videos all day.

[@slant3d]

Thank you

[@daliasprints9798]

Especially the spring design, but more generally whenever tension between parts is needed to hold the joint together, you're going to be fighting against creep - the property of the plastic to gradually deform over long periods of time under load. I would consider these designs non-starters for PLA or nylon and questionable for PETG. For ABS, ASA, PC, or PET they're great.

[@Martin-bx1et]

I'm just getting into 3d printing for functional prototypes and really value the material that you are sharing.

[@slant3d]

Thanks for watching. Hopefully you can take those prototypes into full production.

[@lornelorne5727]

What gives the best strength for a functional print that needs to support weight?

[@survival_man7746]

I like the subject of this video, usefull for designing

[@slant3d]

Thanks

[@rogerfroud300]

If you look at the geometry at timestamp 3:01, you can see that this isn't printable. Yes, you can print the 45 degree centre, but the extreme edges of the curved head would be printed in fresh air. Personally, I often design something as a whole shape, then draw a dovetail with say 60 degree sides for the join. The dovetail has nice fillets added to it. The dovetail is made as part of a cut for one side and then flipped over for the other side. The part has two Configurations, and you output the sides as separate .step files for printing. I've found that printing everything size for size results in a nice tight press fit. You get pretty much the same shrinkage on both halves, so it just works.

[@ВикторШабан-д8д]

Thank you for videos! Engineering solutions that you provide is exceptional !

[@slant3d]

Glad you like them!

[@JonNewell]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience, very much appreciated.

[@CheapCheerful]

Great video! Other videos talked in generalisations, but you actually showed it in Fusion. Thanks!

[@gabrielcarneiro4622]

Absolute chad, very nice explanations

[@chrisdixon5241]

Nice! My 2 "go to" connectors are the v-style tab (like the i-style but with "wings" on to stop it easily pulling out or flexing / rotating) and the "click-in-style" as you demonstrate, basically what you find on bag straps and belts that needs to mate together

[@baganatube]

Very helpful content! Will try out in my future projects. Well made video as well, compact and clear, not a single second is wasted. You got a new subscriber!

[@slant3d]

Glad it was helpful!

[@bridget_clinch]

I'm kind of surprised no one uses any Japanese wood joinery designs in 3d printing, they look awesome.

[@calebosmond9270]

Great video. Please do more!

[@jonnyhifi]

Excellent video - very thought provoking - thank you !

[@Colonelmustang11]

I run a 3D printing club for a CSU and the main question I get is how to put parts together after segmentation. I’ll add some of these to my non permanent and sliding joints section. Personally I always preferred dove tail joints. Great content

[@tinkerman-q]

I borrowed the concept of cordless power tools, the way 20V batteries snap into the tool is quite clever. Although much more complex to design, I found it really good to make detachable parts (with and without a detach button). Think the main takeaway is how the edges of the slot are a sequence of chamfers. This allows for bigger and safer tolerances that will still create a snap that does not jiggle.

[@zachhainline1601]

Good content! Useful and different from a lot of the stuff out there. Keep it up!

[@taitano12]

Love it. Thank you. I have just one issue with this, however: Snap joints have been around for quite a while in injection molding. The mold just needs an extra mechanism for each end - the male and the female. The additional mechanism does increase cost, however, and is SO much easier to do with FDM than IM. FDM makes the hidden snap joint a no-brainer.

[@g.s.3389]

i love these kind of video, please keep going on.

[@ianbelletti6241]

As far as the locking tabs go you forgot about the classic dovetail. The dovetail is simple, locks better than the square tongue, and tends to be a strong connection. Depending on what you're making sometimes dovetails can be a feature of interest in addition to a connecting feature.

[@slant3d]

Doestails function the same as the I and T

[@ianbelletti6241]

@@slant3d and their design is as simple as the tab.

[@MATLOCKE269]

This was extremely helpful and informative. Thanks

[@slant3d]

Glad it was helpful!

[@lyrrrx7026]

which 3d model program are you using?

[@3DJapan]

Tolerances are the bane of my existence. Literally every figure I download to print uses a key and hole (tongue and slot, whatever), a square bump that fits into a square hole, and not one artist has bothered with tolerances so the parts don't fit together and I have to sit there filling down the keys to make them fit. Even then they don't seem to fit cleanly.

[@darrennew8211]

Amazing. I was just sitting down to design a two-part print that has to hang reliably at an angle. This has a bunch of great ideas and perfect timing. :-)

[@slant3d]

Glad it was helpful. Best of luck on your project

[@SouthernWolff]

New to 3D printing, and have been brainstorming custom fasteners. I was thinking about an internal hole, with a slot on the edge that acts as a key slot. a tongue can only be inserted sideways, and then once inserted sideways, the part is twisted 90° (or more depending on design) to engage some kind of locking design on the inside, that prevents the part from being turned in reverse to allow the tongue to be removed via the key slot. Edit: imagine a grip fin ( 5:22 ) on the inside of a part that prevents twisting the part in the opposite direction once the grip fins are engaged within the body of the part.

[@emilblaksrensen1520]

Thank you. It was just what i needed yo know. Sadly money is tight, but I've subscribed and commented to help you with what i can, as you have helped me.

[@tjlusco]

3:00 How did you print the outer edge of the angled circular slot? Isn’t that going to be floating in mid air when you slice it?

[@AJMansfield1]

I usually use conical or pyramidal pins for locating 3d printed parts against each other. One irregular trapezoid pyramid for a low-precision joint, two elliptical cones for a more precise flat glue plane, or three circular cones and one threaded insert and bolt for a removable kinematic mount. Aggressively tapered pin edges are easy to print, easy to sand to a precise mating distance for a one-off, and easy to adjust CAD to get a second copy to mate perfectly right off the bed. They also provide excellent glue surface area.

[@CreatingCreations]

Absolutely loving these videos!

[@slant3d]

Awesome, thank you!

[@TutorialsIL]

Amazing content, so useful! Thank you for your service to the community

[@slant3d]

Happy to help! Design for 3D Printing is something that can help 3D Printing replace older more inefficent manufacturing processes

[@גיאדרי]

Great video. Really anticipated a dovetail and more variaty of snaps from injection molding, but yea, really good video

[@davidawaters]

Very good examples in your video. You can change the fit (how much clearance or interference), but you aren’t changing the tolerances. Tolerance would be how accurate and repeatable your 3D printing is. A worn lead screw or bad bearings would open up (worsen) the tolerance that you can meet. Take a look at an engineering drawing some time and you’ll see the tolerances required to make that part. You choose the process (machining, surface grinding, EDM, etc) based on those required tolerances.

[@logicalfundy]

Looks like something to make in OpenSCAD when I get home. Great idea!

[@claws61821]

Make sure you look up some of the videos that exist on how best to model tabs. The one shown toward the end is pretty much the most basic possible

[@logicalfundy]

@@claws61821 A good idea, I'll definitely look around! Although there's something to be said for keeping things simple.

[@brettfafata3017]

I love the idea of printing the fastener along with the part in one piece. Even for 3D-printed parts, I rely heavily on bolts which require the use of heat seat inserts to give the plastic part threads. Bolted connections are great and strong, but adding the inserts is an additional manual operation that takes time, unlike the print-in-place options you showed here. I'm definitely going to try one of these in a design, thank you!

[@motoformprototyping]

Super video as always

[@slant3d]

Thanks for the visit

[@motoformprototyping]

@@slant3d oo I'm always here, but rarely comment 😃

[@Tarbard]

Good timing, i'm trying to come up with joining solutions for something I've made so this is handy.

[@slant3d]

Thanks for watching

[@artfgs5713]

Hola... Felicidades por tu canal y los contenidos que planteas... Me encantan tus proyectos y lo que se aprende con ellos... Aquí tienes un nuevo suscriptor y mi Like... Gracias por compartir tus proyectos... Saludos.

[@JoseBerruezo]

Great tips. Thank you!

[@slant3d]

thanks for watching

[@dr.johnh.watson2444]

I'm a carpenter I stick to what I know and worked for centuries, I just make a dove tail. it is less likely to have anything sapping when pulled on and when you make the slot a tiny bit further in the parts get pulled together tightly.

[@cpu_1292]

Dovetails dont work as well on 3d prints in my experience due to tolaerance issues

[@gedion4000]

@7:12 these can be machined and molded. its a complicated mold, but machining is pretty straight forward with a slight change.

[@WRLD-FPV]

Great Video as always! Would love to see a video on thread design for 3d printing. Different size and shape and strengths/weaknesses of the different designs

[@slant3d]

Generally threads are more of a tolerancing issue than a design issue

[@gd.ritter]

Do you just manually design the tab and hole independently and align manually or is there a feature in fusion 360 that will aid in locating and tolerancing them? I have a small simple object that I want to be able to have multiples of that can connect together side-by-side on your desk so am thinking a simple slot on one wall and a T on the other to grab it.

[@zwurltech9047]

Great again, thank you!

[@Astrochelys91]

What program did you use for modeling

[@marcmaurette162]

Godly video. Big thanks,

[@MaxDev]

Hi, could you make a video on how we could make moving parts, like how we should think about moving parts, like i wanted to make a chapstick tube that spins, but i had no idea how to

[@dropkickedmurphy6463]

I love this content. Studying mechanical engineering, so learning this is useful. The locking tabs look a little bit fragile to me, so i probably would have made the tabs have a slight curve or a fin in the middle to be sure the tabs do not break or weaken with extended use.

[@avejst]

And than there are the 3D professor locking mechanical interlock, were you turn the mechanical 45 degree. Great walk-throug of the options 👍😀

[@aev6075]

What filament you use for these kind of things? PETG or can it be pulled off with PLA?

[@jeroendeswaef]

Great video! Any chance that you would want to share the design for the flexible t-slot? I would like to see in more detail how you chamfer everything

[@jimmyscott5144]

My favorite one to make is angled dove tails. They are nice because you can sit them flush and it's still a simple geometry. Plus if you angle it then it only comes apart in that direction which could be hard to know or see if it is not facing out. The top will look like a triangle but really it's slanted

[@fluppir]

Thank you kind sir! You make us all more cleverer…😂

[@slant3d]

Happy to help

[@skaltura]

needed a thin section joinery -> Slot for 2mm sheet metal strip is what i'm going to try :) Glued in with E6000 or Epoxy is the plan.

[@SaHaRaSquad]

If it doesn't need to look fancy I often just screw them together with M4 bolts + nuts. With a bit of tolerance testing you can print hexagon-shaped recesses into which you can pull the nut via the screw, super easy to design and durable.

[@LightOfReason7]

Interesting video, do you have any ideas for connecting thinner parts? maybe ones that are about 1/8" thick?

[@tolkienfan1972]

I enjoyed that. Thanks

[@saninnsalas]

Nice video as always! Did you already did something on angle adjustable 3D prints? On my learning journey, I am now trying to print a little case for wave millimeter sensors, that I can snap on a wall or the leg of a bed and adjust the angle... Somehow. I haven't found much for that (or maybe I do not use the correct keywords).

[@monkeywrench1951]

A cool case study would be designing tubes and ducts (I've seen your vents video - very inspiring by the way). I printed a filament "Y" splitter for a BL-X1C and noticed that most of the models are printed vertically, which results in layer lines perpendicular to the filament flow. So if your filament has a sharp end, and it finds an unruly layer line, it will get stuck. A solution could be to use a hexagonal profile and print the splitter flat so that the layer lines wouldn't be perpendicular to the filament path. In the case of other ducts or pipes, I believe you spoke about this in the vents video, but the layer lines if perpendicular to the flow can create turbulence which may be good if you want to avoid material deposition, or if they are aligned with the flow may help laminar flow for other applications.

[@SpaceEngines]

These snap-in joints are great and I have been adding them to my assemblies too. I found the snap-in joint can be cylindrical in order to snap into a circular hole, if one-degree-of-freedom rotation of two parts is required.

[@gabrielrocha7547]

Would it be possible to make a screw that needs 3 or 4 twists to join the pices toghether? I think it would be tricky to make the 2 pieces align

[@jack91522]

How would you connect two large flat and thin 15mm pieces together to make a tray and still be strong enough for its intended purpose?

[@rocketmandan5524]

how big/small should the tabs be in comparison to the hole and inside cutouts?

[@ChaonicMew]

I haven't actually designed joint parts like this, but my intuition tells me I wouldn't want the joints to be permanently attached to either of the pieces and rather be a piece of itself. If both joint parts have female recesses and you have a male-male joint, it may not be quite AS snug, but if something breaks, you only have to print another joint. I'd really like to know what your opinion on that is!

[@davidzizza]

What if you have a large thin (say 10mm) surface made up of 12 pieces in a 4x3 grid so parts need to connect on multiple sides? What if you were given multiple STL files where you expected just to print and glue them together? What's the simplest way to mechanically connect them? Thanks!

[@kaitingchang7765]

I have been searching for this topic for a month, now I finally find it. Would also like to know about tips for combining magnet to 3d print ed part.

[@slant3d]

Cut out hole. insert Magnet. lol

[@AerialWaviator]

An option is to pause print, drop magnet in embedded hole, continue print. Or place a recess in the design, where magnet can be glued in. Orientation of magnet is critical, or will have opposite effect. While great for a limited print, neither is not practical for mass production.

[@panoramicfilmsusa9909]

Hi, what software do you recommend to me? Thanks

[@UNgineering]

what if you have to join 2 thin parts edge-to-edge?