Tips/Techniques Show your shop related 3DP

[J.mac]

I've been comparing heat set inserts with pressed in hex nuts & I'm starting to go hex more & more. More for simplicity & nuts are just common stock vs dragging out the iron. I know some guys use those insert irons in a drill press type gadget which probably eliminate some of the variables. The nut recess is a slight interference fit. I use med/thick CA glue & they actually hold pretty well for most 3DP gadget applications. The PLA failed first when I did a removal torture test. The alignment trick in both cases is to leave the insert slightly proud of 3DP surface & then squeeze it flush to the datum surface in a vice or over a smooth block. You have to do this kind of quick with the heat inserts whereas the glue gives you some fiddle time. Excess CA can work its way up into the threads, if so just let it cure & run a tap in.

I'm not sure if anyone else mentioned this, but you can also fully embed nuts by modeling them inside the print and then putting a layer pause in the slicer right before it tries to bridge the hole closed, insert the nut, and then continue the print to fully capture the nut inside. Makes for a very strong connection if you put a couple top layers over it.

 

[pdentrem]

I use the dxf for the nuts and bolts that McMaster-Carr to make a pick list for when I draw up items that require hardware to assemble etc.
Pierre