1 Topic by mconsidine

  • mconsidine
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Topic: Printing threads.

Hi all,

I want to investigate printing an adapter for a camera.  Ideally, I'd like to be able to print a female t-thread, which is M42x0.75 metric.  Being able to print a male t-thread would be useful too.

I've looked around for an existing CAD model to work from and cannot find any.  Which leaves the most likely alternative being to model one in SketchUp or OpenSCAD, for example.  So, a couple of questions :

- does anyone know of a CAD model that I could work from and which I have overlooked?
- does anyone happen to have something like this already modeled that they could share?
- does anyone have a recommendation of a good plugin to either of the above programs (or other free program) that would allow a relative modeling newbie to pull this off? (I can deal with Windows or Linux environments)
- is there a resource online that would allow for the modeling and then download of a resulting CAD file?

Finally,
- does anyone have any experience and tips to share 3D printing fine threads (using filament extrusion, of course)

Thanks in advance for any help...

Regards,
Matt

2 Reply by 2n2r5

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Re: Printing threads.

http://grabcad.com/library/hexagon-head … m01-to-m64

SD3 w/ mods:
Glass bed with QU-BD heat pad upgrade, threadless ballscrew w/ 8mm smooth rod, spectra line belt replacement, lawsy MK5 extruder, Lawsy replacement carriage, E3D hotend, Ramps 1.4 w/ reprap discount controller, DRV8825 drivers, 12v 30A PS, Acrylic case, Overkill Y-idlers, Filament alarm, Extruder fan + more.

2n2r5's Website

3 Reply by timp610

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Re: Printing threads.

I've printed threads fine. You may have to scale them up a little so it fits and definitely use a fan.

4 Reply by mconsidine (edited by mconsidine 2013-06-13 12:27:52)

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Re: Printing threads.

Thanks for the link and the advice.

Using the M42 nut in that collection, scaling it so that the thread width is 0.75mm and then placing it in a 2" O.D. ring, I get the attached SketchUp model.  It is then exported as an STL.

It looks right but that's about where things go off the rails.  When I try running it through either Netfabb Studio or the Netfabb cloud service, I essentially end up with a ring and no interior threads, at best.  (Actually, I end up with a model that's all red in Netfabb Studio.)

So I'm thinking I've somehow modeled this incorrectly or otherwise missed some essential point to try to model and then slice a ring with fine detail.

If anyone with more experience than me in modelling has any suggestions, pointers or a fix, I'd be appreciative.
Regards,
Matt

EDIT : Removed large model and substitute one that netfabb is happy with shortly...

5 Reply by neoblood3d

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Re: Printing threads.

Blender3d has a lot of features.  Graphicall.org has a ton of modified builds that can help you create virtually anything through a series of conversational type variables.

6 Reply by nlancaster (edited by nlancaster 2013-06-12 21:15:09)

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Re: Printing threads.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:13923

I printed up one of those as a test.  Works pretty good, and It is a neat puzzle.

That being said, I wouldnt want to use printed nuts/bolts for anything that needed to be rugged.  the primary weakness of our printers is the layering, and you will bee applying a load to the screw that will be trying to break that layer connection.

7 Reply by adrian

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Re: Printing threads.

I have managed to succesfully print working threads on a large scale; I've made a few variations of http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:10189 and they all sealed and functioned...

But its not exactly an M3 thread wink

8 Reply by 2n2r5 (edited by 2n2r5 2013-06-13 04:19:46)

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Re: Printing threads.

http://www.thingiverse.com/make:37155

Here are some very small threads that I printed.

SD3 w/ mods:
Glass bed with QU-BD heat pad upgrade, threadless ballscrew w/ 8mm smooth rod, spectra line belt replacement, lawsy MK5 extruder, Lawsy replacement carriage, E3D hotend, Ramps 1.4 w/ reprap discount controller, DRV8825 drivers, 12v 30A PS, Acrylic case, Overkill Y-idlers, Filament alarm, Extruder fan + more.

2n2r5's Website

9 Reply by mconsidine

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Re: Printing threads.

Thanks all.  Last night I spent some time coming up to speed (sorta) on OpenSCAD and ended up with an M42x0.75 design that netfabb's cloud service was happy with.  So I'm going to try printing that and will post results.

I agree with the comment about the weakness being in the layers and am concerned about that.

'course, I also need to figure out how to successfully print an iPhone case to use with this adapter.  The curling of large flat items is a real issue with this technology and I think we might be conflating the ability to "stick" with the tendency for solid plastic to contract.  So I wonder if the solution isn't more in the fill design than it is in the type of hairspray used smile

Matt

10 Reply by adrian

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Re: Printing threads.

mconsidine wrote:

So I wonder if the solution isn't more in the fill design than it is in the type of hairspray used smile

Matt

From back in the annals of time, this article from hack-a-day: http://hackaday.com/2011/11/15/a-techni … 3d-prints/

Still holds true....

11 Reply by saymo606 (edited by saymo606 2013-06-13 11:29:02)

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Re: Printing threads.

The curling of large flat items is a real issue with this technology and I think we might be conflating the ability to "stick" with the tendency for solid plastic to contract.  So I wonder if the solution isn't more in the fill design than it is in the type of hairspray used

less infill the better
design in some relief holes at the corners of your print if the design permits
5mm brim
cover the enclosure

all the above is good for combating warp. I pretty much print everything with a brim now... not many warps now at all..if they do, i reduce the infill. smile

12 Reply by mconsidine

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Re: Printing threads.

adrian wrote:

From back in the annals of time, this article from hack-a-day: http://hackaday.com/2011/11/15/a-techni … 3d-prints/

Still holds true....

Thanks for that.  It would be nice if Slic3r (or one of the other, similar, apps) could add this sort of technique automatically.  But I suspect anything beyond a simple interface layer to the bed would need special design attention.

Also, I can see the need to have to tailor where infill can be light and where it needs to be heavy.  All this suggests the need for a slicing app that allows for more "art" to be added to the slicing process.

Thanks too for the links to the sample threads and settings commentary - they are helpful.  I've got a feeling that getting the T-Mount adapter printed in a way that is usable will be a challenge.  Because of the weak point noted above, I wonder if it might make sense to print the ring standing up?  Certainly would be a good test of overhang and support capability!

Matt

13 Reply by mconsidine

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Re: Printing threads.

Well, I'll admit that I'm no pro with respect to clever designs or configurations for these printers.  But I've come to the conclusion that an M42x0.75 thread can't be printed.  None of the slicers I've tried seem to be able to deal nicely with it (in terms of travel paths).  Or maybe its my configurations.  In any case, attached is the SCAD and STL files if anyone finds a need to explore this rabbit hole.

Matt

Post's attachments

M42x0pt75buntitledfixed1_fixed.stl 692.27 kb, 10 downloads since 2013-06-17 

M42x0pt75_tthread.scad 377 b, 3 downloads since 2013-06-17 

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14 Reply by elmoret

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Re: Printing threads.

M48x6 printed just fine on a Printrbot Simple:

http://www.matter-replicator.com/forum/ … &t=119

I'm sure you can do M42, but 0.75mm thread pitch is really fine.

Filastruder - the robust, inexpensive filament extruder
E3Dv6 All Metal Hotend - the premier 3D printing hotend

15 Reply by mconsidine

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Re: Printing threads.

Thanks for the link.  Those were nicely done.  For the M42, the issue wasn't the diameter (in my couple of attempts) but instead the slicing.  I tried printing it both horizontally and vertically and it just didn't seem to want to hold together (stringy).  Maybe it's my settings, but by now I think I'm pretty well dialed in on backlash, motor steppings (x,y,z and e), extrusion multiplier and filament diameter.  A single wall calibration cube comes out dead-nuts-on.  So I'm suspecting that translating a fine helical pattern to an x-y-z layout process is the culprit in existing software.

At the same time, I wonder if knowing ahead of time that the pattern is helical would allow for a smarter slicing strategy.  I assume that current slicing software is necessarily "dumb" about what it is trying to reduce to gcode.  (An exception to this would be Slic3r's theoretical ability to use codes for arcs when it thinks it's trying to do a circle.  But I don't think even that works ...)

Matt

16 Reply by nlancaster

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Re: Printing threads.

what layer thickness are you printing at?

maybe a fan to cool the print right away. I have been experimenting with thread printing and find that the threads are not cooling fast enough and warping.  I am going to get my fan up and running soon to combat that.

17 Reply by mconsidine

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Re: Printing threads.

I was trying to just get *something* at .3mm for a proof of concept, recognizing that no matter what, I'm going to need to chase the threads.  But even that didn't seem to work, which led me to think that the bigger issue was the strategy used to slice the model.

I did not have a fan on the bed to cool the plastic quickly, so maybe I should revisit this.  How fine a thread have you been trying to print?  Maybe I should re-read what the user who was trying to get down to 0.05mm did ...

Matt

18 Reply by mconsidine

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Re: Printing threads.

At the risk of dragging this thread on longer than it needs to be ... Has anyone been experimenting with the "spiral vase" mode in the latest release of Slic3r?  (I gather Cura has a similar mode.)  I wonder if this is set if it will interpret helical patterns any more "nicely."

At the moment I'm just thinking out loud, but will give it a shot in a day or so.

Matt