Really struggling to find a good way to design threads for things like bottle tops or screw/threads for clamps.
I switched from Onshape to SolidWorks which are not that straight forward with making threads. BUT! I remember that there are plug-ins available for onshape that van create threads really easily etc. Only thing I have not tested is how those onshape created threads actually print.
Welcome to the forum!
I use the thread generator that’s built in to Fusion and it works well.
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It depends on what CAD software you are using.
The most basic way (but time consuming) is going to sweep cut / extrude a thread profile around a helix. The most common thread profile is a triangle, but with this method you can do what you want. This method will work in pretty much any CAD software.
Both SolidWorks💘 and Onshape💘 are considered professional CAD softwares and do not cater directly to the 3d printing world. Onshape has the Thread Creator and SolidWorks has the Thread wizard. Both of these tools are intended for precise standard threads, so you have to use a little bit of wizardry to get them perfect. Both of these softwares have plugins that you can use to make the process easier (as @3DJL said), although my prefered method is to create custom thread profiles that you can use when you need to.
The thread generator is the one thing that Fusion really gets right since they have specifically catered to 3d printing. Very easy to use.
But of course this all depends on your current CAD software and if you are willing to learn another one.
Section view is your friend when designing threads.
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For Blender users (there are dozens of us!), Precision Bolts is a helpful addon.
It can get a little funny with non-manifold geometry sometimes but is generally stable - at least in v3.6 which is what I primarily use.
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I use FreeCad with the Fasteners add-on for screws, threaded rods, etc. To cut threads, I use the Cut Hole function in the Part Design module. To draw non-standard threads, I use the ThreadProfile extension.
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as a person coming from fusion360, i can never get my head around blender, i found it overwhelming at certain points and i know there are big potentials for me learning blender, but every time i try to do a project in it, i always struggle to deal with alignments, extrusions and face offset, for what i experienced in blender a project will take longer time for me comparing to fusion.
can you share some tips on how to start with blender?
the reason I’m looking into blender is that sometimes i like to add something sculpt to my projects, but then when i import it to the current project in fusion, the vertices of the sculpted part from blender overload fusion. (assuming doing the whole project in blender will save the fusion hassle)
Yup, it’s the same for me but in the other direction. I need to learn Fusion.
Blender is an amazing application but probably not the best for most projects. I use it only because I was a little familiar with it already when starting to design for 3D printing.
This video is a good intro: https://youtu.be/rN-HMVTB7nk?si=Opk0Hzoc-x7VNBsy
For alignments, the main tools are the keyboard shortcuts for constraints:
- Shift+Tab to enable snapping (you can configure snapping to vertex, face etc in the toolbar at the top.
- G to initiate a move of the selected
- G again to optionally constrain movement along edges
- X, Y or Z to constrain movement along an axis
- Type in numbers to move that many MM (if you project units are set to MM)
When extruding (E) you can use the above controls as well. By default, a face will extrude along their Norma’s but you can also use the above controls to constrain the movement of the extrusion.
May I shamelessly recommend SolidWorks and Onshape
I’d be a complete newbie with any of them so I could definitely go any direction. I feel like I see the most references and resources mentioning Fusion but really, I just need to learn CAD!
No surprise here. I use SOLIDWORKS Thread Wizard
We will convert @MaKim one of these days
Frankly Fusion is a great choice right now for parametric support. But hopefully one of these days we will get SW support.
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Newbie to CAD specifically haha
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I know, I know… but I literally tried to resist and I couldn’t 
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Be aware that not all threads are the same. The threads used for the lid of a peanut butter jar are quite different than the threads used in nuts and bolts, and that standard threads don’t always 3D print so well. That said, I tend to use the coil, helix, or spiral function, depending on the software I am using at the time, and use it to extrude a profile along a path. It takes a few extra steps and calculations but allows one to shape one’s threads exactly as one would like them.
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I started to learn Blender to create organic shapes. But then, I began to experiment with forms in Fusion and have discovered that I can sculpt shapes in Fusion just fine - with the ability to tie those shapes directly to 3D solid objects.
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all i know about forms is you can do spiraling and other stuff, but i did not see sculpting as blender like hand tools as brushes.
the thing with fusion is the more subdivision you create you will start choaking fusion, although i have a powerful pc somehow fusion manages to slowdown when i am in too deep (working with solids).
once i created a small rock on blender and imported it into fusion, each click took 2-3 minutes to register XD
thank you for the tips ^^
fusion should be easy, I’m not sure about other software, but maybe it was easy for me since i was working with 123D design before fusion.
lol…look at us talking about the struggle in modeling software, then there comes the grumpy users giving a 1 star review just because he did not clean his build plate XD
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