I 3d print threads quite successfully, but my main reason for wanting threads is for use on My CNC machines.
My lathe for example….I have to go in and thread a completed piece in a second piece of software. It’s not the end of the world, but it would be amazing to simply load say a completed flashlight body, or a threaded bearing retainer, or a brass pipe adaptor, and simply run the file with the geometry already intact.
I believe more people would in fact print threads if it wasn’t such an arduous process.
threaded 3D printed parts which are meant to be mated, will print with the same tolerances, so even though a 10x1mm bolt may not thread perfectly into a 3D print without a little tweaking, it’s usually close enough to chase the thread, and essentially correct it.
I’m no turnip, but adding a bunch of threads to a file is a tedious process in Shapr.
Half of the time, I use the McMaster Carr product database to download a bolt the size of the thread I need, imbed it into My Shapr file, then delete it, leaving a threaded hole.
This works, but Cad files of bolts usually consist of hundreds of separate segments, and making sure all of them delete is a lot of work.
I’m almost positive that there is a way to weld an imported file into a single solid geometry, and I probably need to just learn to do it.
I know you cannot possibly be everything to everyone, but I really believe that easy thread generation is a feature that has perhaps the most universal appeal of any feature which is regularly suggested. I can see where adding a feature to generate fingers for early Victorian ceramic dolls would be low on the list of priorities, but we’re talking about threading. You want to pull ahead of the pack, and stand out as THE platform to be on? I think that’s a critical component.
I think you could convert a lot of these guys to your customer if you addressed the needs of machinists, laser and CNC operators, and other fabricators, many of whom cannot justify a single seat license to a Dassault product for example, or who may just be so set in their ways that they continue doing things the old “manual way” because learning solidworks, or inventor requires a great deal of time that they just can’t devote to learning.
This omission of this one single feature alienates a lot of potential users in My opinion.
Yes, there’s a lot of guys who just want to be able to 3D print a Bong, or a holder for their PlayStation controller, but there are also scores of fabricators who are still to this day, in 2023 for god’s sake, waiting for someone to make an iPad app that will make designing the parts we make on a daily basis, a simple task.
I mean a couple of these “invite only” AI platforms are now capable of spitting out a 3D file now. Surely there is a way you could satisfy the legions of “thread wishers” lurking about in these forums?
I’m appreciative of everything you do as always, so please do not think me “Ungrateful”.
