Hi, What im doing: So I am designing a pendant to give to my girl friend. It will be the first thing I print on shapeways. The idea is the pendant will hold a message on a piece of paper wrapped around a pin inside. The pendant will be two parts and made of sterling silver. My CAD skills are more then adequate to produce the pendant, Im using solidworks. The problem: Im not sure what specs I should give the screw thread. So i wanted anyone's advice on the pitch, clearance and size of the thread. The nominal diameter is 4mm. The pendant is pictured both with a cross section and with out. I have read the material data sheet, but the minimum detail of 0.6mm isn't as much clarification as i would like. Any help or feedback would be appreciated as im looking forward to doing more projects through shapeways.
You could model the thread easily, but your tolerancing will vary depending on how it is oriented in the build. This is just an idea, but what about having a pin lock? I couldn't find a picture of an example, so I uploaded a quick concept. The transverse pin is inserted and turned clockwise to lock - it would be ideal to have some sort of detent so it would stay locked.
Thanks for the response, Unfortunatly i submitted my order a day ago. I will post some pics of what I did. As for your idea, i do like edison sockets, i should have thought of that. i left a gap of 0.1mm between the threads, i hope thats enough for the tolerances.
If it doesn't work out you can get a tap and die and clean up the threads - assuming you modeled a standard thread that is. Let us know how it goes!
Hi, in case you get this message, how did the threading work out? I am doing the same thing for a 2-part metal cup with Acme style thread leaving 0.1 mm clearance and a low thread angle. It is an expensive project so I would like to get some feedback.
bradykineticcuriosities you mentioned here that the edision lock could have some sort of detent...do have any ideas how that could work? im trying to make something very similar to 6516440 and i get the impression reading these forums that threading doesn't work in metal...