T-Bolt Fasteners derived from 18-8 Stainless Steel Hex Head Screws (ISO 4017, DIN 933), sizes M3 M4 M5 M6 M8 M10.
-Fits into their respective sized inserts.-
Inspired by the T-Bolts found in Multiboards by Makertales.
T-Bolt design fixes 2 major issues that affected the strength and viability present in most of the typical 3D printed bolts.
Designed to be printed flat on the bed providing strength as small, rounded layer lines are no longer stacked high.
Allows placement of seams to be relocated away from the inside of the threads which caused thread deformation on cylindrical bolts.
Additional advantages
Prints much faster than their regular cylindrical counterparts.
Fits your regular M3 M4 M5 M6 M8 M10 holes.
Increasing walls or infill finally has an actual effect on properly improving the strength as compared to the original 3D bolt designs.
No supports necessary.
M3 bolts are very tiny so I've deepened the grooves to compensate the print and allow it to thread normally in any M3 nuts and inserts.
Notes
Print and tested on both PLA and PETG.
M3 only works at ≤0.12mm layer height.
M4 and M5 best printed at ≤0.16mm layer height.
Improving layer height on M6, M8, and M10 provided no noticeable difference.
X-Y hole compensation have been edited on the slicer for each of their respective nuts to allow it to easily roll just like the real ones.
Nuts can be printed standing but removes the threading at the top and bottom. (Tested for M3 and M4, still functional and removes the need for x-y compensation.)
Thread Size
X-Y hole compensation (mm)
M3
0.1
M4
0.2
M5
0.3
M6
0.4
M8
0.2/0.3
M10
0.3
This was a common issue with the other metric bolt files, so this should be your fix.
Ensure the file has the correct X-Y compensation, this should result in all of the hex nuts gliding properly onto the T-Bolts. (Should also glide well on real steel bolts or other 3D printed cylindrical bolts.)
If the settings are properly applied, all thread sizes should look like the GIF below.
Phil A
