Custom Tool Helps Hakko Set Threaded Inserts

When the tool you need doesn’t exist, you have to make it yourself. Come to think of it, even if the tool exists, it’s often way more fun to make it yourself. The former situation, though, is one that [Sean Hodgins] found himself in with regard to threaded inserts. Rather …read more

Continue reading Custom Tool Helps Hakko Set Threaded Inserts

Dremel Workstation’s New Job: Applying Threaded Inserts With Cheap Soldering Iron

Dremel has been helping people fit square pegs into round holes for years, and [concretedog] saw that the Dremel 220 Workstation — a piece of hardware similar to a drill press — could be convinced to hold a cheap soldering iron just as easily as it holds a rotary tool. …read more

Continue reading Dremel Workstation’s New Job: Applying Threaded Inserts With Cheap Soldering Iron

Are You Getting Your Money’s Worth from Threaded Inserts?

Have you ever wondered whether it’s worth the time and expense to install threaded inserts into your 3D-printed projects? [Stefan] from CNC Kitchen did, and decided to answer the question once and for all, with science.

If this sounds familiar, it’s with good reason: we covered [Stefan]’s last stab at …read more

Continue reading Are You Getting Your Money’s Worth from Threaded Inserts?

Threaded 3D Printed Part Comparison

If you want to make serious assemblies out of 3D printed parts, you’ll eventually need to deal with threading. The easiest way is to make a nut trap that you can either insert a standard nut into after printing or even during printing. However, there are limitations to this method. …read more

Continue reading Threaded 3D Printed Part Comparison

Threading 3D Printed Parts: How to Use Heat-Set Inserts

We can make our 3D-printed parts even more capable when we start mixing them with some essential “mechanical vitamins.” By combining prints with screws, nuts, fasteners, and pins, we get a rich ecosystem for mechanism-making with capabilities beyond what we could simply print alone.

Today I’d like to share some …read more

Continue reading Threading 3D Printed Parts: How to Use Heat-Set Inserts

Fail of The Week — Accidental Demagnetization

There’s a trick in the world of plastic enclosures. The threaded insert is a small cylinder of metal with threads on the inside and a rough edge on the outside. To make a plastic part with a hole for securely connecting bolts that can be repeatedly screwed without destroying the plastic, you take the threaded insert and press it (usually with the help of a soldering iron to heat the insert)  into a hole that’s slightly smaller than the insert. The heat melts the plastic a little bit and allows for the insert to go inside. Then when it cools …read more

Continue reading Fail of The Week — Accidental Demagnetization