Due to ordinary printed bolts alway breaking due to poor layer adhesion, I designed a parametric bolt which is printed laying down.

Introducing the STRONGBOLT

ASSEMBLY:

This bolt has a small piece of plastic between the two halfes, so its pretty easy to assemble by just flipping the halfes together. I recommend two small dots of gorilla glue between the halfes which creates a very strong bond.

TOOLS:

Glue

FILAMENT:

In my tests I used extrudr PETG white which worked very well due to its ductility. I think PLA and other filaments should work as well.

PRINT SETTINGS:

Nozzle diameter: 0,4mm

Layer height: 0,08mm

Infill pattern: Gyroid

Z-seam: Random

Every other setting is from the standard 0.08mm profile

In the provided pint profile I scaled the Bolt to 95% in X and Z direction which is neccessary for a smooth fit with a hex nut. If you use the provided f3d file for your own bolts I highly recommend doing this too.

For sizes smaller than M8 I highly recommend using a 0.2mm nozzle for better results.

Using the f3d file:

The parameters in the f3d file are used as follows:

The thread size needs to be adjusted using the rollback feature at the bottom. Just double click the threading operation and adjust it as you like and then click ok.:

After that you can export it as an 3mf file and import it in bambu studio. Remember to scale the bolt down in the width and height dimension to 95% for a good fit.

This is still a WIP project so I'm open for feedback. I try to add more print plates for different sized bolts. usually the larger the bolt, the better the result.

Before printing:

Make sure your build plate is clean and apply some adhesive. Wash the build plate with oil free soap and wipe it off with some paper towels. For a good build plate adhesion, apply a thin, even coat of your preferred adhesive. I repeat the process every 5-6 prints.

Bad build plate adhesion is not related to the model.

Please check out my other models https://makerworld.com/en/@BigEnnn and leave me a like and a decent rating if you were satisfied. Thank you in advance!

HAPPY PRINTING!

EDIT:

06/22/2024: 

• I added two new print profiles for sizes up to M12, and a new experimental profile for m6 bolts.
• Thanks to Reddit user u/LocoCracka I added a small channel for a piece of filament in the middle of the bolt to keep it aligned while glueing