How to Reverse Engineer Threads on SolidWorks
Rafael Testai
Solving Domestic Violence with AI & Law, Free | The #1 AI that assists DV advocates | 1,000 of lives saved | Trusted by the National DV Hotline | Try ?? StatuteFINDER.org #Latino
Although there is a “thread” feature in SolidWorks which is predominantly used to replicated standardized threads, you may find a need to model threads from scratch.
Here is a step-by-step guide on how to reverse engineer threads from scratch in case you want custom threads.
We’ll be reverse engineering the threads of a spigot, which we modeled in the video below.
Side note: Given that fasteners or nuts are generally standardized components, we don’t usually model their threads on CAD unless we plan to produce them.
You can download the 2019 SolidWorks CAD file for free HERE to follow along if you’d like.
Features we’ll use:
1) Hand measure parts
0.66”
Note: Alternately you can measure the OD instead and use triangular profile as a cut sweep. In this article, we used the ID and used the triangular profile as and swept boss.
Tip: Lock your calipers at 0.5” so they don’t move.
Math: If there are 8 threads in 0.5”, then there are 16 threads in 1”.
1/16 = 0.0625”
0.0625” is the pitch.
Pitch: The distance between threads.
Note: For standardized nuts and bolts you can use a thread gauge & thread identification guide.
2 ) Extrude the body
3)Make the thread
You’re creating this “offset” of 0.005 on the bottom line of the triangle so that when you use the “sweep” feature in future steps, the solid triangle from the sweep will overlap with the solid from the cylinder. Therefore, allowing you to merge the two bodies into one. If the two bodies don’t overlap, you won’t be able to merge them and the feature will fail.
This will make your triangular profile look like the thread profile below.
4)Finishing touch
Go from A to B by doing a revolve around where the thread ends.
ARTICLE SPONSORED BY: Pipeline Design & Engineering. We partner with medical device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment such as cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, or automation equipment but don’t have the bandwidth or resources internally to develop that equipment. You can find us on the web at www.testfixturedesign.com . Examples of our fixtures below:
Author: Rafael Testai - Mechanical Designer at TestFixtureDesign.com?
Senior Mechanical Engineer
4 年Do NOT, under any circumstances, model any std pipe, UN or std Metric thread, period. If it's got a call-out that you can use to order whatever it is, there is no need to draw (model) it. I have spoken.