Welcome to the Onshape forum! Ask questions and join in the discussions about everything Onshape.

First time visiting? Here are some places to start:
  1. Looking for a certain topic? Check out the categories filter or use Search (upper right).
  2. Need support? Ask a question to our Community Support category.
  3. Please submit support tickets for bugs but you can request improvements in the Product Feedback category.
  4. Be respectful, on topic and if you see a problem, Flag it.

If you would like to contact our Community Manager personally, feel free to send a private message or an email.

New Featurescript: Captive Nut

Evan_ReeseEvan_Reese Member Posts: 2,060 PRO
Captive nut makes it easy to add screw/nut joints to parts.

→ Here's a link to a video tour of the feature.

→ Go here to add the feature.

Below is an illustration of the three main insertion styles that can be achieved with the feature. Use it and let me know what you think!
Evan Reese / Principal and Industrial Designer with Ovyl
Website: ovyl.io
«1

Comments

  • alnisalnis Member, Developers Posts: 447 EDU
    This will make all of my Autodesk Inventor buddies so jealous. I'm looking forward to using it! It would have saved a lot of work in my previous robotics competition season. I hope to use it for more robotics projects in the near future!
    Student at University of Washington | Get in touch: contact@alnis.dev | My personal site: https://alnis.dev | Currently an Onshape intern: asmidchens@onshape.com
  • Evan_ReeseEvan_Reese Member Posts: 2,060 PRO
    This will make all of my Autodesk Inventor buddies so jealous.
    tell them to write a macro :D
    Evan Reese / Principal and Industrial Designer with Ovyl
    Website: ovyl.io
  • matthew_stewart580matthew_stewart580 Member Posts: 1
    the flip z direction doesn't seem to do anything. Im trying to put nuts into the top of the part, but it seems to leave hole through the bottom of the part not the top.


  • matthew_stacymatthew_stacy Member Posts: 475 PRO
    @Evan_Reese, great work!  For in-house printing this looks fabulous.  Have you had any success with commercial printing vendors (e.g. Xometry) on designs with embedded nuts, particularly those with support block inserts?

    I'm trying to imagine how the printing cycle pause points might be conveyed to a vendor.  In a drawing?
  • Evan_ReeseEvan_Reese Member Posts: 2,060 PRO
    the flip z direction doesn't seem to do anything. Im trying to put nuts into the top of the part, but it seems to leave hole through the bottom of the part not the top.


    do you mean the arrows next to "Printer Z direction"? I'm not sure why it wouldn't be working for you, but I just tested on mine and it flips. Try updating your feature. It looks like you're using an old version.
    Evan Reese / Principal and Industrial Designer with Ovyl
    Website: ovyl.io
  • Evan_ReeseEvan_Reese Member Posts: 2,060 PRO
    @Evan_Reese, great work!  For in-house printing this looks fabulous.  Have you had any success with commercial printing vendors (e.g. Xometry) on designs with embedded nuts, particularly those with support block inserts?

    I'm trying to imagine how the printing cycle pause points might be conveyed to a vendor.  In a drawing?
    I don't think I'd try the embedded style with a 3rd party. I'd design it differently, say for heat-set inserts, which Xometry will install for you.
    Evan Reese / Principal and Industrial Designer with Ovyl
    Website: ovyl.io
  • matthew_stacymatthew_stacy Member Posts: 475 PRO
    @Evan_Reese, that's savvy business strategy!  You know the customer will come back to you when they need replacement parts printed;)
  • tom_augertom_auger Member Posts: 115 ✭✭
    @Evan_Reese you Sir are a God. Thank you for this awesome FS feature!
  • tom_augertom_auger Member Posts: 115 ✭✭
    @Evan_Reese noooo! I can't find it in the FeatureScript database nor does your link work (says I don't have permission). What's the fix?
  • Evan_ReeseEvan_Reese Member Posts: 2,060 PRO
    @tom_auger
    I'm working on a fix right now, and the features will be back. We switched to Onshape Enterprise. A side effect I didn't realize we'd have is that Enterprise doesn't allow public documents so they all disappeared. 
    Evan Reese / Principal and Industrial Designer with Ovyl
    Website: ovyl.io
  • Evan_ReeseEvan_Reese Member Posts: 2,060 PRO
    As an aside, I'm actually currently re-writing the Captive Nut feature from scratch. I've gotten decently better at Featurescript since then and also have a better philosophy for the user experience. I should have a beta for that ready soon!
    Evan Reese / Principal and Industrial Designer with Ovyl
    Website: ovyl.io
  • tom_augertom_auger Member Posts: 115 ✭✭
    Amazing @Evan_Reese thanks for the update! What a bummer about the public/private switch. Sounds like you may need to spin up a personal account rather than using the Ovyl account. Looking forward to incorporating it back into my workflow.
  • S1monS1mon Member Posts: 2,320 PRO
    @Evan_Reese
    I don't have an Enterprise account at the moment, but is it not possible to allow public documents in Enterprise? It seems like there is an option to go the other way around (i.e. whether or not users can access public documents and use them internally).
  • emagdalenaC2iemagdalenaC2i Member, Developers, Channel partner Posts: 858 ✭✭✭✭✭
    @tom_auger
    I'm working on a fix right now, and the features will be back. We switched to Onshape Enterprise. A side effect I didn't realize we'd have is that Enterprise doesn't allow public documents so they all disappeared. 
    You can copy your FS documents at your Enterprise and transfer those copies to your personal account (outside the Enterprise)
    That's what I do with my FS to provide access to all our Onshape customers
    Un saludo,

    Eduardo Magdalena                         C2i Change 2 improve                         ☑ ¿Por qué no organizamos una reunión online?  
                                                                         Partner de PTC - Onshape                                     Averigua a quién conocemos en común
  • Evan_ReeseEvan_Reese Member Posts: 2,060 PRO
    @emagdalenaC2i
    You have to duplicate the document for it to work? I had tried just transferring them to a personal account, but it didn't seem to work. I'd love for everyone to not have to add the features to their toolbar again. Do you think they would?
    Evan Reese / Principal and Industrial Designer with Ovyl
    Website: ovyl.io
  • emagdalenaC2iemagdalenaC2i Member, Developers, Channel partner Posts: 858 ✭✭✭✭✭
    No, I could just transfer to my personal account... But then there are not in the Enterprise

    @emagdalenaC2i
    I had tried just transferring them to a personal account, but it didn't seem to work. I'd love for everyone to not have to add the features to their toolbar again. Do you think they would?
    So, you should transfer the original documents to "your account" (outside the Enterprise), not "a" personal account.

    Un saludo,

    Eduardo Magdalena                         C2i Change 2 improve                         ☑ ¿Por qué no organizamos una reunión online?  
                                                                         Partner de PTC - Onshape                                     Averigua a quién conocemos en común
  • Evan_ReeseEvan_Reese Member Posts: 2,060 PRO
    Ah, I was trying to make a whole folder public at once and apparently you can't do that. I assumed erroneously that I didn't see the option because of something to do with Enterprise. I've transferred them all and made them each public again. Let me know if it's still not accessible.
    Evan Reese / Principal and Industrial Designer with Ovyl
    Website: ovyl.io
  • emagdalenaC2iemagdalenaC2i Member, Developers, Channel partner Posts: 858 ✭✭✭✭✭
    It works fine!

    Un saludo,

    Eduardo Magdalena                         C2i Change 2 improve                         ☑ ¿Por qué no organizamos una reunión online?  
                                                                         Partner de PTC - Onshape                                     Averigua a quién conocemos en común
  • Evan_ReeseEvan_Reese Member Posts: 2,060 PRO
    Anyone who wants to try out the scratch re-write of Captive Nut, give it a go here and let me know what you think. Some main differences:
    1. input for rotation angle of the nuts
    2. previews of the nut
    3. end bound types like the extrude feature
    4. no more holes. I didn't see a point in making this feature also have a mediocre version of the native hole feature. Just use the two features in tandem. I'm especially curious to know if people really got anything out of the hole functionality.
    5. options for a Nut Spec Variable (created by a separate feature). This way, you can use multiple Captive Nut features in a model, but update the type of nut you're using everywhere at once easily without editing multiple features.
    6. simpler code.
    Evan Reese / Principal and Industrial Designer with Ovyl
    Website: ovyl.io
  • david_riedelldavid_riedell Member Posts: 23 ✭✭
    @Evan_Reese
    I just found this featurescript. I've been using Nut Pocket JR but I like that yours is more flexible and includes ANSI hardware.

    I'm checking out your beta but I think there may be a bug in the Nut Spec featurescript. When I change the screw size, it doesn't seem to update the dimensions at the bottom of the dialog. I still have to enter those manually. I saw that you have the Captive Nut Table in the feature studio with all of the dimensions. I checked a few and they look correct in the table.

    When I don't use the nut spec but just define the nut within the captive nut feature, it seems to work just fine. But I like the concept of the nut spec because I'm often using the same nut hardware in a 3d print in a bunch of different areas, and it's nice to be able to just define it once.

    I'd offer to help debug but I'm pretty green when it comes to featurescript code.


  • Evan_ReeseEvan_Reese Member Posts: 2,060 PRO
    @david_riedell
    huh, it sure doesn't. I'll look into it when I have time. I have a hunch I know what it is and it's not too hard.
    Evan Reese / Principal and Industrial Designer with Ovyl
    Website: ovyl.io
  • Evan_ReeseEvan_Reese Member Posts: 2,060 PRO
    @david_riedell
    It should be fixed with the newest update 👍🏼
    Evan Reese / Principal and Industrial Designer with Ovyl
    Website: ovyl.io
  • david_riedelldavid_riedell Member Posts: 23 ✭✭
    @Evan_Reese
    Thanks! I was a bit confused because I thought you were updating the Beta, not your main release haha.

    I do think I found another bug though - when selecting a 1/4, 5/16, or 3/8 size nut, the nut spec dialog displays the "Fit" dropdown twice. It doesn't seem to happen for any other ANSI size, but I haven't checked the ISO ones.


  • Evan_ReeseEvan_Reese Member Posts: 2,060 PRO
    @david_riedell
    Thanks for bug testing! I fixed it. I also checked the ISO table and didn't see any other issues. I must have duplicated some entries trying to do some find/replace magic to make big edits to the lookup table for the nuts.
    Evan Reese / Principal and Industrial Designer with Ovyl
    Website: ovyl.io
  • jesse_starrjesse_starr Member Posts: 8
    Thanks for sharing this @Evan_Reese .  I feel like my script is broken as I don't see the tools for the clearance hole and overshoot... Is something wrong or am I missing something? I'm pretty new to OnShape...

  • rashugerashuge Member Posts: 9
    Anyone who wants to try out the scratch re-write of Captive Nut, give it a go here and let me know what you think. Some main differences:
    1. input for rotation angle of the nuts
    2. previews of the nut
    3. end bound types like the extrude feature
    4. no more holes. I didn't see a point in making this feature also have a mediocre version of the native hole feature. Just use the two features in tandem. I'm especially curious to know if people really got anything out of the hole functionality.
    5. options for a Nut Spec Variable (created by a separate feature). This way, you can use multiple Captive Nut features in a model, but update the type of nut you're using everywhere at once easily without editing multiple features.
    6. simpler code.
    I tried to install the re-write version and unfortunately it said that I cannot load a document that is in the trash.  It sure isn't in my trash so not sure what is happening there.  I did like the idea of the screw hole option.  The problem for me is the same as what has been indicated.  I cannot switch which side the screw holes show up on.  I tried switching the Z axis and that did nothing for me.  It did the same.  I also updated the script just to make sure per the suggestion but no joy.  Love the script though, works awesome otherwise.
  • Evan_ReeseEvan_Reese Member Posts: 2,060 PRO
    edited April 2023
    @jesse_starr @rashuge Sorry about any confusion with my wild updates. If you want to use the old one, you can find it here (just look back in the version history of the document). And the latest re-write is here.
    Evan Reese / Principal and Industrial Designer with Ovyl
    Website: ovyl.io
  • rashugerashuge Member Posts: 9
    Evan, really love the script!  Truly awesome.  I wanted to touch base with you on one item.  I am having all kinds of problems with extruding over the top of the metal nut/part.  I have seen some suggestions about using a specific method of overlay.  Video link here: 

    https://youtu.be/W8FbHTcB05w?t=371

    I would find this super useful but not quite the "hole" function that you had referenced and removed.  It really is about getting a better adherence for the metal part when you start to print over the top.  I have tried adhesives and the like and none quite get the job done and doing what is described in the video is a little bit tough by hand each time.  It feels like a single layer rectangle that you can still place a hole using the native tools.  Just a suggestion.  Again, love the work, it is really a time saver.
  • Evan_ReeseEvan_Reese Member Posts: 2,060 PRO
    @rashuge
    I didn't watch the video just now (though I have in the past a while ago). Based on the thumbnail it looks like it's already been scripted by @imants_smidchens. Check out his Bridge Counterbore. I use it when I need to. Works great! However, if the nut is inserted into the part it might already provide the support the plastic needs, and make this step unnecessary. 

    Evan Reese / Principal and Industrial Designer with Ovyl
    Website: ovyl.io
  • rashugerashuge Member Posts: 9
    @Evan_Reese
    I tried the Bridge Counterbore but it doesn't actually work (that I can make happen) when you use yours to embed the nut inside of an object.  I then cannot get the Counterbore to allow the selection of the face of the captured nut.  Any thoughts?
Sign In or Register to comment.