Parametric Shaft Collar - Improved

thingiverse

This is a refined version of timschmidt's parametric shaft collar located at http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2454. In my original rendition, I added a tolerance parameter that enables precise control over the final size of holes for the shaft, clamping screw, and trapped nut. A new material allowance factor was also introduced to specify the amount of material to be deposited ahead of the trapped nut. Additionally, a parameter is now provided to determine the number of facets required. Rev A primarily focuses on optimizing openSCAD usage while incorporating improvements to the shaft collar design. The upgrades include chamfering of the shaft bore hole and sculpting the bottom of the nut slot to align with hexagon nuts. For enhanced precision in round holes, I have integrated the polyhole function from the MCAD library. Unlike previous versions, where a single tolerance factor was applied across all dimensions, Rev A enables individual parameter adjustments for greater control over each feature. Furthermore, I have included a table of standard dimensions for typical screw and nut hardware as comments within the openSCAD file. Both the original and revised STL files are optimized for an 8mm or 5/16 diameter shaft and M3 clamping screw and standard M3 nut. To utilize these models, follow these steps: Open the SCAD file in openSCAD, modify the parameters at the top to suit your needs, render, and export a new STL version. For optimal results, maintain two solid layers on both the top and bottom of the clamp, and set the infill percentage between 20% and 25%. Due to printing issues with the overhanging arc above the notch for the screw head, consider adding support structures in slicing if needed.