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shaise / FreeCAD_FastenersWB

A workbench to add/attach various fasteners to parts
GNU General Public License v2.0
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FreeCAD Fasteners Workbench

PEP8

A FreeCAD Workbench to Add/Attach various Fasteners to Parts

Note: This workbench acts as a wrapper to the screw_maker macro created by @ulrich1a

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Installation

Addon Manager

Note: Starting from FreeCAD v0.17.9940 an Addons Manager has been built-in to FreeCAD.
You can use said Addon Manager to seamlessly install Fasteners Workbench.

Manual Installation

For versions prior to v0.17.9940 FreeCAD requires manual installation, learn how via http://theseger.com/projects/2015/06/fasteners-workbench-for-freecad/

Usage

Official Wiki

https://www.freecadweb.org/wiki/Fasteners_Workbench

Expand this section for a synopsis on how to use this workbench **Note:** this info is also available on http://theseger.com/projects/2015/06/fasteners-workbench-for-freecad/ ### Where to Start Usage is pretty straightforward: 1. Install the workbench and restart FreeCAD 2. Open a new document in FreeCAD 3. Select the Fasteners workbench from the workbench drop-down list Result: A series of screws will show on the toolbar: ![FastenersToolbar](Resources/FSToolbar.png) 4. Clicking on any of the screws will create this screw in the origin position with default size. 5. To change size/length: select the newly created screw, then go to the data tab in the property panel, there you can change diameter and length. (For now it is in metric standard): ![FS-Parameters](Resources/FSParams.png) 6. Changing the “thread” property to “true” will render the screw threads as well. **Please note:** * generating threads takes considerable amount of time, during which, FreeCAD will not be responsive. * the invert and offset properties are only applicable to attached fasteners. ### Attached Fasteners Fasteners can also be attached to features in other parts. #### Attach Screw to part * To attach a screw to a part, the part must have features with circular edges, such as holes. #### Attach Screw to hole(s) * To attach screws to holes, select the desired circular edge or several edges (You can also select a face if you want to select all holes in that face): ![FastenersSelect](Resources/FSSelect.png) * Now click on the desired screw. **Result:** A screw will be placed on each of the selected features, trying to match the screw size to the hole size: ![FastenersCreated](Resources/FSCreated.png) * You can now, like before, change diameter and length from the properties panel. * If you wish the screw to hover above the hole, you can set the “offset” property to the desired distance. **Note:** Sometimes the screw does not detect the direction correctly and appears upside down. To correct this change the “invert” property to true OR select the screw and press the Flip button: ![Flip-Button](Icons/IconFlip.svg) in the toolbar. #### Attach Fastener to different feature * To attach an existing fastener to a different feature, select the screw, then ctrl-select the new feature: ![Fasteners-Select-Move](Resources/FSSelMove.png) * Now press the Move button ![Move-Button](Icons/IconMove.svg) in the toolbar * **Result:** The screw will move to the new location: ![Fasteners-Moved](Resources/FSMoved.png) * **Note:** An attached screw will move with the part it is attached to. **If you wish to detach the screw from the parent part**: * simply select only the screw * then press the move button. ***Result:** the screw is now detached and can be moved individually. ### Simplifying objects **Important Note:** If you wish to share FCStd files that contains fasteners (or parts from other custom parametric workbenches) with other people, they must install these workbenches as well, or else they will get errors when trying to use them. **However**, if you just want to share the resulting parts, with no need to change object’s parameters, you can use the **Simplify** function ![Simplify-button](Icons/IconShape.svg) to convert the fasteners to simple shapes. **Result:** They will appear as new Shape parts in the model tree. You can then delete the original fasteners and save as a simple FCStd that can be read and used on any FreeCAD installation. ### Adding Fasteners via Python You can create screws with a script using the `createFastener` command: ```python createFastener(type, diam, len, threadType, shapeOnly = False) ``` `threadType` can be `'simple'` or `'real` `shapeOnly` can be **True** if you just want to get the object or **False** (default) if you want it to be added to the treeView and shown. ```python import ScrewMaker sm = ScrewMaker.Instance screwobj = sm.createFastener('ISO7046', 'M6', '8', 'simple') ```

Release Notes

Developers

Feedback

For further discussion, feel free to open a forum thread on FreeCAD Open Discussion subforum and make sure to ping user 'shaise'.

There is also an ongoing thread discussing Fasteners Workbench that is also a place to comment on.

Translation

See TRANSLATIONS.md

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md

License

GPLv2