[Plugin] Bolt Maker (Final Update 7-Feb-2012)

guanjin

very nice...
just tested it and it will come in handy for my timber to steel connections.

i did notice that if bolt 2 components together, it will update all components in the model with the holes, regardless of if those components were part of the bolt assembly. small niggle, and something i can work around, for sure.

nice work!

Too strong

guanjin

First select line prompt
Edge does not belong to the selected Surface

Too strong

guanjin

First select line prompt
Edge does not belong to the selected Surface

sdmitch

If you would care to attach the model to your post, I will try to determine what the problem is.

If an inference has been established to an edge on another face, that can confuse things and cause this error because the inferenced point is what you get and not the point you think you are pointing at.

guanjin

@sdmitch said:

If you would care to attach the model to your post, I will try to determine what the problem is.

If an inference has been established to an edge on another face, that can confuse things and cause this error because the inferenced point is what you get and not the point you think you are pointing at.

Thank you:sdmitch

无标题.skp

sdmitch

juanjin,

I didn't have any problem with your model. It has to be a odd coincidence that you were getting the error message. Although it is not required that all entities be components or groups, I would highly recommend it so that the plugin can better identify the selected face.

guanjin

@sdmitch said:

juanjin,

I didn't have any problem with your model. It has to be a odd coincidence that you were getting the error message. Although it is not required that all entities be components or groups, I would highly recommend it so that the plugin can better identify the selected face.

Thank you:
sdmitch
But does not affect the use, multi-select time

jumpjack

This plugin looks interesting, but my english is poor and terms used to describe how a bolt is built are hard to understand...
An animated GIF like above one, but showing how to PROPERLY use the plugin, inserted into first post, would be very good.
Additionally, I read in first posts about reversed faces in the bolt: I don't know if this bug has been fixed as it is not important in virtual world... but 3 years after creation of this plugin we have now 3d printers, which complain about inverted faces! A bolt with inverted faces cannot be printed, because it appears as a hole not surrounded by any material (i.e., impossible object).

sdmitch

Have you viewed the tutorial on my blog?

bmike

@sdmitch said:

Of course that's the nature of components. Editing one changes all. Before using Bolt Maker, right click on each and choose "Make Unique". Groups don't have that problem.

agreed.

wonder if there is code that can make only the components selected when running the plugin unique, or have them downgrade to groups...

but, nice work.

dammerel

Great plugin but how easy would it be to include an option to add a washer under the nut ?

Andrew

sdmitch

@dammerel said:

Great plugin but how easy would it be to include an option to add a washer under the nut ?

Andrew

That option already exists. bolt parameters.jpg

jumpjack

Is this plugin supposed to create 3d-printable bolts? I only get plain cylinders with DRAWN threads!
And, by the way, reversed faces prevent a model from being printable.

sdmitch

@jumpjack said:

Is this plugin supposed to create 3d-printable bolts? I only get plain cylinders with DRAWN threads!
And, by the way, reversed faces prevent a model from being printable.

No. They are for visual effect only.

jumpjack

Would it be possible to build a plugin based on this sketchup template?
http://woodwork.ars-informatica.ca/sketchup.php?model=spiral_threaded_bolt

sdmitch

@jumpjack said:

Would it be possible to build a plugin based on this sketchup template?
http://woodwork.ars-informatica.ca/sketchup.php?model=spiral_threaded_bolt

Possible yes, but nothing I would care to tackle at the moment.

fredposh

Excellent plugin. Saves a lot of time. Thanks!

Pants

Does this plugin still work, eg with Sketchup Pro 2013? I get no signs of life, though it's installed and appears to let me enter bolt basic data per samples in original post.

Box

Works for me, are you using it correctly?

Pants

@box said:

Works for me, are you using it correctly?

ummm...no...thanks for the GIF covering centering, etc - it's illustrative but still leaves me guessing. Maybe I do still have a problem. (I also watched the video on developer's blog - suggests to me that something basic about my tape-measure guidelines is running in another mode or just wonky - I never get a red-crosshairs/Z-axis guideline inferred from the X/Y guidelines I can create, as it appears is... normal behavior...?)

Other than that, since the GIF runs endlessly and we can't see which tools are selected, it's maybe less than clear what's being clicked at some times, other than the obvious plugin tool selections, and where each of the two modes starts (offset vs pick-points). I assume the sequence is something like this:
select the plugin
select bolt parameters
click OK
(somehow - how?) delineate the offset in X and Y
(somehow - how?) red crosshairs appear (doesn't do that for me)

I guess either you've selected the tape-measure tool to create those guidelines and we can't see that happen, or the plugin has a built-in pick-point/guideline creating routine - and mine isn't working. So I tried to create guidelines and a pick-point using the tape-measure tool, since I see no other option. But no luck with that, either. As mentioned above, the GIF shows the Z-axis guideline appearing with one click in a magical way that I've not seen, letting the pick-point be selected with just two clicks...or so it appears. I get no red-crosshairs cursor-change under any circumstances. Hints?