Design help

I am trying to create a screw eye for a project. I started by drawing it in 2D but am struggling to make it into 3D. I really only need the upper unthreaded portion but it would be nice if I had a complete screw eye and was able to delete the threaded portion after placing it in position in my model. I looked at a couple of screw eyes in the 3D warehouse but was unable to resize them to match the screw eye I am using. I’ve attached the 2D model as well as the PDF I got the dimensions from.

N118-893-2012 screw eyes tech drawing.pdf (17.0 KB)

screw eye.skp (527.7 KB)

This is a good thing to model with Follow Me and I would use the Dave Method due to the tiny size. The taper at the end can be added by copying the edge of the circle at the end up the eye and scaling the end face.

The threads can be modeled but if this is being used in a larger model, they probably aren’t worth the time and effort not the file bloat they can cause. Maybe use a texture instead.

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You’re too fast for me Dave - I was just working it up the same way!

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I second the recommendation to skip modeling of the sunken portion.

If the screw eye is strictly decorative, and won’t be looked at up close, you can get really extreme with reducing geo. I used 6-sided circles for the path and the surface here, but I should probably redo it with 10ish.


Screen Shot 2020-12-21 at 11.19.26

These savings add up on a giant project.

But if you do want to model the threads, you can use the Skill Builder method of exploding a spiral and scaling it inward here.

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FWIW, it isn’t terribly difficult to draw a proper screw eye. Here’s an eye bolt I did for the fun of it. Again, it’s overkill if used in a larger model.

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Thanks all. Took me some time to figure out what the Dave Method was but once I did, the screw eye worked. I didn’t bother with the threads as suggested. Is there an easy way to insert it into a hole in a model so the centers and faces are right on?

Sorry. I meant to dig up Box’s tutorial on it but got sidetracked.

Set the component’s origin at the center of the screw and at the point where you want it to sit on the face of the wood. Here’s an example of a screw I use in plans (where I actually need to show threads.) In this case the origin of the component is at the bottom of the screw and on the blue axis runs up the centerline of the screw.


Placement is dead easy, then.
screws

If I wanted the screw to go in so it was seated, I would place the red/green plane at the bottom of the head instead of at the point.

Perfect! thanks again.

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