Sometimes, when making a 3D printed object, plastic just isn’t enough. Probably the most common addition to our prints is the ubiquitous brass threaded inset, which has proven its worth time and again over the years in providing a secure screw attachment point with less hassle than a captive nut. Of course to insert these bits of machined brass, you need to press them in, and unless you’ve got a very good hand with a soldering iron it’s usually a good idea to use a press of some sort. [TimNummy] shows us that, ironically enough, making such a press is perfectly doable using only printed parts. Well, save for the soldering iron, of course.
He calls it the Superserter. Not only is it 100% printed plastic, but the entire design fits on a single 256 mm by 256 mm bed. In his case it was done on the Bambulab X1C, but it’s a common enough print bed size and can be printed without any supports. It’s even sized to fit the popular Gridfinity standard for a neat and tidy desk and handy bin placement for the inserts.
[TimNummy] clearly spent some time thinking about design for 3D printed manufacturing in order to create an assembly that does not need linear rails, sliders, or bearings as other press projects often do. The ironic thing is that if that same amount of effort went into other designs, it might eliminate the need for threaded inserts entirely.
If you haven’t delved into the world of threaded inserts, we put up a how-to-guide a few years ago. If you’re wondering if you can get away with just printing threads, the answer is “maybe”– we highlighted a video comparing printed threads with different inserts a while back to get you started thinking about the design limitations there.
I have pressed thousands of inserts with basic soldering iron by hand – they usually self-center without any deviation. Positioning the part under these presses looks like a nightmare, if the part is not flat.
If the inserts are not centering well, it’s usually because you got some that are for injection molding.
I often see them incorrectly listed as heat set inserts on a lot of sites.
How do you tell the difference??
Just finished printing of these last night, it will in fact fit on a 220 x 220 bed.
Worked well only had to reprint two parts ( belt slip and print warping). But as long as the first layer goes down without issue it looks like the print will be okay.
Wow. Perfect project presentation.
I’ve found these heat set inserters to be a good second life for those cheap Hakko 936 clones that have been kicking around the shop for the last 10 years. I was not aware you could just buy heat insert tips for them – the crappy tips they come with are easy enough to chuck in the lathe and turn down for any size insert you need. They are copper instead of brass (but likely of Ea-nāṣir quality).
The finest quality!
I built this. It works better than I expected.
Hmmm, it looks waaaay to edible.
Me starts looking for fondant recipies with nice and vibrant colo(u)rs while whisteling softly.
You can hear the bathroom scales whimpering from afar.
So far I’ve been able to get away with just letting screws self-tap the holes. But I’m not building anything that requires especially high strength, or that will need to be disassembled and reassembled more than a few times. Threaded inserts are definitely of interest for those cases, just as they are for woodworking.