Commercial Library of fasteners per standard/Spec available anywhere?

[ILoveMadoka]

Does anyone know of a commercially available ($$$.$$) library of fasteners per standard/Spec available anywhere?

I know you can create them in SW with the library but my supervisor has taks me with finding pre-made fasteners per spec (ANSI/ISO/Etc) with materials and properties all pre-assigned to "eliminate" any human error.

 

I have argued the fact that someone had to create and assign materials to anything we purchase so why not do it in house...

It's not the way they want to approach it..

 

So far I have found this:

 

http://partsolutions.com/

 

but I wanted to look for others as well.

 

Any input is appreciated.

Edited August 23, 2017 by ILoveMadoka

[BIGAL]

I do apologise as to where I got this but its the way to go, just have your properties open when you click on it. Just keep googling lots out there. Convert some to dynamic would be the way to go 1 nut, bolt, washer etc.

 

Have a google lots of companies have cad dwgs Fastenal is one I found.

DYNAMIC BOLT.dwg

Edited August 18, 2017 by BIGAL

[ILoveMadoka]

BIGAL...

 

thank you for the reply Sir, but I'm looking for a library of Solidworks fasteners.

Ideally all per a particular spec (see original post) with the materials (and properties) pre-assigned.

 

I have also found these in my searching (if it helps someone else)

 

 

Ideal Parts (From: $495.00 per license)

http://www.ideal-parts.com/

 

Cadparts ($149.00)

http://cadparts.com/products/fastener-library.html

 

Solidparts ($200 per user)

http://solidpartners.com/solidparts/

 

Openbuilds Parts Library

http://www.openbuilds.com/projectresources/solidworks-2014-parts-library.160/

 

Mc-Master-Carr (Free – SW Files - No Materials Assigned)

https://www.mcmaster.com/#

 

Fastenal (Free - Step Files/No Material Assigned)

https://www.fastenal.com/

[stevsmith]

Why don't you just use the Toolbox within SW?

If you use the toolbox configurator you can manage all the data you want. e.g. part no's, descriptions, materials, notes etc.

Or,

Download a configured part and edit the design table to include new custom properties such as material, vender no's etc.

[ILoveMadoka]

I know you can create them in SW with the library but my supervisor has tasked me with finding pre-made fasteners per spec (ANSI/ISO/Etc)

with materials and properties all pre-assigned to "eliminate" any human error.

 

I have argued the fact that someone had to create and assign materials to anything we purchase so why not do it in house...

It's not the way they want to approach it..

 

Management is convinced that if done "in-house" the possibility of human error is too great a risk...

I know that even commercial products have the same "potential for error.."

[stevsmith]

I would be more inclined to believe that if it was done 'in-house' then it is more likely to be correct and tailored to what the business requires.

but hey ho, what do us CAD jockeys know!

[ILoveMadoka]

Some of these "packages" have expensive per-seat licenses.

It would be much cheaper to do it in house and pay an engineer to Q/A all the info.

 

Not my decision though..

[shift1313]

This is the first time I've heard this request actually. Most of my clients download the actual hardware from the MFG that they use. For example if you want a Mil Spec SHCS you can find it on Mcmaster and download it as a Solidworks model with feature history(because they are all done in SW). It will have Custom properties for the bolt but will not have material(in most cases)applied. The benefit to this is that the part number is the file name so in BOMs it will show up as the Mcmaster number(still using them as an example since they actually have SW files). I guess it depends a bit on how you track part numbers internally and how they show up on BOMs for you guys. if you use a PDM system and have randomly assigned part numbers how would you track where the hardware came from if you are using a generic hardware library?

[SLW210]

I use the manufacturers models if available and McMaster-Carr. Some things will need to be added, in your case I would strongly suggest you make your own from scratch. The manufacturer files will sometimes still have errors.

[ILoveMadoka]

Managements desire is to have the models "pre-made" in hopes of eliminating any human error.

Even with the McMaster stuff, any manual input by a user (material, etc) introduces the possibility for human error

or as they like to say "fat-finger-issues."

 

Even the McMaster library was created by someone so realistically I don't believe such a library exists.

 

My vote would be to create everything in-house, have an engineer (or two) q/a and sign off. (for internal peace of mind)

The SW library is pretty good with common fasteners.

We typically delete the threads from McMaster fasteners to decrease the file size.

 

The plan is to probably to use Windchill for management once a final model is approved.

 

I think McMaster uses the same "model" for multiple material specs anyway, which is why no material is assigned.

a 3/8 x 1" bolt is pretty much the same whether it's steel, stainless steel, titanium, aluminum, Grade 8, Grade 5 or Grade 9.

(with varying thread lengths depending upon the fastener)

It's the material that sets the engineering properties.. (unless customized, which we don't want)

 

The main reason they want everything correct is for stress analysis and simulation.

[shift1313]

Managements desire is to have the models "pre-made" in hopes of eliminating any human error.

Even with the McMaster stuff, any manual input by a user (material, etc) introduces the possibility for human error

or as they like to say "fat-finger-issues."

 

Even the McMaster library was created by someone so realistically I don't believe such a library exists.

 

My vote would be to create everything in-house, have an engineer (or two) q/a and sign off. (for internal peace of mind)

The SW library is pretty good with common fasteners.

We typically delete the threads from McMaster fasteners to decrease the file size.

 

The plan is to probably to use Windchill for management once a final model is approved.

 

I think McMaster uses the same "model" for multiple material specs anyway, which is why no material is assigned.

a 3/8 x 1" bolt is pretty much the same whether it's steel, stainless steel, titanium, aluminum, Grade 8, Grade 5 or Grade 9.

(with varying thread lengths depending upon the fastener)

It's the material that sets the engineering properties.. (unless customized, which we don't want)

 

The main reason they want everything correct is for stress analysis and simulation.

 

Exactly to your point. Every model had to be created by someone at some point. If you are already creating a simplified version you could easily setup a file that can be used to create all sizes of a specific bolt. You can use the Property Tab builder, Driveworks Xpress or some custom file to create a new file, fill out properties etc. My suggestion would be to setup this up as a design table since you can enter custom property columns. As long as you have the format correct(make one bolt and export it) you can have it fillet out, checked and double checked and then reconnect it to solidworks to build out all the files. If you do this with either VBA in a solidworks macro or even just in Excel VBA you can set it up so there are checks and balances in place. Driveworks is great for this type of thing but Xpress has its limitations(can't delete configurations for one), Solo or Pro has a lot more bells and whistles.

 

The only way you will ever know if its right is to check each file in a purchased library or do it yourself....

[ILoveMadoka]

We already have all that. We have thousands of fasteners in Windchill already.

Design tables of mind blowing complexity.

Management just doesn't trust the accuracy and I guess nobody wants to Q/A.

 

I think it's one of those...

 

"We don't have time to do it right ... but we have time to do it over!"

 

 

"If we buy it, it will be right!" ;-)

 

[SuperCAD]

I have used the Toolbox almost exclusively for almost all of my fasteners. It's generally easy to create custom fasteners (i.e. wood screws, lock nuts, etc.) and still use the Toolbox. I have all of McMaster's numbers and descriptions included in the Toolbox so our BOM's populate with all of the correct information. I even have it set up so we can select different material specs and finishes and each option changes the part number accordingly. Personally, I consider it a bit daft to not use the Toolbox, but that's just me. I have found that a lot of McMaster's parts have a lot of cosmetic features that only make the part bloated and tends to drag down the efficiency of the model, so if you're going to do that make sure you delete or suppress the pretty stuff and only use what you need to.

[ILoveMadoka]

We've beat this poor horsie to death...

 

I agree that in-house via toolbox is the best option.

 

If you wait long enough, sometimes the "problem" magically disappears!!

Seems that has happened (for now anyway)

 

heh..heh..