Remix of Meat Slicer Retainer Bolt and Nut

thingiverse

This is a remix of my own model of a replacement retention bolt for the blade on my meat / bread slicer. As per request, I have modeled the second portion of retention mechanism: the nut / axle. I could not model the part to exactly match the threads on my first model to mimic the factory supplied nut. So I changed the threads to a different size (13/16 - 12) and applied that to the bolts as well. Both bolt styles are present here. I have fully printed all parts to insure they fit in place and fit together correctly. They do. Remember, the bolt is left hand threaded ('righty loosey', 'lefty tighty'). You HAVE to print either bolt to work with this part. You then can thread it partly. It will feel hard to turn. Slowly rock it back and forth to get the two parts to wear each other's thread surfaces smooth. Do NOT force it on in one go. Do not try and do this with the nut/axle mounted in the machine. Just do this by hand. It takes a while. Take your time. Eventually you end up with a smooth operating threading. Maybe 20 to 30 minutes of carefully working it back and forth. Take them apart every so often and blow out the dust you are creating. As shown in photos, mine mounted in my machine, bolted in correctly and the blade fits fine with no wobble. I am going to leave mine in there for now and keep my factory nut in storage in case I need to swap back. I have included the Fusion 360 design files as well in case you desire to modify it or learn Fusion 360 by tweaking parameters and seeing how they impact the model. Material choices: PLA is okay for printing this as practice to see if it fits and you can make the threads loosen up. BUT.... PLA is porous and has gaps that bacteria can get into. Want to see for yourself? Take any PLA part (preferably clear or white) and drop it into a cup of coffee (cold is fine) for half an hour or so. Nylon would probably be a better idea, or maybe PET-G... I don't have either and my printer may not be able to do Nylon. I leave it up to you to make your own choice on safety and preventing bacterial growth. Do not consider trying to coat this in a food safe epoxy, as that will likely gum up the threads. If you know otherwise, feel free to pursue as you desire. You can always tweak the threads to change their type and gap. Print the nut portion with supports. Print the bolt without them (threads facing up). You can print both parts at once in Cura 4.2.1, using the new ability to give each part its own settings. Support for the nut, not on the bolt. There are three alignment pin notches on the bottom of the nut. Make sure you clean those out of any supports left in them, and sand the bottom smooth of any support debris.