I think being able to be very clear when communicating, as you do, is a rare skill

The snap felt so good, it wiped out half of the universe.

Honestly I don't even own a 3d printer I'm just here for the snaps

You should set a parameter and call it "Clearance" and set all your clearance dimensions to that variable. That way if want to go back and change the clearance, you just have to do it once in the edit parameters box.

You could have a master class just designing clasps, catches and other fastening implements. Well done!

There are so many objects and mechanisms around us that we take for granted and never really look closely at to see how they work (like buckles). I enjoyed seeing that, it gave me some inspiration for future designs.

11:00 first, the center rod should be at least as long as your outside prongs, but really it should be just slightly longer. it helps significantly right at the very beginning of insertion. that's the most critical moment, and i know from experience that it can make a huge difference for ease of use. 26:50 you can see here how he has to manually center it every time. if you're focused on the buckle and have a good hold on each side that's fine. but it's not ideal. if the center rod was longer, you could easily connect the two sides with hardly any consideration. on my backpack i can connect the two side with just one hand and without looking at it at all. great for when i forget to connect it, but i'm already on my bike and moving. i don't want to have to pull over to be precise enough with two hands to buckle it. second, it also helps with elastic fatigue because it forces the two bendy sides to bend at the same rate, instead of allowing one prong to bend more than the other and causing more wear and fatigue over time on that side. but third, and far more important, the main purpose is fulfilled after full insertion to keep the whole buckle centered. otherwise, lateral forces could easily pull the internal half to one side or the other, which could allow one of the prongs to disengage and the connection to fail.

I found your video exactly 2 years after you posted it and exactly at the right time because I have designed a wristband and now need to have some kind of locking mechanism. Your insights about the belt buckle are very helpful to me and will probably save me some time of try and error. Thanks for sharing and I love your videos !

Pro Tip: Prusa Slicer has a great function called "Elephant Foot Compensation" in the Advanced Tab - Its doing the same thing as you did with your trick - it basicly can make the first layer a bit smaller, so all layers are even and fit together just fine :)

Nicely done and quite beautiful, too. I love making things that snap together especially when I can eliminate hardware fasteners. Noticed that your model was v24. Makes me feel a lot better that my own designs require so many revisions. Now back to v17 of my current design.

This video arrives just as I was thinking of designing my own bicycle bag under the seat. I love you.

Great video. Many people in 3d printing have no background in CAD so I'm sure this will be useful to many.

KZfaq has suggested this under every video I have watched for the past day. I agree youtube, I need more Maker's Muse content in my life 😁

One of the main functions of the center post of that design is that if only one of the prongs is depressed it will isolate that motion from the other prong and prevent the whole half of the buckel from rotating preventing the other prong from disengaging. Now if that wasn't a run on sentence, I don't know what is.

Can't beat having a pair of calipers laying around. I've noticed anything printed vertically has more chance to break due to layering. Great video.

I’ve always been amazed at the tolerances that are designed for snaps especially when there’s rubber or something that’s squishing, yet everything perfectly lines up.

Very cool! Something to consider for the future: the (bending) stiffness of the bending member is proportional to the cube of the thickness of the beam (your 2.2mm dimension), but the pull-out (axial) strength is proportional to the thickness itself (first power). So, if you need to decrease the snap force without decreasing the pull-out strength, you can split your snap beams into multiples, attached at the moving end. For example, replace your 2.2mm-thick beam with a pair of 1.1mm beams. The pulll-out strength will be similar, but the snap stiffness will be lower.

Thanks dude this really gave me a better idea I usually just look at something and try to reverse engineer it but this made it easier to design now I print and cross my fingers it works lol.

Wonderful content, Angus! One of my goals is to design buckles that are easier for those with weak hands to use. And you’ve really helped me get good start! Thank you!

The easy release is a safety design - a name tag hanging around your neck will easily breakaway if caught, rather than pulling you in. Nice video!

The center buckle guide is essential. When the bending parts are bent, the fact that they are plastic makes them susceptible to achieving their yield point quickly and then having a negative spring rate. In other words, instead of getting harder to deflect the farther they are bent, they would actually lose strength and bend more easily. Without the center guide rail, all of the bending would be accepted by one of the barbs while the other remained straight. Also, the design may benefit from the center guide being longer.

Very nice. I really enjoyed the walk through the design methodology and iterations. I'm looking forward to you doing a multi-part print that just snaps together now!

This is by far the best 3d printing channel I subscribed to. I love your videos and the overall vibe, the knowledge that I gain and the manner in which it's being put out. Thank you! You're the best! Vlad, RO

Hahah "None of these should be used for life dependant applications, OMG please" Really good video man!

LOL! For me, you were like 2 days late with this video. Had to design myself a custom battery box with room for a CR2032 coin battery and a small switch. Had something close to what I wanted from some fairy lights I bought, but I needed to adjust it for my specific use. Whipped out my 15cm/150mm ruler, measured things up, and now have myself a project specific battery box. Great video! You are so right about things looking enormous in cad that are barely visible in reality lol

Thanks dude! You’re like the Harry Potter of 3D Printing. I learn something new from every video. Really appreciate it man.

Stop apologising for the way you use Fusion. Their will always be different ways of achieving the same thing, and they're all correct.

Thanks Angus. I have a metalic arm with a go pro mount attached witch I usually use for a phone holder. I had made a small clamp that attaches too it for general utility with two smooth bumped pads were they meat. The original Pads were PLA witch I planned on eventually replacing with a more flexible material so this buckling mechanism was perfect for making them easy to remove and replace

Just failed horribly at this and your video is perfectly timed! Back to the sketch book! Thanks Angus! 👊🏻🤘❤

Remember the drop shaped holes you showed us? Same works for internal top surface of the buckle. Just make an angle there from both sides and you don't need to bridge the whole thing.

Wow you really made the Video! I asked for it a few months ago, thank you very much for creating all the videos! :)

Great video Angus, I've quite enjoyed it. Please forget reviewing cheap Chinese printers and teach us basic principles of industrial design. This kind of content is badly needed. Thanks!

The first snap example: The curve in the latch is significant. If the curve is flattened out, it lengthens the latch slightly enabling it to engage more easily, and pushing the latch closed does flatten it out somewhat. Very good design.

hey dude ! I'm following you since the beginning. and I can say that's exactly why we are following ... please go on with this kind of video ;) greetings from France as usual. sry 4 my bad english btw i'd love to see you in a maker fair in our country !

Wow this could help make my rocket parts lighter instead of always using screws! Thanks Angus!

I love the chamfer for the bottom layer idea so simple but solves a lot of issues I was having 👍

Forgot to add I'm fairly new to 3d printing loving your channel

15:23 I used to do separate drawings for each piece, add parameters, etc. Nowadays I (mostly) do the same sketch, extrude, project, sketch method. Since I don't do this for a living, no one else works on my projects, and I've rarely found the need to go back and revise parts much (outside of the initial design/test/finish phase), so it works for me, and I've found that I get things "right on the first try" a lot more often now. I still save things off as components so I can easily bring into them in larger assemblies.

Just love your practical and functional videos. Thanks.

You are genius! Thanks! Sincerely - A R&D Engineer who was in need of this exact information :-D

You should make a design competition and test the strength of each submissions. I personally print the outer receptacle flat with a 2nd hole for ribbon friction lock. Then I use the center tooth to prevent over pressing the tabs.

Part 2 for this video should be done by CNCkitchen for elasticity test and parts design. Should be interesting.

One thing to consider if you're making larger snaps or other flexible objects is infill pattern. If you aren't getting most of your infill from wall thickness, then using a concentric or spiral infill can give you good flexibility in the desired plane while preserving rigidity in other planes. I did that with some shock absorbing drone landing struts once, worked really well. Though you have to make sure your vertical axis is normal to the flex plane, the way the example snap was here, otherwise they'll come out brittle.

Watching this video almost 2 years after you made it, and I noticed you did not see another design element in the pen box. It is cheaply made because the pens are single use. So it gets thrown away, BUT! The box, once opened folds back and the clips clip back onto the back, forming a support for your pens, making a stand for ease of pen removing and replacing. So it is disposable, yet highly functional during its lifetime. A brilliant use of the clips to turn the box into a stand by using the clips.

Why do several people use the 0 before the point? Eg: zero point 3 (0.3) vs point 3 (.3) waste of energy and time... Zero is understood when .x is used. This use of zero point is a really old convention about 1970ish and previous convention. I learned a more recent convention that is now about 50 years old. But I love your videos non the less. The world is changing and conventions are too changing. It always simplifies in time.

This was actually super helpful at demystifying the process. Thanks a ton!

Great video, and on content that is not just “me too” (although some of that is fine too). This plays to your strengths, and I’m not just talking about the clips. :)

It's probably obvious, but just make sure the lock release openings are big enough to push the locks far enough inward. Since there's a concave curve to the teeth rather than a box, a lock lip that's 2 mm will need more than a 2 mm cutout.

Another take on snaps are the two part style. One part easily deforms in and out and another part is inserted and keeps the prongs apart so they cannot flex anymore. (like automotive clips with 4prong circular plug that is spred apart by a central pin or a screw after it was inserted in the appropriate hole) On this style of snaps it can have a constraint with a compliance mechanism: have the prongs connect to the central pin with a V piece that is very thin at the connection points. The V will be bent more (with less angle in the V) as it snaps into place. But then you can push the center of the V past horizontal making it an A shape where the tip would rest on the top of the inside buckle. This prevents the A shape to ever get more angle, preventing the prongs to be bent inward again. Surely the compliant part is tricky as you need a shallow enough V that can be bent into A with some ease. The amplitude of the resting V must be greater than the locked in A, and the prongs must be able to deform outward a bit more in order to spread outward the prongs so the A is formed out of the V. (to prevent slop, maybe the cutout ledge in the buckle has a leaf spring that can bend outward a bit.

I remember I went through a few designs for attaching the lid onto a lithophane lightbox I was building before deciding on a relatively simple snap-design.

I’ve been waiting for you to do something like this, Angus! I hope you cover ball joints one day!

Thank you for introducing me to Prusa Slic3r. I have an Ender 3 (and all the problems with it) and it's so much easier to go in and change/customize/troubleshoot parameters than it is in Cura.

You’ve got thin posts relying on layer adhesion carrying the maximum load by printing the female part vertically. Print that horizontally and have the shaft and posts up there thicker. Can add some chamfers to thin these areas for aesthetics a bit. Always trade offs it seems.

I quickly printed your buckles and went rock climbing. It wasn't until I was on my way down from a 300 ft drop that I realized there may have been a disclaimer. I'm writing this from the hospital...

Very nice. thanks. I made seperable keychains based on these ideas and recommendations. Did not know where to start.

I can only work in CAD on a student level and designing a snap action lid for one of my projects seemed daunting. This was the first video that popped up. Didn't need to look any further.

Getting the scale confused is a serious problem for me. I keep a pair of calipers on my desk but still find myself getting too focused on the modeling and don't "reality check" myself nearly as often as I need to. It really is as important as you say.

Angus, nice video. This had me thinking of 3D printing some traditional woodworking style connections. Things like dovetail joints, and some of the more complicated Asian style techniques. Aside from the tolerances, these should be easy to print. Thanks

please make an iterative design video ! I use shapr3D for my 3D (on Ipad only) models and it rocks for my students....! that is so simple to do precise models with this tool. It definitively deserve a tutorial video from you :) you had a lot of partnership with hardware suppliers ....time to go on the software side !

@makers muse i know this is a old video and you probably already know this but they literally make buckles with your design that are intended for a padlock to go through, free added benefit

Nice! More technical and practical videos please.

Not sure if someone already pointed it out but by printing the grey part vertically will still introduce layer adhesion issues, specially at the top bridge pillars.

I'm really late, but those latching pieces that disconnect at certain forces are used on some lanyard mounts so that people can't be choked by the rope around their neck ^^

Can we expect more vids like these now ON!

The challenge being 3d printing a buckle that can actually be used. You could build flexures to completely strengthen the buckle. You called also use steel reinforcement at critical loads.

Interesting timing as about a month or so ago I used similar techniques to build a bracket to hold on a heap ( about 80 ) of LED message badges for a costume project. Not sure if Angus will mention it ( in commenting before the video has ended ) but print orientation is important

This is awesome - now I can print buckles for rock-climbing harnesses :-)

Ohhhh thank You VERY VERY much! I was waiting this video too much! As always good job!

I was literally planning a project that was going to need something like this. thank you so much XD

I bought a packet of undo-able zip ties from LIDL (European supermarket). I'd never come across them before. Nice.

Good video on the design process! Would love to see more like this. Have my like sir!

I noticed that when you showed the barbs in a deflected state, it appeared that the deflection was not distributed evenly along the leg of the barb but seemed to be concentrated near the root of the barb. I think it's clear that distributing the bend along the length of the barb leg would make it more robust. Possibly, a very slight taper could be added to the barb's leg.

Great video. As others also have stated, there are multiple ways to do things in Fusion. And the way you do it is the best - for you - just because you know how to do it :-) @3:05 that plastic box for the gel pens has some more (hidden) features. The hinge on top is obvious but there is a second set of snaps and hinge on the back. If you unsnap those, you can bend the back and put the lid back on. Now you have a very nice stand for the pens. That is a nice product design feature that might deserve its own video of making your own marker box ;-)

That t-shirt makes me happy!

Perfect for my rock climbing safety gear. Thanx

Badly needed, thank you so much!

And I was wondering what I was doing wrong. My sketches very often stay outlined in blue but when I try to add constraints it just tells me it would be over-constrained so I just let it be. Glad it's down to an app error and not my ignorance, haha!

This is an "how to make a cooler and more characterist buckle for cosplays" 😎

This video comes at a convenient time! Thanks!

Angus brilliant work as always, time to design some keyed lockable buckles ;)

27:34 printing up car seat belt buckle replacement now.

Great advises, exactly my experience :) sketch fillets are terrible, dimensions are gone and sometimes areas are not closed properly. Sketching everything at once is probably the biggest mistake I made over time... Working with projections is probably the way to go, but it is strange sometimes when geometries change or replaced. I think splitting into components is an easy step and improves modeling with a little by a cleaner timeline. But with that as well it is easy to make mistake and keep sketching in the wrong component making a mess too.

Very nice. I will use that in some of my projects. Thanks from Germany :-)

Actually they already have reusable zip ties available for purchase. Plus, 3D printing zip ties would actually cost just as much or be more expensive than actually buying zip ties.

This is great. Looking forward to more material like this. Thanks!

You're learnt Design steps well. Those 2 holes can be used for an added lock that goes in, blocking normal unlock, for folks that lace their shoes twice-laced... Like me! LOL

Thank you for putting together a very interesting video especially the Fusion 360 step through. Cheers 👍😎🇦🇺

I had a full week of class at the university just talking about these

I'd be worried about printing the receiving buckle vertically. The bar you'd attach a belt to will be fairly easy to break off.

What! not strong enough. I made these, am climbing right now, and decided to finish watching the vid ahhh!!!!!!!

That was really educational. Thanks Angus !

I've started to work in Fusion360 and I hate it :) The UI system resembles the most of CAD/CAM systems but the interaction is aweful. You need to learn some completely different principles (against other very popular systems like SolidWorks and Catia). The whole experience reminds me some kind of a martian program. It's counter-intuitive for me. Maybe I'm the one with this? :)

I love how he introduces those clips like we've never seen them

Would also be a cool to design in key-slots/holes to push in a "rod" of sorts to unlock the "permanent" locking devices.. This would only require a minimal amount of modeling and create very strong locking mechanism for things that don't need to be separated on a regular basis, but it is nice to have the option to do so.

brilliant video angus

Hey Angus, in your video on how you designed the Combat fidget spinner you mention you should avoid mirroring sketches but rather mirror the body after you extrude. But here for the buckle you mirror the sketch for the prong side. I see this was 2 years ago however so wondering if you would have done this differently today, or there was a reason you mirrored the sketch? Thanks!

I love this video. More Fusion designs!

That was a great video. I was hoping you’d do the clip shut container. 😎🍀👊🏻 Keep up the top work!

Great video fella!

Great video. I liked the walk through in Fusion 360 a lot !! :-)