any good resources for finding 3D models of products?

[camfromvan]

Hey guys,
I'm modelling up stuff in inventor. Previous to now, I was making parts that the company I work for actually manufactures in house, and so it made sense for me to use calipers here and there, and refer to drawings that the company had on hand. Now though, we are putting together units that are made up of parts that we purchase. I would much rather just download stp files and insert them into assemblies rather than trying to make the part off of a data sheet that gives me outer dimensions and hole locations. Does anybody have any good tips or tricks for finding stp files of things that may not necessarily be on a manufacturer or distributor website?
Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

Cam

 

[Sparweb]

I have found that "stock" CAD models leave much to be desired.

If it's plain old everyday nuts-and-bolts hardware, try McMaster Carr's website.

Even if you aren't getting the nuts and bolts from them, it doesn't matter if the bolt head is a 7/16" hex and the thread is 1/4-28UNF, right?

Another example:
Say you only get your ball-bearings from Timken, and the boss's edict from on high is that absolutely no SKF bearings shall ever be discovered in your company's products, well, that doesn't mean you can't download the SKF ball bearing model with the same dimensions, re-name the file to the Timken part number, and get on with life. SKF has solid-model downloads on their website, but Timken's website doesn't (IIRC) so the alternative is to build each bearing from scratch.

If it's something else, specific, like, I dunno, a gasket, or a trailer fender, ask yourself:

Does it matter if the CAD file is a perfect representation? For a trailer fender, probably not.

Can it easily be figured out by matching the mating parts? For a gasket, that may be easy.

When it turns out you really have to have the perfect CAD model, and the vendor's website doesn't have it, why not pick up the phone and ask their sales people? Even if they don't care to put it on their website, maybe they don't mind helping you (the purchaser) integrate their product into yours.


STF

 

[camfromvan]

ok, thanks for the tips!