Configurator Guide

The configurator is a live part builder — type a dimension and the drawing redraws, the price updates, and a full engineering drawing builds itself as you go. No CAD software, no RFQ wait. Prefer an interactive walkthrough? Open Help → Take the Tour inside the configurator.

The workspace

Everything about your part stays visible at once — nothing hides behind a click.

1. 1Spec ledger — every face, feature, and dimension, always listed. Values in blue are overrides. Click a row to edit it.
2. 2Feature ribbon — add stock, body, milled, cross-hole, and end-face features. Or press F.
3. 3Live drawing — redraws in real time as you build.
4. 4Edit · Drawing · 3D — switch the whole document between the three views.
5. 5Price & order — live price, quantity, ship date, and Add to Cart. A status pill shows here when a part needs review.

Building a part

When you open the configurator you'll start one of three ways: the New Part Wizard (a short guided start, the default on a fresh visit), from a template (pick a starting point from the landing page), or from scratch with a plain shaft. From there you add stock segments and features, then dial in dimensions, tolerances, and finishes.

The feature ribbon

The ribbon groups everything you can place on the part. Click a group to add a feature, or press F anywhere for the same palette — it mirrors the ribbon and lets you type to filter the whole catalog. Each feature opens a define panel where you set its options; place it on the part, and it lands in the ledger with a balloon letter.

• Stock — the bar itself: Round, Hex, or Square segments (see Segments).
• Body — Taper, OD groove (rectangular / round / vee), External thread (UNC/UNF/UNEF, metric, ACME), and Knurl (diamond / straight / diagonal).
• Milled — Flat (single, double wrench flats, square, or hex) and Keyseat (single / double / quad, sized to ANSI B17.1 or DIN 6885).
• Cross holes — Drill and Tap across the part: through, to the bore, or blind, with optional counterbore / countersink, and clocking around the part.
• End face — Face groove, Face slot (or saw-cut/split), and axial Drill / Tap into the end: through, to a step, or blind. An axial hole is also how you bore the part.
• Bore (internal) — once the part has an axial bore, add an internal KeywayQuoted or Bore grooveQuoted.

Instant price vs. quoted. Most features price instantly. A few are reviewed and quoted by a person — usually within one business day — rather than priced on the spot: internal keyways and bore grooves, and ACME / trapezoidal threads. The price bar shows a review pill instead of an instant number when a part includes one.

Segments & stepped shafts

Segments are the body of the part. Press S (or use the Stock group) to add one in three shapes:

• Round (Q) · Hex (W) · Square (E).
• Hex and Square are sized across the flats (shown as AF); the configurator buys bar stock sized to clear the across-corners dimension.

Build a stepped shaft by adding segments along the part and giving them different diameters — every diameter change automatically forms a shoulder, so there's no separate "step" tool. Add a Taper (a Body feature) to blend between diameters: set a target diameter, match the neighboring diameter, or specify an included angle or a taper-per-foot, over the whole segment or just an end length.

Per part: diameters up to 12″ and any single segment up to 50″ long. The minimum order is $50 with no minimum quantity.

Editing dimensions

Click any dimension directly on the drawing to change it — overall length, diameters, feature positions, and feature sizes are all editable in place. The part and the price update as soon as you commit the value.

• Type values your way. Enter a number, a fraction (3/8), or an expression (2.5/2, .06+.01), in inches or millimeters (25.4mm) — units convert automatically.
• Driven vs. derived. Some dimensions you set directly; others the builder derives from the rest of the part. Click a derived one — like overall length — and type a value to "drive" it; the editor asks which related dimension to release so the part stays solvable.
• Diameters open with a fit and a tolerance control plus a surface-finish picker (see below).
• Feature positions let you choose which point on the feature is measured (left / center / right / end) and which face or feature it's measured from.

Tolerances, fits & finishes

Tolerances

Every dimension carries a tolerance. Pick a preset tier, or enter a custom band. Set a part-wide default in Part settings; override any single dimension from its editor (overrides show in blue).

You can also enter a custom symmetric (±) or bilateral (+/−) band, and choose whether the drawing shows tolerances as deviations (1.500 ±.005) or as limits (1.505 / 1.495). Working in millimeters? The metric tolerance bands shown are convenient equivalents — the part is held to the underlying inch specification.

Fits

For a diameter that mates with something, pick a fit by what it does rather than memorizing a class. Choosing a fit sets the tolerance band and a recommended surface finish automatically, both adjusted to the diameter:

Bores (internal diameters) get the hole-basis equivalents (H7, P7, and so on). Thread fit classes follow the thread form — 2A/3A for UN inch threads, 6g/6H for metric, 2G/3G for ACME — and key fits use ANSI B17.1 classes (CL1/CL2/CL3). You can always override a fit's tolerance or finish, or clear the fit entirely.

Surface finish

Finish is a part-wide default you can override per segment or per bore. The drawing marks it with the ▽ symbol wherever it differs from the default.

• Values: 125, 63, 32, or 16 Ra (µin), or As-machined (no specified finish).
• Mill-finish OD — accept the stock's as-supplied outside surface where it isn't machined, or require all surfaces machined. (Not available on hot-rolled stock.)
• Customer-supplied material — bringing your own stock excludes material cost from the quote.

Part settings

The settings card at the top of the ledger covers the whole part — Material, Stock, and Defaults. Nothing is applied until you hit Apply.

Material

Pick a grade two ways: Guided, which recommends a grade from how the part is used —

• Dry / indoor → 12L14 (free-machining, lowest cost)
• Wet / washdown → 304 stainless
• Food / sanitary or chemical → 316 stainless
• Needs hardening → 1045 · high-strength hardening → 4140
• Lightweight → 6061 aluminum

— or Filter, to browse the full catalog of stocked carbon, alloy, stainless, aluminum, and brass grades, filtering by family or typing a grade. The grade carries its own condition (cold-finished, hot-rolled, etc.); changing material re-prices the part.

Defaults

• Units — inch or millimeter (you can also toggle the display units any time from the toolbar).
• Dimension display — deviations (1.500 ±.005) or limits (1.505 / 1.495).
• Surface finish and the three tolerance tiers (diameter, length, angular) — the part-wide starting points described above.
• Corner treatments —
  • Outside corners: Sharp, Break, Chamfer (.010 / .030 / .060 at 45° or 30°, or custom), or Radius (.015 / .032 / .062 R, or custom).
  • Inside corners: Sharp, Undercut (set width & depth), or Radius (.0075 / .015 / .032 / .062 R, or custom).
  Radius options land on standard turning-insert sizes; anything else goes through Custom.

Edit · Drawing · 3D

The mode pill switches the whole document between three views. Press D to flip between Edit and Drawing.

Keyboard shortcuts

The same list is available inside the configurator any time you press ?.

Price & ordering

You don't request a quote — you build one. The price updates live as you spec the part and change quantity, and the bar shows an estimated ship date.

• Add to Cart and check out directly. The minimum order is $50; there's no minimum quantity, so a single part is fine.
• Send it as a quote — from your cart, share a link with full part details and pricing so a purchasing agent can review and approve before the order is placed.

If a part needs a manual look — an unusual combination, a reviewed feature, or a tolerance we want to confirm — a review pill appears in place of an instant price. Hover it to see exactly what triggered the review.

After you order

• Every configuration gets its own part number and a full engineering drawing PDF — the same drawing the shop builds from.
• Orders can't be modified once placed. If you need a change, configure a new part or open a previous order as a starting point.
• Your order and quote history stays in your account, so reordering or branching an existing part is one click.

Getting more help

• Take the Tour — Help menu inside the configurator (or "Replay tour" from the ? sheet) for an interactive, on-screen walkthrough.
• Tolerances & Specs — see /specs for tolerance tiers, finishes, and material details.
• How It Works — see /how-it-works for ordering, lead times, and common questions.
• Still stuck? Email orders@greatlakesshafts.com and a real person will help.