Configurator Guide

The configurator is a live part builder. Change a dimension and the drawing and the price change with it, down to the engineering drawing the shop works from. No CAD software, and for a standard part no RFQ wait. For a walkthrough on the screen itself, open Help → Take the Tour inside the configurator.

Quick start

1. Start a part. Pick a template from the home page, answer the three screens of the New part wizard (shape, material, defaults), or skip it and start from a plain bar.
2. Shape it. Add segments for each diameter, add features from the ribbon, and click any dimension on the drawing to set it.
3. Spec it. Choose the material, then tolerances, fits and surface finish where they matter. Everything else holds the part defaults.
4. Order it. Set the quantity in the price bar at the bottom right. How pricing and ordering work.

The workspace

The whole part stays on one screen: what it is on the left, what it looks like in the middle, what it costs at the bottom.

1. 1Spec ledger, every face, feature and dimension in order. The card at the top holds the material and part defaults. Values in blue are overrides. Click a row to edit it.
2. 2Feature ribbon, the stock, body, milled, cross-hole, end-face and bore features. Press F for the same list from the keyboard.
3. 3Live drawing, redraws as you build. Click a dimension to change it.
4. 4Mode pill, switches between Edit, Drawing and 3D.
5. 5Price bar, live price, quantity, ship date, and Add to Cart. When a part needs review the price reads Quote and a pill beside it says why.

The IN / MM buttons under the drawing switch the units shown. Undo, redo and zoom sit beside them.

Shape the part

A part is a row of segments, one per diameter. Press S or use the Stock group to add one: Round (Q), Hex (W) or Square (E). Hex and square are sized across the flats, shown as AF.

Give neighboring segments different diameters and the shoulder forms on its own; there is no separate step tool. To blend one diameter into the next, add a Taper from the Body group. Set it by target diameter, by matching the neighbor, by included angle, or by taper per foot, over the whole segment or a set length at one end.

The bar is bought to clear the largest segment, measured across the corners for hex and square.

Size limits: diameters up to 12″, any one segment up to 50″ long. The minimum order is $50 with no minimum quantity.

Add features

Click a button in the ribbon, or press F and pick from the same groups. In the F menu you can type to search every feature, or press the letter shown on its button. Each feature opens a panel for its options. Place it on the part and it shows up in the ledger with a balloon letter that matches the drawing.

• Body: Taper; OD groove (rectangular, round or vee); External thread (UN and metric, plus ACME, trapezoidal and pipe forms); Knurl (diamond, straight or diagonal).
• Milled: Flat (single, double wrench flats, square or hex) and Keyseat (single, double or quad, sized to ANSI B17.1 or DIN 6885).
• Cross holes: Drill and Tap across the part. Through, to the bore, or blind, with an optional counterbore or countersink, clocked around the part.
• End face: Face groove, Face slot (or a saw cut), axial Drill and Tap (through, to a step, or blind), and Bolt circle. An axial hole is also how you bore the part.
• Bore: once the part has an axial bore, an internal KeywayQuoted or Bore groove.

Instant price vs. quoted. Standard shafts price instantly. Some parts are reviewed and quoted by a person, usually within one business day, rather than priced on the spot: tolerances tighter than ±0.005″, finishes finer than 32 Ra, parts under 0.25″ in diameter, over 50″ long, or long and slender for their diameter, and some features, such as internal keyways, splines, and ACME / trapezoidal and pipe threads. When a part needs review, the price bar reads Quote where the number would be.

Set dimensions

Click any dimension on the drawing to change it: overall length, diameters, feature positions and feature sizes. The part and the drawing update as soon as you commit the value.

• Type it how you think it. A decimal, a fraction (3/8), a mixed number (1 1/2), simple math (2.5/2, .06+.01), or a unit (25.4mm, 1/2in). A bare number is in the part's units.
• Driven and reference dimensions. Some dimensions you set; others, like overall length, follow from the rest of the part. Type a value into one of those and the editor asks which other dimension to let go, so the part still closes.
• Diameters carry a tolerance, an optional fit and a surface finish (see below).
• Feature positions let you choose which point on the feature is measured (an edge, the center, or an end) and which face or feature it is measured from.

Tolerances, fits & finish

Tolerances

Every dimension carries a tolerance. The part default is set in the ledger's top card; override any one dimension from its editor and the override shows in blue.

You can also enter a custom symmetric (±) or bilateral (+/−) band. In millimeters the tiers show familiar metric values, but the part is held to the inch tolerance, which is always the tighter of the two.

Fits

For a diameter that mates with something, pick the fit by what it does. The tolerance band is sized to that diameter, and the surface finish is set to suit the job.

Bores get the hole-basis classes (H7, P7 and so on). Threads take their own classes: 2A/3A for UN inch threads, 6g/6H for metric, 2G/3G for ACME. Keys use ANSI B17.1 classes CL1 to CL3. While a fit is set, it controls that diameter's finish. To set your own tolerance or finish, pick a tier or custom band, or choose None to clear the fit.

Surface finish

Finish is a part-wide default you can override on any segment or bore: 125, 63, 32 or 16 Ra (µin), or as-machined with no callout. The drawing shows a finish callout only where it differs from the default. A finish finer than 32 Ra is reviewed and quoted rather than priced on the spot.

Material & part settings

Click the card at the top of the ledger to open the part settings: Material, Stock and Defaults. Nothing changes until you click Apply.

Material

Click Change to pick a grade. Filter lists the stocked grades by family (carbon, alloy, stainless, aluminum and so on), or type a grade to find it. Guided picks from how the part is used:

• Dry or indoor: 12L14, free-machining and the lowest cost
• Wet or washdown: 304 stainless
• Food, sanitary or chemical: 316 stainless
• Needs hardening: 1045, or 4140 for high strength
• Lightweight: 6061 aluminum

Each grade comes in its own condition (cold-finished, hot-rolled and so on). Changing the material reprices the part.

Stock

• Stock OD: Mill finish OD acceptable or Machine all surfaces. With mill finish, a round diameter that is the bar's own size is left as supplied. Its finish and tolerance are the bar's, shown in its editor as As supplied. To hold that diameter to your own tolerance or finish, click Machine this diameter; that turns mill finish off for the whole part. Hot-rolled bar has no usable mill finish, so it is always machined.
• Supply: Customer-supplied material takes the material cost out of the price when you send us the bar.

Defaults

• Part units, inch or millimeter, and Dim display, deviations (1.500 ±.005) or limits (1.505 / 1.495).
• Surface finish and the diameter, length and angular tolerances every dimension starts from.
• Outside corners: Sharp, Break, Chamfer (.010, .030 or .060 at 45° or 30°, or custom), or Radius (.015, .032 or .062 R, or custom).
• Inside corners: Sharp, Undercut (set width and depth), or Radius (.0075, .015, .032 or .062 R, or custom). The preset radii match standard turning inserts.

Price & order

You do not request a price, you build one. It updates as you spec the part and change the quantity, and the bar shows an estimated ship date. Parts that need a closer look are reviewed and quoted instead. Each line's price also covers the bar bought for it, so a single small part carries a material minimum. More pieces of the same part share it.

If a part needs a closer look, the price reads Quote and a pill beside the price bar says how many items need review. Hover the pill to see each one. Add the part to a quote and a person prices it, usually within one business day.

• Add to Cart and check out directly. The minimum order is $50; there is no minimum quantity, so a single part is fine. You need an account to check out or to request a quote. Sign in or create one when you're ready to order, and the parts you added stay in your cart.
• Save as quote: from the cart, save the parts and prices as a quote. Anyone signed in to your account can open its link, and from the quote page you can download a PDF or email it to whoever approves the buy.
• Checkout: pay by card or bank transfer (ACH), or on invoice if your account is approved for terms. Lead time, rush, shipping and documentation are covered on How to Buy and Shipping.

After you order

• Drawing and model. Every part has its own part number. Its quote and order pages carry the engineering drawing (PDF), the same drawing the shop builds from, and a 3D STEP model (.stp).
• Tracking. The order page shows where it is (placed, in production, shipped, delivered) and a tracking link for each package once it ships.
• Changes. An order can't be edited once it is placed. To make a variation, find the part under Orders and use Load as New; it opens in the configurator as a new part.
• Reorders. Reorder This Order on the order page, or reorder single parts from the Parts tab under Orders. Reorders are priced at today's prices.

Drawing & 3D views

The mode pill switches the whole screen between Edit, Drawing and 3D. Press D to flip between Edit and Drawing.

Keyboard shortcuts

Press ? in the configurator for the same list.

More help

• Take the Tour: the Help menu inside the configurator, or Replay tour on the ? sheet.
• Specs: tolerance tiers, finishes and materials in more depth.
• How It Works: ordering, lead times and common questions.
• Still stuck? Email orders@greatlakesshafts.com and a person will answer.