Kitchenaid replacement screw

The Kitchenaid Artisan is a very nice and durable kitchen machine. But the thumb screw, which is used to secure attachment parts, is unfortunately not that durable. A replacement part for this very simple 8mm steel bolt with an inch thread and a little plastic knob at the end sells for a stunning 29€ on Amazon, which is only slightly less of what you pay for a complete no-name kitchen machine.

This little design aims to come as close as possible to the original plastic knob. The original part apparently becomes brittle over time and breaks away from the steel bolt after some years of usage.

Print instructions

When printed from PETG, the printed part is ready to have the steel bolt simply pressed in. The tight fit will secure that it stays in place without using any glue. So if you ever would want to replace the plastic part, simply warm it up with a strong hair dryer or heat gun and pull the steel bolt out. To press it in, I have used a simple and cheap vice, which allowed me to press the bold in slowly until just the right length remained sticking out. The printed part has a bit of margin, so don't press the metal pin in all the way.

I propose to print this part from PETG with 100% infill to withstand the force that is applied when the bold is pressed in. PLA would probably not tolerate to have the somewhat oversized bolt being pressed in and would likely break.

For a nice surface of the knob, I have printed mine with a brim and with support in upright orientation. Only very little material is needed for the support. The support and brim are very easy to remove when the print is complete.