McMaster-Carr and Standard Content

Overview#

Most mechanical products contain standard purchased parts: screws, nuts, washers, bearings, shafts, extrusions, springs. Modeling them from scratch wastes time and gives you the wrong part numbers. Fusion can bring them in directly from supplier catalogs:

• Insert Fastener (Solid > Insert > Insert Fastener, Parametric Modeling mode): search, filter and browse a fastener library (Bolts and Screws, Nuts, Rivets, Washers; standards such as ANSI, DIN and ISO; Metric or Imperial) and position fasteners on circular edges, cylindrical or conical faces, or sketch points.
• Insert McMaster-Carr Component: opens the McMaster-Carr website inside Fusion; you save a 3D file (only SAT and STEP are supported) and it is inserted into the current design.
• Insert a Manufacturer Part: opens a web browser with catalogs from over 400 certified manufacturers; you set the part's properties and click To Autodesk Fusion 360 to insert it as a component.
• The Insert panel also lists Insert Component, Insert Derive, Decal, Canvas, Insert SVG, Insert DXF, Insert Mesh and Insert TraceParts Supplier Components.

These parts arrive as real geometry. You can edit the part name, part number and description in the component's Properties.

Where to find it#

The McMaster-Carr and manufacturer tools open web catalogs, so they need an internet connection (general reasoning from how they work).

Step by step: McMaster-Carr#

1. Open the assembly. Activate the top-level component, unless you want the part inside a sub-assembly.
2. Choose Insert > Insert McMaster-Carr Component and click OK when the Note appears. The McMaster-Carr website opens directly in Fusion.
3. Browse the catalog to find a component. The CAD icon on a component page shows whether technical drawings or 3D models are available.
4. Click a part number to reach the 3D model, then click Product Detail.
5. From the drop-down list select a 3D format (only SAT and STEP are supported) and click Save.
6. The component is inserted into the current design. Move it into position with Move/Copy or place it with joints.
7. Join it: create a joint origin on the screw head underside or use the Joint command, snapping to the hole center on the target part. Use a Rigid joint for fasteners, or a Rigid Group.

If loading stalls#

Autodesk does not document troubleshooting for the McMaster-Carr panel. General workaround: download the STEP file from the McMaster-Carr website in a regular browser, upload it to the Data Panel, and insert it as a component.

Step by step: Manufacturer part#

1. Choose Insert > Insert a manufacturer part and click OK when the Note appears. A web browser opens with the manufacturer catalogs.
2. Log in or register (needed only the first time you insert a part).
3. Choose a manufacturer, browse the catalog and choose a part.
4. In the left panel of the web browser, specify the part's properties.
5. Click To Autodesk Fusion 360. The part is inserted as a component and appears in the canvas.

Step by step: Insert Fastener#

1. In Parametric Modeling mode, choose Solid > Insert > Insert Fastener.
2. Search (for example "SHCS") and use the persistent standard and unit filters, or browse the folders Bolts and Screws, Nuts, Rivets, Washers.
3. On the Feature tab choose Position (circular edge, conical or cylindrical face, sketch point, or an existing fastener). Select Similar is on by default and inserts fasteners into all identical holes on the selected face; Flip reverses the joint direction on a sketch point.
4. Set Nominal Size, Thread Designation (if applicable), Nominal Length, Material and Finish. Part Number and Description are filled in automatically and cannot be left empty.
5. Set Nominal Size or Length to Auto to be notified when a fastener no longer fits; then use Auto Update Size, or Auto Update All Sizes on the Fasteners folder.

Fasteners are stored in a Fasteners folder in the Browser and their joints appear in the Timeline (inserting several at once adds one fastener group). Where the library lives depends on the hub: fasteners first inserted before May 14, 2024 are in the Fasteners project; after that date, in the Fasteners folder of the Standard Components project. Placing a washer on an already-inserted bolt bumps out the fastener and inserts the washer in place. You can add non-standard sizes and lengths (for example M10x33), and the BOM in drawings is populated with description, part number and quantity.

Joining standard parts#

Fasteners are repetitive, so use a system:

Insert Fastener creates the joint for you. For McMaster-Carr or manufacturer parts:

1. Insert one screw. Create a joint origin on it at the underside of the head, with Z along the screw axis.
2. Create a joint between the screw and the first hole using the joint origin and the hole's edge center snap. Choose Rigid.
3. Copy the component with Copy and Paste (copies stay linked) for other holes, then create joints for each copy. Components can also be patterned and grouped into a Rigid Group with the host part.
4. Alternatively, use As-Built Joint after positioning screws by Move/Copy.

For nuts and washers, joint to the screw rather than to the plate, so the stack stays together when the screw moves.

Cosmetic vs modeled content#

Downloaded McMaster-Carr models can include detailed geometry such as threads, which increases file size and load time. For large assemblies:

• Prefer simplified versions when the catalog offers them (general guidance; check per part).
• On your own holes, consider whether the thread needs to be modeled at all (general guidance).
• Keep detailed parts only where thread engagement matters visually or for analysis.

See Large Assemblies.

BOM implications#

• After inserting a catalog part, right-click it in the Browser > Properties and check or edit the part name, part number and description, as Autodesk suggests.
• Identical screws should be linked copies of one component (Copy then Paste) to count correctly. If you insert the same part five times, confirm the BOM quantity.
• Mark purchased parts distinctly with a Part Number convention or Description prefix (no purchased property is documented).
• The exported BOM then gives you part numbers for ordering.

Options reference#

Tips and pitfalls#

Tip: Insert hardware late in the process (general guidance). Position parts and holes first, then add fasteners, to avoid re-doing joints after design changes.

Tip: Always keep the original part number in the component name or part number property. It is the whole point of using catalog content.

Warning: The inserted model is the vendor's geometry. Confirm dimensions against the datasheet before using it for fit-critical work; models can be simplified or nominal.

Warning: Catalog models may not be parametric. You cannot change a screw length by editing a sketch; insert a different part, or for Insert Fastener use Replace a fastener / edit the fastener's Nominal Length.

Tip: Make a personal library design containing your common fasteners with joint origins pre-placed. Insert it from the Data Panel into new assemblies; this is faster than searching each time.

Warning: Large numbers of detailed inserted fasteners dramatically slow assemblies. Group them and hide them while working.

Tip: To change a catalog component (M5x16 to M5x20) you can use Replace Component (see External References), which reconnects joints when the replacement is a direct copy, or delete and reinsert (joints on the old one are lost).

Note: not confirmed in Autodesk's documentation: license or regional availability of these Insert tools, including Fusion for personal use.

Worked example: fastening a 6 mm plate to a 12 mm plate#

You need to bolt a 6 mm aluminum plate to a 12 mm steel plate with a blind tapped hole 10 mm deep with M5 socket head screws. The numbers below are general engineering guidance, not Autodesk data.

1. Through hole in the top plate: M5 clearance holes are commonly 5.3 mm (fine), 5.5 mm (medium) or 5.8 mm (coarse) under ISO 273; use 5.5 mm.
2. The tapped hole in the steel plate should be a 4.2 mm tap drill for M5 x 0.8 coarse thread.
3. Screw length: the 6 mm plate plus engagement. A common rule is to engage at least 1.5 x the diameter in steel, so 1.5 x 5 = 7.5 mm, giving a minimum length of 6 + 7.5 = 13.5 mm. The longest screw that will not bottom out in the 10 mm deep hole is 6 + 10 = 16 mm, and you want a little margin for the thread runout, so a 14 mm screw (8 mm engaged, 2 mm spare) is the right pick.
4. Search the McMaster-Carr site for an M5 socket head screw, 14 mm long, and save its STEP file. (With Insert Fastener you would select the hole edge, set Nominal Length 14 and let Select Similar fill all identical holes.) Join it with its head-underside origin to the top of the plate and its axis to the hole.
5. Copy it with Copy and Paste so the quantity in the BOM is 4.

The calculation is the useful part: catalog content does not tell you whether a screw bottoms out, only the geometry does.

Joining catalog parts reliably#

Prefer a Rigid joint, or Rigid Group, for fasteners so they do not become degrees of freedom. 40 Revolute joints would be 40 spurious motions.

Failure modes and fixes#

When to model your own#

Catalog parts are convenient but not always right. Model your own when: the part is custom, you need a specific tolerance fit, or you must keep the model lightweight. For a simple washer, a 10 mm outer diameter, 5.3 mm inner diameter, 1 mm thick extrusion takes 30 seconds and is lighter than the catalog version. Add a part number so the BOM still points to the supplier's SKU.

Cost and ordering#

Where catalog parts carry supplier part numbers, the BOM can feed a purchase list. For 4 screws at a hypothetical unit price of 0.45 and 4 washers at 0.08, the extended cost is 4 x 0.45 + 4 x 0.08 = 2.12; a spreadsheet using the exported BOM quantities does this automatically. Verify prices on the supplier site, since the model does not carry live pricing.

Practice exercise#

1. Create a 5 mm plate with two 5.5 mm holes, and a second plate to bolt to it.
2. Use Insert McMaster-Carr Component (or Insert Fastener) to insert an M5 socket head screw of suitable length, and an M5 nut.
3. Create a joint origin under the screw head and use a Rigid joint to place it in the first hole.
4. Join the nut to the screw. Copy the screw and nut to the second hole and joint them.
5. Generate the BOM and check quantities and part numbers.

Expected result: two plates fastened with correctly positioned bolts and nuts, and a BOM that lists the part numbers with quantity 2 each.

Stretch challenge#

Design a bolted stack: a 6 mm top plate, a 3 mm gasket, and a 16 mm base with 12 mm deep blind tapped M5 holes, fastened with four M5 screws and four washers 1 mm thick. Work out the screw length: stack above the base is 6 + 3 + 1 = 10 mm, the 1.5 x diameter engagement rule needs at least 7.5 mm, so the minimum length is 17.5 mm, and the hole allows at most 10 + 12 = 22 mm. Choose the nearest standard length in that window (20 mm if offered), insert it from the catalog once, copy it three times, and confirm that the BOM shows quantities of 4 and 4. Expected result: a 20 mm screw giving 10 mm of engagement with 2 mm of hole to spare, and a BOM that lists each purchased part once.

Related#

• BOM and Parts Lists
• Joint Origins
• Rigid Groups and Grounding
• Large Assemblies
• External References