How to model a 3D-printed press-fit bearing mount (intermediate parametric CAD tutorial)

thijs · September 2, 2026, 12:14am

Based on contributions by Jeppe.

This intermediate tutorial builds a 3D-printed bearing mount that press-fits a radial bearing. Use this pattern whenever your design needs an axle (or similar) whose movement is constrained by a bearing, and you want the mount to scale to different bearing sizes.

What you need

Any parametric CAD package (Inventor, SolidWorks, or Fusion 360).
Comfort with basic parametric sketching and the parameters/equations tool — see How to model a parametric coffee cup (beginner parametric CAD tutorial) for how to create a part and open the parameters list.
The bearing’s outer diameter, inner diameter, and width, plus your bolt size.

Steps

1. Set your design goals

Before modelling, define what needs to stay adjustable:

The press-fit tolerance needs to be adjustable, so you can dial in a perfect press fit for your specific 3D printer’s tolerance. This tool gives approximate starting values for 3D-printed fits.
The bolt hole size needs to be adjustable.
The whole mount should scale with bearing diameter and width, so you can reuse the same model for other bearing sizes.

Check: the tolerance-fit link above is a third-party tool for approximate press-fit values, not a guaranteed value — always print a test fit before committing to a final part, since press-fit tolerance is specific to each printer.

2. Add the input parameters

Add the following parameters to your part (see How to model a parametric coffee cup (beginner parametric CAD tutorial) for how to open the parameters tool in your software):

At minimum you’ll want parameters for bearing outer diameter, bearing inner diameter, bearing width, press-fit tolerance/offset, and bolt hole diameter.

3. Model the mount

Follow the recorded walkthrough to model the part step by step:

If a tool used in the video isn’t available under the same name in your CAD software, search for the closest equivalent — most parametric CAD packages have a matching feature.

Troubleshooting

Press fit too tight or too loose — adjust the tolerance/offset parameter and reprint a small test ring before printing the full mount; printer-to-printer tolerance varies.
Mount doesn’t scale correctly for a different bearing — make sure every dependent dimension in the sketch is driven by the bearing diameter/width parameters, not typed in directly.