Creative ideas to join up these two parts?

tom_auger

Hi! It's been a while - hope everyone is keeping well. I'm looking to broaden my knowledge / options, so wacky ideas are more than welcomed here! I have these two parts and I would like to build a connecting piece to be merged with them. I'm looking for a nice, organic, fluid shape without too many hard angles (for easier 3D printing AND for aesthetics!)

My go-top here would be a loft, possibly with some kind of guide to get a bit of an "S" into the connector (or "stem" as I think of it) shape.

Anything else come to mind, perhaps using Surface Modeling?

marcus_bernstein

I would definitely start with a loft from a path then tweak the start and end geometries until the result accomplished my goals. This also seems like a cool application for a generative design tool, though the results might not be ideal for 3d printing or your desired aesthetic

EvanReese

It's kind of tough to suggest something without knowing what it's for and what you like, and without seeing the part studio. Do they have to stay in this relative orientation? can the geometry of the blue part change to allow for a better blend? your loft with a path sounds promising.

tom_auger

Evan_Reese said:

It's kind of tough to suggest something without knowing what it's for and what you like, and without seeing the part studio. Do they have to stay in this relative orientation? can the geometry of the blue part change to allow for a better blend? your loft with a path sounds promising.

Hi Evan, thanks for responding. You're absolutely right, I'm just throwing stuff out here without a ton of context. The offset is real (and is part of the design challenge here). The loft worked amazingly well but I'm very curious to understand appropriate application of Surface Modeling techniques for organic part generation and was hoping that someone might show how that toolset could be used.

Totally open to minor modifications of the "interface" geometry.

The loft approach worked remarkably well, even without any guides at all. All it took was to make a "face" on the top of the bottom part so I could use the solid modeling variant of the loft feature. Still really curious about other approaches.

marcus_bernstein

I would definitely start with a loft from a path then tweak the start and end geometries until the result accomplished my goals. This also seems like a cool application for a generative design tool, though the results might not be ideal for 3d printing or your desired aesthetic

tom_auger

marcus_bernstein said:

This also seems like a cool application for a generative design tool, though the results might not be ideal for 3d printing or your desired aesthetic

Oh yeah _ I love it! Do you have any generative tools in mind that you would consider in this application / workflow? I've been really excited about nTopology but it's too expensive for my hobbyist budget....

marcus_bernstein

tom_auger said:

marcus_bernstein said:

This also seems like a cool application for a generative design tool, though the results might not be ideal for 3d printing or your desired aesthetic

Oh yeah _ I love it! Do you have any generative tools in mind that you would consider in this application / workflow? I've been really excited about nTopology but it's too expensive for my hobbyist budget....

I haven't personally used any generative design tools in-depth. That said, Paramatters did an awesome presentation at an LA Onshape User group meeting this past Summer that showed great potential. They do charge but I suspect there is a free trial or some sort. Either way, their rates are competitive, though probably less than ideal for a personal project. Good luck! Keep us posted