Creating pattern inside hexagonal helix or loft?

andyshinn

I am trying to recreate the triangular pattern in the hexagonal twist seen here:



I have started with a loft that has matched vertex points. But not sure how to divide the interior strips up. How can I replicate the pattern?

https://cad.onshape.com/documents/bf20ccfa1d8896e8f4554ad5/w/d400dd11f79f4b8e55f26ba2/e/e90f7bddd9a8bffc808844d2

steve_shubin

@andyshinn

I took a lot of steps to do this one

Maybe when my mind clears I’ll figure a way to reduce the number of steps

I got a feel that @konstantin_shiriazdanov has a lot more efficient way of getting this one done

for what it’s worth and in the meantime, here is one solution

https://cad.onshape.com/documents/4800279340242f3bc4b31ef3/w/8f52aed5e036d3426ecc0e6b/e/5cc61c19a4f210fb0648e6b6

konstantin_shiriazdanov

@steve_shubin Hi, my approach is using splines between pairs of verteces to create bounds of facet primitive.

https://cad.onshape.com/documents/d57628297fb22bb266df7e2b/w/4781f5221e31a22bb54b1d3e/e/4f79c1c47f9c7b7945771026

EvanReese

I know this has already been answered thoroughly, but I had to get in on the fun. Here's my solution using only native features. It's very adjustable, but my main issue with it is that the boolean at the end doesn't update in a very smart way. My workaround was to set the instance count really high, then select all of them, then drop it back to something reasonable, that way if you add instances it will already select those bodies too.

steve_shubin

@andyshinn

I took a lot of steps to do this one

Maybe when my mind clears I’ll figure a way to reduce the number of steps

I got a feel that @konstantin_shiriazdanov has a lot more efficient way of getting this one done

for what it’s worth and in the meantime, here is one solution

https://cad.onshape.com/documents/4800279340242f3bc4b31ef3/w/8f52aed5e036d3426ecc0e6b/e/5cc61c19a4f210fb0648e6b6

andyshinn

Wow, I would have never figured this out. But it does look good and is what I wanted to do (to get closer to original mesh than just Helix). Thank you for this!

If it could be done simpler, great. But either way it looks like I need to learn some new concepts. I didn't realize planes could be manipulated in those ways.

steve_shubin

@andyshinn

You’re welcome. It was my pleasure

konstantin_shiriazdanov

@steve_shubin Hi, my approach is using splines between pairs of verteces to create bounds of facet primitive.

https://cad.onshape.com/documents/d57628297fb22bb266df7e2b/w/4781f5221e31a22bb54b1d3e/e/4f79c1c47f9c7b7945771026

EvanReese

I know this has already been answered thoroughly, but I had to get in on the fun. Here's my solution using only native features. It's very adjustable, but my main issue with it is that the boolean at the end doesn't update in a very smart way. My workaround was to set the instance count really high, then select all of them, then drop it back to something reasonable, that way if you add instances it will already select those bodies too.

steve_shubin

@konstantin_shiriazdanov
@Evan_Reese
@andyshinn

Thanks to Konstantin and Evan.

You guys both did some real nice work

A person can certainly learn from reviewing different features lists. I know I learn, when I look at the different ways people go about forming there parts

Evan, you used intersect to flatten the top & bottom. Sometimes it’s easy to not remember or miss things like that. That the thicken happens normal to the surface. I don’t always catch details like that with my vision on my iPhone

In reviewing Konstantin’s document, I found that I could not use the Helix tool at the start. I also found out that I couldn’t use Onshape’s Wrap tool. I had to use Konstantin’s Sketch Wrapper to make it work with the other features in that document.

All in all, this was interesting and enlightening in seeing how you guys did it

steve_shubin

I edited the above post

andyshinn

Love the different solutions. Thank you all!

alnis

Here is my approach without custom features (with configurable side count etc., layer height limit is just onshape's linear pattern limit and your patience). I've found this model to be surprisingly robust.
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/cbd1f3a466d633590064d02f/v/b4bdba6224621a18c4c20400/e/8cd4101b4ca37c52cd4045d6

EvanReese

Alnis wins.