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Help with Loft tool
jacob_eggleston
Member Posts: 2 ✭
I'm trying to design a nozzle to attach to a blower fan for cooling 3D printed parts. I need to create something that has roughly this profile:
The blower fan attaches to on the right side and air is forced through a gradually smaller space until it is directed down towards where the fillament is exiting the extruder on the printer, represented by the origin point in the sketch.
After a bit of fumbling, I was able to create 4 sketch planes using the construction lines highlighted in yellow above. I used these to create 4 profile sketches, representing cross-sections of what I want the final nozzle to look like.
My thought was that I could use the Loft tool to connect these cross-section sketches into a solid. But no matter what I try, I can't get it to work. I've tried selecting the sketch faces I want in the lofted object, as seen above. I've tried just selecting outlines on two sketches. I've tried extruding the sketches first and connecting the extruded cross-sections using the Loft tool. I've tried every variation of the above I can think of, to no effect. I've also tried searching the forum.
Is there a way I can do this with the loft tool? Is there a better, more "CAD" way of doing this. I have a fair bit of prior experience with polygonal 3D modeling tools like 3DS Max and the like, but I'm pretty new to 3D CAD, so please be kind and use small words.
The blower fan attaches to on the right side and air is forced through a gradually smaller space until it is directed down towards where the fillament is exiting the extruder on the printer, represented by the origin point in the sketch.
After a bit of fumbling, I was able to create 4 sketch planes using the construction lines highlighted in yellow above. I used these to create 4 profile sketches, representing cross-sections of what I want the final nozzle to look like.
My thought was that I could use the Loft tool to connect these cross-section sketches into a solid. But no matter what I try, I can't get it to work. I've tried selecting the sketch faces I want in the lofted object, as seen above. I've tried just selecting outlines on two sketches. I've tried extruding the sketches first and connecting the extruded cross-sections using the Loft tool. I've tried every variation of the above I can think of, to no effect. I've also tried searching the forum.
Is there a way I can do this with the loft tool? Is there a better, more "CAD" way of doing this. I have a fair bit of prior experience with polygonal 3D modeling tools like 3DS Max and the like, but I'm pretty new to 3D CAD, so please be kind and use small words.
0
Best Answer
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robin_erixon
Member Posts: 1 ✭
Hi, if I understand you correct loft isn't the way to go. I would have drawn it from the side like you have done in the first picture and then extruded it and then added a bit of the sketch to use for cutting away the inside.
I did an example of your part as my understanding of what you wanted to accomplish was, I'll link below. Try and look at the file to understand how I did it. If I misunderstood something please clarify.
Nozzle
Edit: I see why my example doesn't work for you. But you should be able to use loft to make the inside profile and use extrude to do the outside like I did. Then you can simply use boolean to remove the lofted part from your extruded and get the part as you intend.5
Answers
I did an example of your part as my understanding of what you wanted to accomplish was, I'll link below. Try and look at the file to understand how I did it. If I misunderstood something please clarify.
Nozzle
Edit: I see why my example doesn't work for you. But you should be able to use loft to make the inside profile and use extrude to do the outside like I did. Then you can simply use boolean to remove the lofted part from your extruded and get the part as you intend.