Beam - Suggested feature: Use 3d curve

chris_sturgis

I have been using the beam featurscript a lot recently. Its very useful and for the most part helps me to speed up my modelling. One thing I would like to see remedies is the ability to use 3d curves for beams. I recently created a model for a neon light that has a few 3d curves in it and beam doesnt recognize them as features that can be used. So i had to add a sweep using the curve instead. If the featurescript could be updated to include the use of curves that would be super.

matthew_stacy

Apparently there has been no action on this.  Here we are in 2020.  I too would love to be able to apply beam features to a 3d-spline-fit curve.  At the moment I'm modeling a curved ladder to get up onto the roof of an RV. 

MBartlett21

@chris_sturgis
@matthew_stacy

If you are satisfied with Australian profiles, you can use my Beams feature rather than Neil's:
http://onsha.pe/documents/cfcc264d41817d876589755c

matthew_stacy

@MBartlett21 I'm awestruck and gobsmacked!  Thank you my friend.  I just tried "Aus Beams" and it's exactly what I was looking for. 

I have yet to try "Cutlist".  I'm almost afraid to hope.  I admit to suffering occasional pangs of SolidWorks-nostalgia but you've helped me keep the faith of cloud-native SaaS.

Cheers,

Matt

MBartlett21

@matthew_stacy
Currently, the cutlist feature works best on straight sections, using a bounding box to get the length of them.

On curved beams, it tries to use one of the edges along it lengthwise, using the original edge's length if it can't.
When measuring curved beams, it will almost always tell you a longer length than you need, due to not being able to use a bounding box.