Marble machine tracks in Onshape

tarek_mustafa

Hi Onshape Forum,

I like to challenge myself with a new little project and thought about building a nice marble machine for my children and myself :-)
My question, Is it possible in Onshape to design this kind of curves rails (as per enclosed picture?)
I currently just see the option to draw rails that are "flat" since restricted to a sketch plane.

Please let me know if there is a way to realise this kind of "freeform" shape or would I need to use different applications for that kind of design.

Thank you,
Tarek

_Ðave_

This link to an Onshape thread "how to model a hose" looks to be useful for this application.

https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/comment/4812/#Comment_4812

Dave

jakeramsley

Yup, you will most likely have to use surfaces to split a part/parts in order to create a path to then sweep along.  Try looking at the path from the top to get a rough idea of how a thin part should look for that, sketch that, extrude all the way up.  Then look at what the path looks like on the right, sketch that and use that as a surface to split the part.  This should give you edges that are usable for a sweep path.

_Ðave_

This link to an Onshape thread "how to model a hose" looks to be useful for this application.

https://forum.onshape.com/discussion/comment/4812/#Comment_4812

Dave

jakeramsley

Yup, you will most likely have to use surfaces to split a part/parts in order to create a path to then sweep along.  Try looking at the path from the top to get a rough idea of how a thin part should look for that, sketch that, extrude all the way up.  Then look at what the path looks like on the right, sketch that and use that as a surface to split the part.  This should give you edges that are usable for a sweep path.

tarek_mustafa

Thank you @Dave_Petit  and @JakeRamsley. This is a way to realise what I was looking for but I think I will do it in other applications where just one sketch, one profile and one sweep is needed. Thanks again.