Curve thickness/ panelling question

Rhino Rhino for Windows
1

Dear all,

There is probably a very simple answer to this question, but I’m unsure of the terminology to search for…

I would like to 3D print this closed polysurface, only I don’t want a solid surface, I would like to just print the edges - effectively so it looks like a bit like a mesh when printed.

Here is my polysurface:

and here is a link to the sort of effect I would like to achieve:
http://images4.sw-cdn.net/model/picture/674x501_212316_120545_1338413387.jpg

Is this a job for panelling, or is there something really easy/obvious that I could do?

Many thanks for your help,

John

2

You can use _extractwireframe to convert your 3Dmodel into a bounce of lines.
Next is just to model the result you are looking for, for example using the _pipe tools

3

Dear skysurfer,

Many thanks - that’s fantastic. I used ‘applycurvepiping’ to the extracted wireframe curves. If I wanted to 3D print this set of pipes, do they need to be merged into a single polysurface? If so, how do I do that - booleanunion doesn’t seem to work.

Thanks again.

4

Hi Johnny- take a look at the WeaverBird plug-in, here

Starting from the polysurface, turn off isocurves and ExtractWireframe, then use wbMeshFromLines and then from that mesh, use wbFrame. wbFrame with no preselection allows you to set the thickness of the frame.

If that polysurface came from a mesh, just use wbFrame on the mesh.

-Pascal

5

Hi John,

Most likely there is no need to boolean union all pipes into 1 polysurface. Most 3D printing services can handle intersection volumes without a problem. Just give them a call to make sure, or for an online sevice it’s as easy as uploading the file and await a confirmation or rejection with explanation of the problems encountered.

-Willem

6

ExtractWireframe will extract edges and any displayed isocurves on the interior of the faces.

DupEdge will duplicate all selected edges. To select all the edges in the polysurface draw the selection box around the surface.

ApplyCurvePiping creates a pipe display mesh around around the curves. It does not create separate objects.

Pipe creates a pipe object around curves, with options for how the ends are capped.

7

Thank you all for your help, this is great.