In my current project, I have A LOT of joints similar to the one shown in the image here (file attached). This particular joint links plates forming a cross.
I have been taking the base shape and subtracting a scalloped shape from it. The operations are extremely slow. This makes me wonder, is there is a better way to create these kinds of shapes?
In other cases theses joint plates form curves and even complete circles.
I would do it with meshes as separate plates. And would skip any boolean operation. Also you can represent your geometry using polylines only. It remembers me timber plate joints:
Any brep boolean operation is super slow and buggy in rhino. So I used polylines and ear clipping for meshing.
I do not know how important for you is to have that curvy outline.
I would make each tooth as a block except the ends which change the shape a little. I don’t know the manufacturing process but during the modeling stage it will be faster using blocks instances. Once is done it can be joined together