Making shell form using boolean command

I have modeled a rope, from which I would like to get a positive form. Similar, as I have modelled in real (casting plaster in folded rope). I have noticed that this sort of works when I only use one strand of the rope but it stops working when I progress with more and more strands. Intersect, Split, Delete, and Join won’t work as the rope is not one solid object. I wander if anyone has an idea hot to achieve this? I am attaching my file, photo of my physical model and screen shot of my attempt.rope ola.3dm (4.1 MB)

hi,

what i did;
1-untrimmed all ropes then capped them
2-delete intersection curves
3-tried to booleandiffrece by one by first 2 with no problem
4- 3rd one didnt work looked closely and made a dot for you to see where the problem is

the 3rd rope intersects with itself so boolean tool says “meh its not my job!” and quits. so you need to split this 3rd rope just before this intersecting location and make it solid.

now if you try booleandiffence it should work.

rope ola (blastered).3dm (2.9 MB)

Hello, thank you so much. I really appreciate your help. I thought that it could be because
the rope was intersecting but was not sure if this was because the strands were interesting
or one strand intersecting with itself. So happy that I know how to solve it now. Thank you!!