I have a curve around a cylinder that I would like to use as the centerline of a channel for an engraving cut on a 4 axis cnc. The path I have drawn follows the curve of the cylinder. I would like to show a 3mm wide by 4.5mm deep channel in my model. I have tried to use a sweep1 curve (with plans to do a boolean difference) with a 3x4.5 box, but because of the rotation around the A axis, parts of the back doubles over itself in places. I have tried adding extra “boxes” along the path to try and keep its shape but no luck. Is there a better method than sweep1?
Hello - the radii on the sweep path have to be less than half the width of the box…
-Pascal
Can you suggest another approach to solve this problem?
Kevin
This is the general shape I want to achieve, just a smoother finish, with an infinite amount of cylinder in the path instead of the 80 I put in.
Maybe make a smaller cylinder (4.5mm smaller) and pull your curve to it. For each curve, create a 3mm diameter pipe and intersect that pipe with the cylinders. Loft between those results?
Thanks Peter, I will try that