0

Making a flat(ish) pattern into a cylinder?

Jonathanschultz Jonathanschultz

October 19, 2019 17:29

None

Follow

Hello, I'm still pretty new to TinkerCad. I've made a pretty basic lattice "flat" shape---a bunch of straight lines criss-crossing each other---and I'm trying to figure out how to take my flat shape and curve it around into a cylinder. 

 

Maybe I'm going about this the wrong way and there's an easier way to get what I'm trying to make: a cylinder made of criss-crossed lines, like a basket. Is there a way to curve the pattern I've made into a cylinder or cone shape or is there a better/easier way to get to this same end point?

 

Any help would be appreciated, thank you for looking :)

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn

1 comment

• 0
  
  Justin Shands November 15, 2019 23:39

  I know I'm about a month late, but the answer is that you're approaching the problem "backwards". Tinkercad doesn't support the ability to "bend" an item, only to add/remove shapes. This means to achieve what you're after (a cylinder with criss-cross lines) you'll need to figure out a way to "subtract" that pattern from a cylinder shape.

  Offhand, it feels to me like the easiest way to do this would be to:

  Build your "outer shell":

  1. Make a cylinder the size you want your final product to be
  2. Duplicate that cylinder (CTRL+D) and drag all it's edges in by 1mm (or by whatever amount you want the "wall thickness" of your final shape to be
  3. Make the second cylinder a "hole" and combine it with the first cylinder

  That gives you a "tube" shape that you can use to "carve" your lines out of.

  Add your "criss cross lines"

  1. Add the "spring" shape to your workspace (it's under the "Featured" Shape Generators)
  2. Change the spring to be a "hole"
  3. Adjust the "R2" value of the spring so that it overlaps with the "shell" you made earlier (adjust the alignment so the Spring is centered on the hole
  4. Adjust the "offset" of the spring to adjust the angle of the lines on the cylinder
  5. Once you have something you like, duplicate the spring (CTRL+D)
  6. The new spring will be automatically selected, click the "mirror" button in the upper right, and then click the axis you want to flip it along (for a spring, it doesn't matter which you choose, they'll all flip it to "wrap" the other way)
  7. Duplicate these spring holes as often as you want to get the pattern you want to use, and then merge them all into the "shell" you made earlier

  (Note, the spring is round, so this will result in your holes potentially having "rounded" edges... if you wanted it to be more flat, I think perhaps the "semi buttress threads" Shape Generator on the "All" list would serve you better)

  There is also a pretty good intro to adding shapes to a cylinder that I came across on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJD2lzgewhI