SolidSmack - Latest Comments in How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

Christian Mackin — Thu, 28 May 2009 23:43:22 -0000

I am trying to create true logarithmic spirals. Does anyone know how to do that in Solidworks?

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

mira — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 21:00:43 -0000

Thanks for answering me Josh, I appreciate that. The thing is I'm still a beginner in SolidWorks and some of the things I just can't get them right that's why I ned to see how they were done before.
Mira

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

joshmings — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 12:17:06 -0000

Hi Mira, I'm out of the country currently, I'll do my best to convert the hourglass spring. I tell the basic steps two comments above. Revolved surface in hourglass shape, create a helix, then use the Intersection Curves command to projects a path onto the hourglass shape that you can then sweep a path along. swoosh.

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

mira — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:13:43 -0000

Hi, I have SW 2008 and i can't open the parts. Can you save them as 2008 please?I am interested in horglass spring. Thanks a lot, Mira.

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

peter — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:41:21 -0000

Hi Josh,
I got it. Thank you.

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

joshmings — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 09:59:52 -0000

Hi Peter, you just need to create a surface in an hourglass shape, then a helix, then a 3D sketch that and use 'Intersection Curves' in the Sketch Tools. You can create a lot of useful ref geometry with the intersection guides!

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

peter — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 01:27:03 -0000

hi,

How you create the 3dsketch for hour glass spring?

thanks

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

joshmings — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:54:42 -0000

Hey Rob, unfortunately there's no way to save a file to a previous version. there have been many an argument about this. It pretty much forces people to upgrade at some point.

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

rob m. — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 12:22:49 -0000

Josh, thank you for you help. Unfortunately, i had to switch back to SW 2007, bc my trial version ran out (starving designer), so i couldn't open your link. I made a lot of progress before i had to switch back and now it looks like i cant save the part file so it works in SW 2007. is that possible? any suggestions? Thanks again bro

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

joshmings — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:16:38 -0000

Since a sweep twisting along path can't follow a guide curve you couldn't do it that way. You'll use a method like Jeff used to 1)create an hourglass revolved surface 2)create a helix through that surface 3)create a3D sketch through the intersecting surfaces 4)sweep a profile along the path. Here's an example file of a Hourglass spring.

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

joshmings — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:12:24 -0000

Hey Rob. Take a look at this Surface Loft with Compound Curve. For compound curves, 3D sketches are the secret. I remember this being a bit harder to do way back in the early days, but 3D sketches make curves in two axis really simple. hope this is close to what you're trying to do!

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

rob — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:50:25 -0000

I'm trying to make a compound surface using "lofted surface". From the top view, its a slight S curve, between profiles, and a slight curve from the right profile . i am having difficulty doing this. its allowing me only one curve, either top of right view, using the center parameters spline. i've been trying to use both curves as a guide in multiple settings . does anyone have any suggestions??

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

mia — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:55:37 -0000

Thanks for posting. Does anyone know how to form a spring that maintains the shape of an hour glass or a bottle?

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

joshmings — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:48:49 -0000

sorry Dennis, unfortunately I can't save down to previous versions. If I did this last week, they would have been in 07. Now ya have a reason to upgrade :)

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

joshmings — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:47:16 -0000

Yes Gabriel, you can use the 3D sketches to get the same result. many get in the habit of using them. Typically the'y be used when you need to links separate curves together.

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

Gabriel — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 04:59:38 -0000

Can someone explain to me, why to use composite curve's?

Like in Jeff’s Spiral Spiral Spiral, he converts his 3D sketches to composit curvers first before using them to perform the last surface sweep. Why's that? Why not just use only the 3D Sketch itself?

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

CADWatcher — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 04:18:09 -0000

Ooops, sorry, it's Ok now (I think i just tried when you uploaded te file ;-)

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

CADWatcher — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 04:15:48 -0000

The file simple-twist-sweep.SLDPRT seems to be corrupted, I get 23 kb instead of 798 announced...

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

Dennis Hvam — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:32:19 -0000

Hey Josh, super homepage!

Is there any way that you should save the "pretty spirals and helix's" :) is a 2008 Version. Some IT-admins are pretty far behind regarding the rollour of 2009.

Thanks for all the info :)

Dennis Hvam - Denmark.

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

joshmings — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:23:46 -0000

I love Spirals

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

joshmings — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:23:48 -0000

Yeah, sorry, they are created in SolidWorks 2009. I just got our company all loaded up from 2007 and the switch has been pretty smooth so far. Just a few comments on getting use to the new look and some new features I've been showing them.

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

joshmings — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:21:43 -0000

Thanks, good catch. I fixed the link so everyone could download it now.

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

joshmings — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:20:45 -0000

Hey Jeff, very cool. Jeff Mowrey used some spiral sweeps, intersecting 3D sketches and compound curves to make the final sweep taper. There's, as is usual with SolidWorks, several ways to create it.

I work with the typical stuff a lot too, but I started seeing how surfacing and some of the other less used features, could help with what I was working on. I found surfacing can make some sheet metal operation easier. Mixing things up can bring about some great results. Try it out!

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

joshmings — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:14:22 -0000

Thanks JP, I've fixed the link, it should work now!

Re: How the Heck Is This Made? Creating SolidWorks Spirals, Sweeps and Helixes

hop — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:30:41 -0000

Are these done in SW 2009?

I can't open them...