topic Re: Lofting and rail error. in Fusion Design, Validate & Document Forum

Lofting and rail error.

Matt1G — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 01:38:25 GMT

Hi,

Brand new to fusion 360. Im trying to model this small camera for a drone and cant figure out how to loft the edges of these arched rails on the sides of the body to the top circle area? I basically want the all of the top edges to loft to the bottom of the circle above. Is this even possible? I keep getting the following error... "the selected rail does not touch all the profiles. Any tips?

Re: Lofting and rail error.

Haad_Ali — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 04:11:45 GMT

Kindly share your 3fd. file link.

Betreff: Lofting and rail error.

mango.freund — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 04:44:45 GMT

take a look. gr mango

Re: Lofting and rail error.

davebYYPCU — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 04:54:56 GMT

Yes it can be done,

Loft rail errors come from white dots in sketches, that are undefined.

Might help....

Re: Lofting and rail error.

TheCADWhisperer — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 11:58:14 GMT

Maybe something like the Attached (you should ALWAYS attach your actual file here)?

Keep Design for Manufacturability in mind when designing.

Loft is expensive, Revolve is cheap.

If you need Loft, you need Loft, just keep in mind that increases cost.

Re: Lofting and rail error.

Matt1G — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 15:44:03 GMT

Hi,

Yes, this is exactly what I'm looking for but I cannot seem to get it to work properly. I'm sure its some procedural error on my part but I'm at a loss. Attached is a similar example I made at the point where I get stuck.

Re: Lofting and rail error.

TheCADWhisperer — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 16:49:27 GMT

@Matt1G wrote:
Yes, this is exactly ...

Did you open my file or did you just look at the pretty picture?

Re: Lofting and rail error.

TrippyLighting — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 16:50:05 GMT

Perhaps download the model @TheCADWhisperer had attached to is post and inspect what he did ?

Re: Lofting and rail error.

Matt1G — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 22:48:44 GMT

Yes, I understand your solution and I got it to work your way but can I also do it in the way I was trying originally with the loft function and just lofting it along the top edges and to the bottom of the circle? Thanks for the help.

Re: Lofting and rail error.

davebYYPCU — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 23:06:31 GMT

I didn't save my file, however the horizontal box fillet, makes the loft hard enough, but also leaves a crease on the red lines, due to the sharp corner change of direction.

Whisperer's simpler version has no crease, in these areas.

Might help....

Re: Lofting and rail error.

TheCADWhisperer — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 23:18:04 GMT

@Matt1G wrote:
...with the loft function and just lofting ...

Loft is a different (more expensive) solution of more complex geometry.

Do you need Loft because my "solution" is not in fact what you want?

Re: Lofting and rail error.

TrippyLighting — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 11:59:17 GMT

@Matt1G wrote:

Yes, I understand your solution and I got it to work your way but can I also do it in the way I was trying originally with the loft function and just lofting it along the top edges and to the bottom of the circle? Thanks for the help.

Yes, you probably can, but that doesn't make it a good idea. The quality of the surface will be terrible and difficult to manufacture with traditional (CAM) methods.

Even of you 3D print it and surface complexity is mostly free, you will likely see undesirable surface artifacts because, again, the surface will be terrible.

Re: Lofting and rail error.

TheCADWhisperer — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 12:15:37 GMT

I'll go into a bit more detail.

In some cases a Loft will create primitive planar, cylindrical, or conical faces - but in most cases Loft is more of "freeform" tool. Think art sculpture. It takes a particular skill to create aesthetically pleasing art sculpture. Most people do not have that skill. And those that do have often spent years developing that skill. Those that don't create rubbish when attempting to create sculpture. (It might look sort of good from a distance, but when you get up closer you see the flaws.) Think of an autobody paint job where the bondo edges show through the paint. Bottom line - get 6mths to 6yrs experience under your belt before attempting Loft.

If you are observant - you should notice that these corners in my "solution" are completely different your setup...

My "solution" droops down here (that is a artsy term). Ahhh, where are the emojis...

Re: Lofting and rail error.

TrippyLighting — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 13:11:51 GMT

@TheCADWhisperer wrote:

Think art sculpture. It takes a particular skill to create aesthetically pleasing art sculpture. Most people do not have that skill. And those that do have often spent years developing that skill. Those that don't create rubbish when attempting to create sculpture.

Yep, all the while creating a lot of rubbish in the process of tying to get there 😉