topic Betreff: Is there an easier way to make a honeycomb pattern? in Inventor Forum

Is there an easier way to make a honeycomb pattern?

Anonymous — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 18:00:43 GMT

Hello, I need to create a hexagonal pattern similar to that of a honeycomb. Is there any easier way to do this?

Re: Is there an easier way to make a honeycomb pattern?

JDMather — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 18:55:11 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

...Is there any easier way to do this?

Easier than what way? I do not see a file attachment.

Grill.

What version of Inventor?

Betreff: Is there an easier way to make a honeycomb pattern?

WHolzwarth — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 20:11:30 GMT

Hmm. A startup could be a rectangular pattern with non-orthogonal directions.

2013 file attached

Walter

Re: Is there an easier way to make a honeycomb pattern?

Anonymous — Sun, 28 Feb 2016 01:37:32 GMT

I want to be able to create a grill with repeated hexagons, however i do not know how make it without creating each individual hexagon. Forgive me if you think I am completely stupid, I'm 16 and still learning to use Inventor. Thanks alot!

Betreff: Is there an easier way to make a honeycomb pattern?

Anonymous — Sun, 28 Feb 2016 01:45:53 GMT

Yes! exactly what i want... I just don't know how to create it...

Betreff: Is there an easier way to make a honeycomb pattern?

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Jan 2019 22:32:57 GMT

I realize that this is 3 years after you asked this question, however I stumbled across this thread and figured I would reply even though you've probably either figured it out or given up. Here's what you need to do to make a honeycomb pattern.

Steps:

1. Go into the sketch Tab and click on the down arrow under the rectangle tool.

2. Look at the bottom and select the "Polygon" tool

3. It will pull up a settings menu and obviously a honeycomb is a hexagon, so type in 6 sides if it isn't preset to 6.

4. Draw the hexagon to the size that you want and hit confirm.

5. Now look to the toolbar at the top and locate the option that says "Mirror".

6. Select every single side on your hexagon and then on the settings tab that pulled up, pick the tool that says "Mirror Line" and then select one of your sides.

7. Press apply and then you have your pattern started.

Now I am assuming that you want an outlined honeycomb pattern sort of like the file that the user above me attached. If you want to do this, all you have to do is make smaller hexagons inside of the preexisting ones. Then just extrude what you've made and you'll have your pattern. Again, don't anyone say anything about how dead this thread is, this young man (yes I realize he is now 19) was looking for help and he never received an explanation, so I figured I'd help him out. Have a nice day everyone and I hope that this was helpful.

Betreff: Is there an easier way to make a honeycomb pattern?

jed129 — Wed, 17 Jul 2024 22:45:29 GMT

I'm using this thread 5 years later. OP is now older than I am. Never think you won't make a difference. (Still works btw)

Re: Is there an easier way to make a honeycomb pattern?

atagsschool — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 15:56:54 GMT

Op is older than I am, and I'm using this in a work situation, only 2 years older than OP was when he posted first.

Re: Is there an easier way to make a honeycomb pattern?

johnsonshiue — Mon, 24 Mar 2025 19:34:36 GMT

Hi! If you have access to Fusion, you may want to look into Geometric Pattern. It helps populate some shapes on a cone, a cylinder, or a sphere easily.

Many thanks!

Betreff: Is there an easier way to make a honeycomb pattern?

ronpieper61 — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 14:08:55 GMT

And people complain about necroposts on forums...🙄

Betreff: Is there an easier way to make a honeycomb pattern?

matanT5LSH — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 08:22:17 GMT

May I ask why you extrude a surface and than thicken it instead of sketch a the hexagonal with an offset and extrude a solid?

Betreff: Is there an easier way to make a honeycomb pattern?

WHolzwarth — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 09:03:32 GMT

Using a surface at start, helps with getting both distances for the Rectangular Pattern at the end.
I didn't test it with Inventor 2026, but Sketch offsets didn't work in both directions in former versions. Therefore some calculations would be needed for getting the distances for the pattern.

Re: Is there an easier way to make a honeycomb pattern?

cooperolivia919 — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 09:23:21 GMT

You can draw a single hexagon, complete the sketch, and then use Pattern - Rectangular Pattern to repeat it. Be sure to set the spacing so that the hexagons touch each other. Fusion will quickly create a clean honeycomb layout.

Re: Is there an easier way to make a honeycomb pattern?

vicjun68 — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 14:07:06 GMT

Sounds like someone is making a Mazda Rx3 grill....😍😍😍