Creating custom circular hatch pattern

[tilakpatel531]

Hello guys, need some advice on creating a custom hatch pattern consisting on circles.

Now I know one way of making custom hatch through making a notepad file and saving as .pat file and then importing in Autocad. But all the examples I saw online show pattern for only lines and not circles. Does anybody know how to make such a pattern?

I have also read it could be done using Autolisp but I'm not much familiar with it. Though I'm ready to learn if it is the better option.

Looking forward to your valuable suggestions.

Thanks.

[R_Tweed]

As an alternative, you might want to consider using the express tools superhatch using a repeating block when your dealing with circles.

[Kent1Cooper]

It can't be of true circles as a Hatch pattern -- they consist only of lines and line segments.  But if a 24-sided polygon is "circular" enough for your purposes, it's likely that the open-centered pattern in CirclesTriGrid.pat, available >here<, could be re-written with proportions between radius and spacing like what you're after.  Since those proportions are different in your two diagrams, each would need to be its own pattern definition -- if you can work with the same proportion between "circle" radius and spacing, you can just use the same pattern at different scale factors.

[tilakpatel531]

Hi, thanks for your input, I appreciate it. But I am going to use these patterns frequently in a lot of different drawings and so I need a pattern file which I can apply just like any other default pattern. Is it possible to use the custom pattern through Superhatch in different files?

[Kent1Cooper]

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@tilakpatel531 wrote:

…. I am going to use these patterns frequently in a lot of different drawings and so I need a pattern file which I can apply just like any other default pattern. Is it possible to use the custom pattern through Superhatch in different files?

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I don't think [but you can confirm easily enough -- I don't have AutoCAD up at the moment] that SuperHatch remembers options or stores what would be the equivalent of "pattern names" or files that could be used again in different drawings, but you would need to make all the choices again in each.  You would at least be able to make a drawing of a repeatable rectangular portion of the pattern you want, of Circle(s) and Arc(s), and store that as a drawing that you could bring in as a Block in different drawings to use in SuperHatch.  But if "the custom pattern" refers to any of the CirclesTriGrid patterns [or a similar one with different proportions], and that's circular enough for you, then you don't need SuperHatch.

[R_Tweed]

You would need the block definition in the file and you could accomplish this with a macro.

[tilakpatel531]

Could you please explain little more? I have made a block of the pattern and tried with Superhatch. But it is only useful in that particular file. No as I  intend to use across different files.

[pendean]

Superhatch is a per-drawing tool, nothing else.
And stock hatch creation method in AutoCAD does not allow for circles.

Show us your intended hatch pattern, lets see what you are trying to create.

[tilakpatel531]

Hi, I have attached the image of what I'm after. I also found this awesome Autolisp tool which lets you create any custom hatches. Though it doesn't support perfect circles, it can generate quite detailed cirlces with many lines.

Here is the link to the tool- https://www.mladengradev.com/en/create-custom-hatches-in-autocad/

I'm still learning how to use this tool as there are neither many tutorials avaiable nor any instructions included. Does anyone know how to use it? I'm particularly looking to edit the size of the square window inside which we draw the pattern.

[R_Tweed · Accepted solution]

You would need to insert your patterns into each dwg. Make a pattern library file "dwg" and use a macro to insert the pattern blocks. You can add additional patterns to the pattern library file. I've made a screencast  <here> to show the steps.

[Kent1Cooper · Accepted solution]

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@tilakpatel531 wrote:

.... I also found this awesome Autolisp tool .... Does anyone know how to use it? I'm particularly looking to edit the size of the square window inside which we draw the pattern.

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There are pretty detailed instructions right on the page in your link.

If that requires a square  piece to work with, it will never work with your triangular pattern -- no distance is going to meet a horizontal circle spacing and a vertical row spacing, because of the non-orthogonal angle.

But a Block of a rectangular portion between circle centers, like just the yellow parts in this:

works pretty well in SuperHatch.

[tilakpatel531]

@Kent1Cooper @R_Tweed thanks to both of you. i combined both of your tricks and the end result is perfect.

since it is a repetitive pattern, instead of making one single instance, we can make something more than "one" to fill the square. thanks to everyone for your inputs and time. gotta love this community!

[Kent1Cooper]

I do notice, however, that in order to make an actually square  piece, you have had to change the spacing between the circles in the diagonal directions compared to the spacing in the horizontal direction, which also means that it's not an equilateral-triangle arrangement [the diagonal angle between centers is not 60 degrees].  Obviously if that works for you, go for it, but it is  different from your original images.

[tilakpatel531]

yes. actually the angle turns out to be 63° instead of 60°. it should work fine though. you've got an eye of an eagle for noticing such minute difference😃