Loft path issue

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I am attempting to loft a handrail profile along a spline path (see attachment) without much success.......

My method is to enter the LOFT command, select the 4 identical handrail profiles in order, hit enter, choose Path in the command line and then select the path ( colored cyan) and then wait as the pinwheel spins for a minute or so. After waiting, the whole process stops as if nothing has happened at all.  Would anyone have a suggestion as to what my issue might be?

Thanks much,

Peter

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017)

4.2 GHz Intel Core i7

16 GB 2400 MHz DDR4

Radeon Pro 580 8 GB

[Patchy]

Use BOUNDARY for the cross section and LOFT them.

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Thanks much for your response....

I'm not sure how you are suggesting to use the BOUNDARY command - please tell me a little more. 

This handrail part will eventually be machined on a CNC machine, so I need to have as little deformity as possible. I see in the returned model that there is a fair amount of deforming of the profile as it goes around the curve.  I also see that you have turned the profile vertical which I can't do, as I need to have that profile follow the path uniformly. I hope this makes sense.

Thanks,

Peter

[nikm42Q9N]

If I get this right then the problem is once you loft it does not hit all the profile points right. Like it hits two and not anohter. also what wrong this the above soloution? is that not what your going for? see attched model

[Anonymous]

Hi John,

Yes you are correct.... what you stated is a good description of what I am trying to achieve, but not quite getting. The model you sent looks like it is going in the right direction, but I still see deformity - see the 3 screenshots attached.

I was recently able to successfully model the other side of this staircase handrail (which starts going up the staircase instead) with the exact same profile and a 3D mirror image of this exact same path, but for some reason this one heading down the stairs won't cooperate......

Peter

[nikm42Q9N]

yea well that why everyone says AutoCAD is no good for 3D,it can be a bitch. One suggestion I have is to redraw your profile with cleaner arcs (the one you got on there has allot of nodes) the less the nodes and the cleaner the lines will give you the best extrude and also I imagine that's whats taking the command so **** long to complete. and FYI my model I did it in section instead of trying to loft everything in one go it did it in three parts. top, bottom middle 

[Johanna_Esteban · Accepted solution]

HI @Anonymous, 

This is the result of using LOFT from the surface you attached, two points to mention:
1. The amount of points that the edge of the surface has are too many, this is reflected in the amount of faces that go along the solid.

2. Although the surface must work properly to model the handrail, a lighter polyline will offer a better result.

I have redrawn the border with lines and arcs and through PEDIT I have converted them to polyline, once I have copied it and ALIGN to each of the surfaces that you initially had.

Then LOFT, selecting the edges one by one (in the order I want it to run) and then selecting PATH in the suboptions of the LOFT command. The result: less time in modeling and a lighter and easier to handle part.

I attach the dwg file.

Regards, 

[nikm42Q9N]

ok yea I really see the deformity your talking about. man that turn might be too much for that profile. have your tried doing this in another software if able?

[nikm42Q9N]

Nice bit of info

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone for your help...

Johanna you are a genius - thank you SO much for this brilliant solution. I've been working for the past 8 hours trying to figure this out.

Best,

Peter