Terminate Loft to Line

[Anonymous]

Does the Loft command allow you to terminate your loft to a line similar to how you would terminate to a point. Imagine, as an example, you were modeling a toothpaste tube, with various irregularities that can be represented in your section profiles, but let's say that ultimately you want to terminate that shape to an edge.

[JDMather]

1. A toothpaste tube does not terminate to a line - model to the real world.

2. What are you really trying to design (if it is a toothpaste tube - say so and you will get an example file).

3. Attach your file of what you have attempted so far.

[Anonymous]

I found a different solution to what I was trying to do. I'm just curious if this is a function of Loft for future reference. Modeling to the real world can be unnecessarily time-consuming depending on what your purpose for the model is. I realize that toothpaste tubes don't actually terminate to an edge, or there'd probably be frequent toothpaste related gore in the news.

[JDMather]

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@Anonymous wrote:
. Modeling to the real world can be unnecessarily time-consuming depending on what your purpose for the model is. ..

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Post example.

Loft from round to oblong is easy.

[PaulMunford]

A line is an open loop. You can loft a surface from an open loop to an open loop. If you want to create a solid from this you would create multiple surface lofts and then stitch them together.

A solid must be lofted from closed loop to closed loop. You can't mix open an closed loops.

[Anonymous]

So is that a definitive "No, you can't terminate a loft to a line like you can with a point"? I don't really have an example to offer. I realized that the model I was working on didn't call for anything like that, and I went in a different direction to solve it. That said, the model I was working on isn't really relevant to the post, which is why I didn't bring it up. It's only what originally put the question in my mind. I just then became curious if I actually could do that with a loft if I ever had to, and a search didn't bring up any post addressing the question, so I made my own.

[JDMather]

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@Anonymous wrote:

So is that a definitive "No, you can't terminate a loft to a line like you can with a point"?....

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I didn't see a"No, you can't terminate a loft to a line like you can with a point."

Paul even described the technique.  Standard technique in several different MCAD programs.

I can, but when someone can't figure it out, I first question the design intent.

Then I request that they attach their attempt so that I can gauge their experience level and better understand their design intent.

The toothpaste tube example and Loft to Line do not sound like appropriate technique.

[Anonymous]

I get that. You tell someone "No, Inventor can't do that ridiculous thing you want done" and they go on a 5 minute tangent about how Solidworks can do it. They then walk away grumbling about Inventor, and without their problem having actually been resolved. So it's not always enough to just stick to the scope of the software - sometimes you have to question their approach, both to help them with their core problem, and to demonstrate that Inventor can accomplish what they're trying to accomplish, if done correctly. In this case though, like I said, I don't have a concrete problem that needs solving at this point. I was just curious if this was a capability of the Loft command,.

Paul's Technique gets the job done, but it sounded like an awful lot of extra steps compared to just literally clicking a sketch with a line in it as your last section in a loft path, the way you would with a point. So I'm guessing if that's his approach, then what I'm asking is not something the Loft command can do by itself. Still good advice though that I'll remember later. I just wanted to confirm that what he was saying about closed vs. open loops means that I can't loft a solid to a line. Because I never really considered a point to be a closed loops either, but Loft will nevertheless take a point as a section for a solid, as long as it's the last section in the Loft. I just thought maybe the same applied to lines and that I was just missing something.

[JDMather]

This one has come up here in the past - might be a good one for the IdeaStation.

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-ideastation/idb-p/v1232

I think it would definitely have some applications.

A (complex) knife's edge comes to mind.