Hi, first time playing with DCs. I’m trying to make a box. I want to have configurable radius on the corners, wall thickness and external dims. It seems that i should build a quarter of the box then copy / flip it 3 times.
I’ve got the size and thickness to work on the side, but not on the curved corners. If you load my model, then try changing the wall thickness to something other than 5 you’ll see what i mean. Everything works except the corner.
I guess you want the corner setting to adjust automatically, along with the wall thickness.
But if that’s the case, then I think you need to get rid of it’s current ‘Custom Attribute’ setting, and instead try to assign it a function so it will adjust it’s size relative to the wall thickness variable.
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As it stands now adjusting the wall thickness to say ‘4’ reduces the size as expected, and of course the radius corner ends up standing proud of the new wall. However, given that there is also an option for adjusting the corner radius independently, I wouldn’t expect it to shrink proportionately to the wall thickness… as it’s setting hasn’t yet changed.
Changing the corner radius to say ‘8’ does bring it flush with a 4mm wall… and for what it’s worth, I think that works as I would have expected given the settings available on the component options menu.
BUT, of course I also see the logic in having it work the other way.
Having said all this, I’m not sure If you’re looking for help in trying to figure out what the radius forumla needs to be, or if this is a general sort of question which is looking to pinpoint the source of the problem.
you’ve done a nice job so far, and I don’t know if you’d like to try and finish it off on your own???
Pointing one in the right direction, is a bit different than just giving them the solution, so I feel I should be cautious here.
For a closed box with a variable wall thickness and corner radiuses, you would need to create two hollow cubes inside each other, both split into 26 unique components (6 faces, 8 corners (parts of sphere) and 12 sides, 52 unique components in all, each with position and size constrained by formulas.
thanks for the reply. Finding it very hard to describe what i’m doing using purely words , maybe i should video myself waving my arms about
I simplified the model for putting on this forum, and i think i’ll simplify it some more. I want to be able to describe the corner radius and the thickness. It’s all about the curved piece of wall, I want to be able to have the external radius being the ‘corner radius’ and the internal radius being defined by the wall thickness (ie corner radius - wall thickness).
I cant see what kind of solid i would use to make this. It seems that this whole DC stuff is mostly about scaling. I think i’m trying to independently scale the inside and outside of a single component.
So, i guess the question is - should I apply a formula to the existing part, or do i somehow need to have two solids, one quarter bar with the external rad, another with the internal rad and use a boolean operation to take the smaller section away… or am i missing something - thats what it feels like, i’ve missed out on learning some fundamental on DCs.
thanks for your reply. I’m actually trying to build a model for printing boxes on a 3d printer. The top and bottom faces don’t need to have a radius on them, and i want to build the box in two halves. So, i don’t think my numbers will be exactly the same as you suggest. However, i’m intrigued by your numbers, i don’t understand why 12 sides AND 6 faces - can you explain the difference ?
Another question - presumably i could try this without all the messing about with rads, what do you do with these two hollow cubes once built ? Is this a boolean operation performed manually once the sizes are right ?
Finally, you’re numbers have scared me - i’m currently working on 1 quarter (1/8 in your numbers above) of the box, assuming that i can make 3 copies, flip along axis and move origins. Do you foresee a problem with this method ?
I’m trying to build a component, which is a curved wall, where i can have attributes for both the internal and external radius (ie i can define the thickness).
I have no idea how to go about this - any help appreciated.
