I’m trying to help a student model this shape coffee table and I cannot for the life of me even figure out the correct words to ask the question. I have included an image for clarification. I want to create a wave shape and remove it from a portion of the cylinder…or some variation. I am using SketchUp Pro 2025
probably other methods. some with plugins, some without.
first, the cylinder, and a plane to cut it. it doesn’t have to be a plane, it can be whatever curved shape you want.
select all, right click, intersect with the selection (I know, my right click menu was out of field -_-)
with extensions, here I’m using fredo’s joint pushpull, I simply make the top part thicker.
or,
duplicate your cylinder, keep top and bottom separated as groups.
scale the top part up a bit. and adjust its position.
using solid tools you can merge both.
bonus : the fluted sides can be made with a material, or another solid tool :
(I would probably find a way to unite all the rods before cutting. or to cut before slicing in diagonal. or…)
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@ateliernab I think the curve around the cylinder is sinusoidal…. that complicates things.
not really, you can make any curve you want like this. simple one, complex one… here is a one arc curve, but I could have used a béziers curve…
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Really appreciate this response - screen recordings are a saviour! Whatever the curve shape is will be close enough for our purposes.
Making all that sticks a group and explode them inside that group won’t break solid group.. That way you can operate all cuttings at once.
Can you say more about this one, I haven’t done modelling in ages (mostly concentrating on teaching basics and visualisation) so I’m having a hard time seeing this in action.
yeah, after posting I re-read and yeah, you’re right, makes it easier to substract 
I’m using a free plugin called unwrap and flatten.
select the faces you want to unwrap, and it’ll do it. you might need to try again a couple of times, or to work on fewer faces.
it’s basic maths, take a cylinder, slice it 90° and you get a circle. slice it more (or less) than 90° and you get an ellipsis.
unfold your diagonally cut cylinder and you get a sinusoid
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If you want a more complex sinewave you could use this old plugin (nearly 10 years) from Driven.
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Oh that’s a good one @box
looks like a cake. it needs a candle now 