Rotate and multiply a triangle around the corner of another triangle

After a long hiatus, I’m back and still a beginner. I am designing some sundials and have run in to a snag with the rotate tool. I feel like I should be able to figure this out with one of the origami examples, but it’s not happening for me. I have a triangle (white) that rests on the tip of a second triangle (blue). With the the white triangle fixed, I would like to rotate the second triangle through a 360 degree turn. I’d eventually like to multiple the blue triangle around every 360/24= 15 degrees. A bit like an old windmill fan blade.

How about sharing the .skp file so we can see exactly what you’ve got. I expect the method will be simple enough if we can see your model.

Thanks … BasicDial_2.skp (547.0 KB)

I don’t see a white triangle in your model and don’t know what plane you are trying to rotate in. Maybe something like this with Rotate/Copy?
copy

Sorry, the old version was white and I changed to blue.

Almost … There is a dashed/construction line that bisect the blue triangle. The the blue triangle needs to rotates around the construction line. I believe that you are currently rotating around the blue axis (unfortunate choice of colors). If the protractor were parallel to the construction line, I think that would do it. (still need to figure out how to multiple)

Like this?
copy

Click to set the center of rotation and hold the button while you drag down the guideline to orient the tool. Then it’s the same as before after that.

That’s exactly what I suggested, and it’s not rotating like I think it should. I must not be describing it correctly and have confused things.

You were closer in the first example. Right now the blue protractor is parallel to the face. Need to head out for a bit; I’ll try letting the blue fan blade rotate at an angle from the blue protractor face. Thanks for your patience.

You wrote:

That’s what I did. The triangle rotated around the guideline. I guess you need to give a better description or maybe some images of what you are trying to accomplish.

Included are two JPEG files. The one should look familiar. The second is the one I’m trying to recreate, and is a bit difficult to decipher.

Dave

Perhaps it’s something like below.
Two main points would be, use groups or components and the rotate tool here is used with a “click and drag”.
Hopefully the gif is slow enough to see the goings on.

Shep

radial array copy

As near as I can tell from the GIF, it looks great! I missed one bit related to the blue grouping. The bounding box seems to be missing a bit. I haven’t been able to recreate that bit so maybe a tip/hint? Thanks again, Dave

Just select the triangle, right click and choose make group. This is a basic act that keeps the geometry from sticking together.

So not rotating along the guideline but along a guide that is perpendicular to it.

yes, sorry for the unnecessary confusion. dave

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I finally got back to the project and figured it out.Thanks!