# fluted sections???



## nickson71 (9 Oct 2006)

anybody got any tip on doing a fulted sections in sketch up 

Thanks

Ian


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## SketchUp Guru (9 Oct 2006)

Gimme a few minutes to sketch something up for you.


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## SketchUp Guru (10 Oct 2006)

Here we go. It occurred to me after drawing this up that I assumed you want a column. If not, let me know and I'll fix this up.

In the meantime here's a fluted column.

I started with a circle. In this case it's got the default 24 segments. I drew a couple of construction lines that intersect the center and the intersection of adjacent line segments. Then I drew a couple of parallel construction lines. The intersections of these construction lines on the edge segment locates the ends of the arc. I drew the arc with 6 segments to lighten up the model.

I selected the arc and used Ctrl+Rotate to make a copy and rotate that copy 15° (360°/24) then I hit Enter and typed *23 to make 23 copies of the first. Then I used Push/Pull to pull up the column.


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## nickson71 (10 Oct 2006)

Hi Dave 

thanks for the colum tip ....... I'm sure it will be useful in the future BUT I'm after drawing a decorative stopped fulting on a flat surface 


I realy should have been a bit more descriptive in my first post.  

An example is show on the legs of this fire surround on ebay 
HERE

thanks 

Ian


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## SketchUp Guru (10 Oct 2006)

I see. It would be a great deal different than what I drew. I'll draw something up. Think in terms of molding the fluting in a large, flat piece of clay. Positve shapes moved into the face, intersect with model, remove the waste.


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## SketchUp Guru (10 Oct 2006)

Let's see if this will give you some ideas.

1. Draw the positive version of the fluting. I decided this would be cut using a 1/2" core box router bit. I started with a vertical rectangle located over the centerline of the flute. I drew it 1/2" high. This was a convenient dimension. The side of this shape will be used as a path for Follow Me and the first segment of the path must be perpendicular to the profile for Follow Me to work properly. I drew radii at the two lower corners of the rectangle to the radius of bit.

2. Then I used Push/Pull to pull the faces out 1/4" from the centerline. I drew a 1/4" radius arc on one end.

3. I selected the edges that need to have the radius and ran Follow Me. This actually gets done once for each side because the profile is really two 1/4 arcs.

4. I moved the profile down into the work. Note there is no black line at the intersection of the sides of the profile and the face of the work. I don't show it but the next step, while the profile is still selected is to run Intersect with model from the Context menu (RMB).

5. Finally, I deleted what I didn't need and reversed the face iinside the flute. It was inisde the profile so it was the inside face.






Note: I scaled the model up by a factor of 100 before running the Follow Me operations. There are some tiny faces generated by the arcs and Follow Me that are much easier to deal with at a larger size. In this case they weren't really obvious so they could have probably been ignored.

By the way, when making more than one flute, just make copies of the positive and resize them as needed.


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## CYC (10 Oct 2006)

Thanks Dave, you just unlocked the key to intersecting. I misunderstood the tool concept until your post.


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## nickson71 (10 Oct 2006)

thanks Dave

I'll try this when I get home ..............


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## garywayne (11 Oct 2006)

Hi Dave.

I'm having problems copying the arcs around the circle. I am following your instructions, but to no avail.

Can you help me please?

NOTE: I am quite dense. 

While I'm here, can I ask why you used the bezier thingy instear of the arc tool when drawing the armoire base?


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## SketchUp Guru (11 Oct 2006)

Gary, I used the Rotate tool while holding the Ctrl key to make the radial array. It works like this:

Select the first arc for the flute.

Get the Rotate tool.

Place the Rotate tool on the center of the large circle. I used construction lines to locate the center because I needed them elsewhere. You could use inferencing to find the center, too.

Click mouse.

Hold down the Ctrl key.

Drag out a broken line to the arc you want to array.

Click the mouse.

Continue holding the Ctrl key and begin to rotate the copy of the arc around the circle.

Let go of the Ctrl key.

Type 15 Enter for the degrees of movement.

Type /23 Enter for the number of copies.

Sounds harder than it is. With a tiny bit of practice you'll do it all as a single motion.

As to the Bezier curve, I used it because it gave me a shallow parabolic arch rather than a circular arch. I also used it because I was asked to include it in a tutorial. :wink:


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## garywayne (11 Oct 2006)

Thanks Dave.

I really enjoy your tutorials. Looking forward to the next.


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