# Help spiral???



## mailee (16 Jan 2007)

I think I need Dave's help with this one. I am trying to draw a spiral such as screw threads or a spring but can't seem to figure out how to do it. I know there are bolts and screws in the components but I would like to draw a spring. Can anyone help me out? :?


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## SketchUp Guru (16 Jan 2007)

I'll do up a tutorial for you. Back soon.


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## SketchUp Guru (16 Jan 2007)

While I was working on one for you, I remembered a tutorial done by someone else that would help you out. Download this SKP file and take a look. http://forum.sketchup.com/attachment.ph ... 1146212025 

He is showing how to do screw threads but you could easily use the same method to draw a spring. You would substitute circles for the thread profile and connect the vertices on the circles to fill in the space between.

You might think about the number of segments in the base circle and how that would relate to the pitch of the spring.

You could also use a couple of ruby scripts to do this. First use Helix: http://www.crai.archi.fr/RubyLibraryDep ... helix12.rb to draw a helix of the desired shape. Then use Tube along a path http://www.crai.archi.fr/RubyLibraryDep ... ongPath.rb To create the spring.

I hope that helps.


_Edited to add:_ To use the Helix script, you must first draw a circle and select the face of it. Then select the Helix script from Plugins. The height of the helix is the overall height.


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## mailee (17 Jan 2007)

Oh Thank you, thank you Dave! that is spot on just what I wanted. Now I understand how to do it, thanks again.


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## SketchUp Guru (17 Jan 2007)

Did you try the helix and tube along a path scripts?


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## mailee (18 Jan 2007)

Hi Dave, no I heven't tried the Helix and tube along a path script yet but the Screw threads download helped a lot. I did have a look at the script page but wasn't sure what to do with all that computer jargon??


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## SketchUp Guru (18 Jan 2007)

Save those two scripts in the Plugins folder. They should have .rb as the file extension. Then open SU. In the Plugins menu you should find entries for those scripts.

To create a spring, first draw a circle of the desired radius. Select the circular face and then Helix from the Plugins menu. Enter the appropriate information and click OK. Select the helix which is a group and open it for editing. Select the helix itself. Select Tube along a path from the Plugins menu. Enter the desired data. Click OK. It might take a moment for the computer to process and return the spring but it'll do it.

Here we go in 3 easy steps.


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## mailee (20 Jan 2007)

Yep, got the hang of it now thanks Dave. That script sure does make it easier. Thanks again mate. :wink:


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## SketchUp Guru (20 Jan 2007)

Glad to help. FWIW, I did this today for someone else who was looking at doing spirals. It's a simple matter of pulling up a cylinder inside the spiral, running Intersect with model and deleted the unwanted bits.


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