Helix

Maybe you could use the deform feature to bend a swept helix? That might work for a slightly curved phone cord.

You need two things: a helical curve and a sketch with a 'pierce' constraint to an end point of the helical curve.

Helical curve Start by sketching a circle as the diameter of the helix. Lock it to the origin. With that sketch highlighted, pick 'Insert>Curve>Helix/Spiral'. Fill in the parameters for pitch, turns, starting angle and direction.

Sketched profile for sweep If you selected as a starting angle of either 0 or 90 or a multiple, you can sketch on an existing plane that the end points lie on. Make a relation between the profile sketch and the helical path by picking a center point or vertex geometry for the pierce point and select the helix sketch. The 'pierce' constraint should appear in a list.

Create the sweep With profile sketch selected, pick either the Sweep icon or 'Insert>Boss/Surface/Cut>Sweep'. The profile should be filled in, so just pick the helical curve for the path. When feature previews, indicating a go, click the green 'ok' check.

David Janes

Nope. Doesn't work. Even when the deform doesn't freak out, the results aren't very good.

David

I think the question is a bit harder than that Unless I'm much mistaken, I think Roger wants a path of essentially helical character, but one whose long axis is a spline rather than a straight line.

Roger

If so, use google to search back through this NG: this topic often comes up, and local hero Mike Wilson(who has his own website

has developed at least one SldWks-specific solution and documented it on his site.

2005 will be out soon

That's very interesting Stave but how does that help?

I think Dynabits

has a program that does this, but I have no first-hand experience with them or their products.

"Roger" wrote in news:cc9sgf$4am$ snipped-for-privacy@hercules.btinternet.com:

I think Dynabits

has a program that does this, but I have no first-hand experience withthem or their products.

one method although approximate would be to- set off 12 evenly spaced points along the spline including the ends and create normal planes at those. set up a sketch of a circle with evenly spaced points at 30 deg on its circumference and copy paste that to all planes use 3d spline sketch to join the dots into a progressive sweep path spiralling around the spline- that is at the next plane choose the next clockwise? point. create a normal plane for a circle profile on the end of the formed path .sweep to make your helical wonder.

Thanks Dave. In this case, our approach is to calculate points along the helix with Excel or with our free MathSurf macro

) You'll need a bit of math here...

You can then use the "Curve through XYZ points" function to read your helix in SolidWorks. Our SketchFile

helps with mathematically defined surfaces.

beta testers can't say.

Roger,

Mike Wilson has some examples on his site:

Check out the Curve Driven Pattern on page 2 and the Adjustable Curved Helix on page 5.

Jerry Steiger Tripod Data Systems "take the garbage out, dear"

Thanks for all your help and ideas. As this will almost certainly be a 'one off' I went for Neil's suggestion and got it to work. Thanks again to you all. Roger