Fast Lathe Add on

Hi !
This is a little free add on that I made a few months ago.

Installation:

  1. Start Blender and open User Preferences. Click on the addons tab
  2. Click “install from file” , then choose downloaded zip or .py
  3. Check the addon to activate, then save user preferences

To use it, just press Shift+A, and you’ll find it in the mesh menu.
To adjust the resolution and revolution, just go in the screw modifier created.

Fast Lathe puts you in a front view, and enable you to create directly a lathe in two ways :

Assuming you’re with left click select in preferences :

lathe : Ctrl+ right click for straight lines
lathe_libre : Shift + right click for free draw

You’ll see instant preview of the final mesh.

The link to download

It’s really simple, so if you want more options, you can see the lathe option of the Speedsculpt add on of Pitiwazou, who remade it from scratch and way better !

The usefull thing. Thanks

Happy to see that you like it , and that you found it’s useful !

Ah, that’s a kind of relief, thanks. Will use the lathe (screw) probably a bit more. The only thing is the I have to flip normals in the modifier it seems by default. (If you could build that in as well ? :eyebrowlift2: ). Anyway, thanks!

Thanks for the report, I’ll add the flip by default :wink:

V 0.5 updated !
Tell me if it’s ok for you with the flip by default.
Same link in the first post as before

Oh Great! I feel like a king here. Thanks, when modeling I will keep Lathe in mind. I think we should use it more.

New version , with a faster workflow!
Solidify Modifier added automatically, and naming of the object.
Same link as in first post.

Thanks for making lathe much eassier!, I will make a scene full with vases , plates, and the like. If succesfull I will post it here.
The only thing I have to do is a) put in front ortographic view, b) add Edge Split Modifier, and there I go… great.!

You rise an interesting point , as the addon should do automatically switch to front ortho.
Please, try to check the auto perspective option, in the interface tab of Blender Preferences.

About the B point, I will see how I can make it work.

Hi Ethan, yes, that worked. It’s now switching to front orthographic view automatically. Amazing.
I am not sure if a default Edge split modifier by everyone is prefered, but mostly I use it.
Thanks!

Well, the edge split modifier is easy to implement.
But as you say, I don’t know if it’s in a common workflow.

Should I really need to create a thread poll just for this ?:rolleyes:
Tell me in this post, everyone : YES or NO for edge split by default :smiley:
I’ll check until around wednesday!

disregard

Anyway… thanks! for the addon

yes for edge split

Good work, thanks

Updated with better default viewport settings and render settings (64 steps) , for a smoother result.
Thanks for your participation in the Yes/No contest for edge split modifier :slight_smile:

V 0.8
after some tests, some cases are good for edge, and others not so…
Finally , everyone will be happy, each operator has its “edge” twin :slight_smile:

You can now choose between fast lathe/fast lathe _edge ,
and fast lathe_libre/fast lathe_libre_edge !

Thank you
A suggestion: The starting point could be connected to the cursor so that holes in the mesh are avoided.

Suggestion appreciated, and added in the last version.
The first vertex will be automatically created at the cursor.

The feature is only available (for now,but later I hope) for “polygonal” lathe and lathe_edge, because the “libre” uses curves and freedraw. so the others points are not automatically connected to the first point.
Enjoy !

Edit : I also changed the order of operators, so the modifiers tab should be open on the right, with parameters ready to modify.

thank you for uour quick reply Ethan

Minor update

Deduplication of the double operators. (bye edge twins)
Back to only two operators. the edgesplit modifier is added but not active. just click the eye/render buttons to activate them in the modifier.
I think it’s a good compromise.
dealing with four operators will be hard to maintain for no real gain.

Better comments in the code for maintenance.

Edit : don’t forget that you can press E to extrude the next vertex , it enables to preview at the opposite of ctrl+click.
It’s Blender default behaviour, but some people including me forgot it :slight_smile: