Conical Spring.

Support Basics & Interface
1

Hi :slight_smile:

I am trying make a conical spring
where the wire diameter changes
along Y axis.

Here is an image to explain what I am talking about.
http://img491.imageshack.us/img491/5174/cs014tr.jpg

  1. Starting diameter.
  2. Ending diameter.

Anyone here know how to do that?

2

this might help
https://blenderartists.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=56930&highlight=dna
https://blenderartists.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=42140&highlight=dna

you could use cylinder with cicular bases of diffent diameters

3

I remember a spiral creator script someone posted before, maybe it could do the trick.
Or create your conical spiral by connecting vertices from a highly subdivided cone, separating the edge and running the mesh to curve script R4 posted in this topic:
https://blenderartists.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=54804
Make sure you download his latest compatible script. After you have your conical curve, perhaps you can path deform a truncated mesh cone to it to get your spring. You’d have to cut your cone with the multicut knife tool first, though, so you’d have enough sections to bend.

4

I tried the following quickly:

1: create a spring shape by extruding a curve – I just did it manually

2: add a nurbs circle and make it a bevel object of the spring.

3: add a straight surve section and make this the taper object.

4: use a lattice for the cone shape.

http://members.shaw.ca/rjplus/bevob.jpg

GreyBeard

5

Hey GreyBeard how about this?
Modelling using DupliFrames
http://download.blender.org/documentation/htmlI/ch22s03.html
Scroll down to More Animation and Modelling.

6

Works as well :smiley: I have a video tute on dupliframes

http://www.ibiblio.org/bvidtute/

The one on paths and dupliframes.

GreyBeard

7

I can make the spring using that tutorial
however the it never turns
out very good. I’m not sure just where
to add keyframes and when to move, scale and rotate
the circle so everything is accurate.