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Help ! How to flat down a curved surface ?


airsoldier2001

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Hi there ! I have finished 3d modeling a canoe in Autocad8 , she`s made of 8 curved surfaces ,and now I`m trying to “flat” them down to a single plan surface ,to get the exact dimensions so I can draw them on the plywood.It should be a simple task but I am new to Autocad8 and I could really use some help here . Thank you !:unsure:

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I'd suggest using the FLATSHOT command but I'm not 100% positive it will give you the results you are looking for since all your surfaces are curved. But what the heck, give it a try.

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I had a try but the outcome is just a 2d projection , I need something like to unfold the curved surface in to a 2d plan ,without altering his dimensions . Thank you for your advice . Regards !

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A pattern or a development I believe it is called. I think you'd need Inventor or a third-party add-on to AutoCAD to achieve that result. Although, vaguely, in the back of my mind I seem to recall that there might be a third option but I cannot put my finger on it at the moment.

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Wow ! :o That sounds quite complicated . I thought I just need a simple command , didn`t thought getting dimensions will be the hardest part ... I can see my canoe but I can`t get`it build ! :cry:

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"Magic" buttons can be found 3 aisles over in the "Tricks and Tips" department right next to the Fairy dust.

 

Really? One simple command to unfold curved surfaces. Stop nipping the grain alcohol. Time for a reality check.

 

Know anyone running Inventor?

 

Are you a student?

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Thank you so much for your help ! I will look in to the program you linked me !It looks like exactly what I need ! I don`t have anyone around here running Inventor and I`m not a student . I`m on a small greek island where is hard to find someone with knowledge about this kinds of software . Thank U for your time and support ! Best regards !

Edited by airsoldier2001
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airsoldier2001,

 

We are about to complete a glass spiral staircase for a job at work here and I think this answer may help you. Your arc lengths are the key - that will be your flattened horizontal dimension.

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OK, I installed the program ( in the end I had to find a version for autocad8 , I loaded the application , I follow the exact instructions from the User Guide , which goes like that : I type "unfoldsurf" command , I am then prompted to select the surface for unfolding, press enter as asked and then it ask me to : "Please Select Curves/Points For Unfolding (press to end the selection):" . I try everything, but nothing is unfolding . Could please somebody clue me in about`it ? What I am supose to select in order to unfold`it ? If I try to select a point , line or curve from the surface I want to unfold , it gets selected all of the surface and nothing is unfolding . What I am doing wrong here ?

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I was actually speaking from a 2D perspective, airsoldier2001. Looking down on a curved piece of glass and looking at the front of a flattened piece of glass using the arc length of the plan view for the width of the elevation. Your questions seem to be out of my league. So sorry.

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How to unfold surfaces in autocad 8 (for those who might encounter the same problems like me) : normaly you should be able to do that directly from autocad 8 , by downloading the add-on “Unfoldsurf For AutoCAD “

from 3dsolidtech ( http://www.solid3dtech.com/Products.html),and using the “unfoldsurf “command . But, for some reason, I couldn`t make`it happen either in autocad 7,8 or 10 . I`m sure I was doing something wrong, since I am only one week old on autocad . In the end I did`it with the Inventor10 , by converting the DWG (autocad file) with the “acisout “ command in to a *.sat file (from autocad), opened ,unfolded in to inventor with the 3d solidtech add-on (smart unfolder for Inventor) , then I saved the file as a *.sat (with the “save copy as *.sat ) , opened the file in autocad 10 with the “acisin” command , to then save`it as a DWG so I can use`it in Autocad 8 ,since I could`nt see anything in the “*.sat” file . I did this with help from the people (guru) of this forum , to which I transmit many ,many thanks and my respect !!! Regards !

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