3d helix by shape - is it possible?

Hi

I need some ideas how to draw a 3d helix which follows some profile?

Sample attached.

At the end we should receive something like channel in balustrade...

Great job people,I found lot of useful info here!

helix.dwg

One option: sweep two different profiles and when done, subtract one from the other to achieve the final result.

The dwg file you attached represents a problem far more complex than the image you attached.

I would use Autodesk Inventor rather than Autodesk AutoCAD for something like this, but maybe this will give you some ideas -

http://home.pct.edu/~jmather/content/CAD238/AutoCAD%202007%20Tutorial%2010.pdf

Yes the picture is just to give You more info about the result :-)

Thank You for the suggestions!

Draw a square, make a copy of the square rotate it 45° and place it above the first square. Make sure the squares are placed with the same centre point but put the second square at a height of about 12.5% of the length of the side of the square. Then just copy the 2 squares again above the others (25%). Copy as many as you need for the height of the column. Use the spline command and starting at one corner of the bottom square keep on picking a corner of each subsequent square above at a corner 45° from the last one (so 8 points will give you one complete turn at a height equal to the same as the width of the column). That will give you the basic spiral, you can adjust the proportions to suit your needs by having the squares closer together or further apart as needed.

The built in tools as demo'd by JD Mather work a lot easier but sometimes knowing other methods helps (and some Architecture makes use uf bulbous columns - fatter in the middle - which you can do by altering the square sizes to start with)

I haven't actually tested this with AutoCAD 2015 yet, but this may be another option:

http://apps.exchange.autodesk.com/ACD/en/Detail/Index?id=appstore.exchange.autodesk.com%3astsc_uvvectormap_windows32and64%3aen

Not exactly automatic but the setup if fairly straightforward, The general procedure is as shown in the attached (done in AutoCAD 2014).

helix_Mod.dwg