Modeling a leadscrew - loft, sweep, extrude, helix - no luck.

[JD Mather]

Anyway, an easier way to do something is always useful, so my sample is attached, showing the setup and then the result of applying the Sweep.

 

The rectangle should be perpendicular to the start of the helix or the material thickness might end up incorrect.

UCS ZA O (someone posted an example here recently where Align - Yes to did not align symmetrically)

 

Modeling a bent sheet metal feed screw is slightly different than modeling a fastener thread. On the Lathe the cutting tool remains on one plane (Align - No) as it follows the cylinder rotation at pitch for helix.

[catfan]

Good point. I was using an arbitrary thickness for illustration purposes.

 

Since I think the orientation I used is necesary to get the desired result, I believe it would be better to use trigonometry to adjust the thickness of the rectangle rather than re-aligning it.

(For example, in my drawing, I used an OD of 2.5" and a turn height of 1.5", so a rectangle 1.31" wide would yield a material thickness of .125".)

 

The attachment shows the result of choosing Align="yes".

 

Just added a second example showing the result of manually aligning the rectangle before applying the sweep. Perhaps that is the most accurate approach.

LEAD SCREW EXAMPLE-ALIGNMENT ON.dwg

LEAD SCREW EXAMPLE-MANUAL ALIGNMENT.dwg

Edited November 8, 2012 by catfan
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