Sweep a profile along a line
Turn a path and a profile into a solid part: a pipe, a rail, a ring.
Sweep carries a shape (the profile) along a line (the path) and makes a solid part of it. A circle along a curve makes a pipe, a rectangle along a straight line makes a bar, and a closed path makes a ring.
- Draw the path with the Draw tool (see Draw lines and shapes). If the profile should be a drawn shape, draw that too.
- Open the Sweep card from the bottom toolbar or the search (CtrlK).
- Pick the Path in the list.
- Choose the Profile: a Circle (give its size), a Rectangle (width and height) or another Line from the list.
- Press Sweep.
The result is a normal part called Sweep, with a row in the tree, and one undo step.
Advanced
- Scale
- How big the profile is at the start and at the end, as a percentage. 100 and 50 make a pipe that narrows.
- Twist
- How far the profile turns along the path, in degrees.
- Close the ends
- Puts a lid on each end so the part is solid.
- Hard-edge angle
- Corners sharper than this are kept sharp; gentler ones are shaded smooth.