To preserve the ability to print different strands in different colors when #3DPrinting, we must keep them separate. When #CNCMilling a block of wood or other material, we don't need to keep the strands separate.
To accommodate both kinds of output, I suggest that you keep the strands separate until the very end, and perform a #booleanUnion at the last possible stage after making a copy of the separate strands.
The topmost part of the diagram shows what the strands look like after a boolean union. Much of the internal structure is absorbed in the channel block, and overlapping parts of individual strands are eliminated.
The magenta curve from https://pixelfed.social/p/Splines/798252244743520392 is also shown here. Note that the location of the red cutting planes has changed slightly — Instead of 40 units from the origin, the first cutting plane is located at 39 because I ran into another limit that we must avoid.
Also, we need two blocks 120 units and 32 units long (not 24 units as was erroneously mentioned earlier). Turns out that cutting the strands at 32 units from the first cut puts us at 71 units from origin, and we run into another limit that destroys the #airtight properties of the cut solids. To get around that, we place the second cutting plane at 72 from origin to get a block 33 units long. The last cutting plane is at 159 units from origin, and when used with the first cutting plane it gives us a block 120 units long.
The lower portion of the diagram shows individual strands cut using the cutting planes as described above.
Depending on precision, you might or might not see a #nonmanifoldEdge on the second strand when cutting a length of 33 units. With precision set to 1/10 micron, which is ~100 times finer than current high-end #3DPrinters, I got a non-manifold edge.
Sometimes the fix is easy — Just #explode the solid, and rejoin the tiny surface fragments. Experiment with different precision settings.
Splines #Braids #3StrandBraids #MulticoloredBraids
Show moreTo preserve the ability to print different strands in different colors when #3DPrinting, we must keep them separate. When #CNCMilling a block of wood or other material, we don't need to keep the strands separate.
To accommodate both kinds of output, I suggest that you keep the strands separate until the very end, and perform a #booleanUnion at the last possible stage after making a copy of the separate strands.
The topmost part of the diagram shows what the strands look like after a boolean union. Much of the internal structure is absorbed in the channel block, and overlapping parts of individual strands are eliminated.
The magenta curve from https://pixelfed.social/p/Splines/798252244743520392 is also shown here. Note that the location of the red cutting planes has changed slightly — Instead of 40 units from the origin, the first cutting plane is located at 39 because I ran into another limit that we must avoid.
Also, we need two blocks 120 units and 32 units long (not 24 units as was erroneously mentioned earlier). Turns out that cutting the strands at 32 units from the first cut puts us at 71 units from origin, and we run into another limit that destroys the #airtight properties of the cut solids. To get around that, we place the second cutting plane at 72 from origin to get a block 33 units long. The last cutting plane is at 159 units from origin, and when used with the first cutting plane it gives us a block 120 units long.
The lower portion of the diagram shows individual strands cut using the cutting planes as described above.
Depending on precision, you might or might not see a #nonmanifoldEdge on the second strand when cutting a length of 33 units. With precision set to 1/10 micron, which is ~100 times finer than current high-end #3DPrinters, I got a non-manifold edge.
Sometimes the fix is easy — Just #explode the solid, and rejoin the tiny surface fragments. Experiment with different precision settings.