Introduction

Before we even start modeling we need Autocad plans of a house. I’ve taken dwg files and saved it as 3dm (native Rhino file format).  You can download it here:

plans

If you like, or if you get stuck with some step, you can download each step individually here:

step 1

step 2

step 3

step 4

step 5

step 6

final

STEP 1

Ok, in this first step we will be setting up our plans in 3D space. Actually we will align each view plan to our viewport in Rhino. But first, we need to group all the lines from each view and put them in a separate layer. Just so we don’t get big pile of curves in one layer, that way we wouldn’t be able to control anything. Organizing in layers is always a great idea because we can easily hide whole layer or lock it.

Ok, so lets start. First create a new layer named Plans and move all other layouts (except Default) inside Plans layers.

You should have your layers setup like this

Now we need separate layers for our views. We need 4 side views and one top. So go on and create new layers (top, front, left, right, back).You should have something like on the image 2.

image 2

Next thing to do is to group each view and put the lines in its layers accordingly.

image 3

image 4

We need to orient our blueprints so they fit in every viewport in Rhino, right now they are all oriented the same way visible in Top view. We will be using RemapCPlane command to do this, so we don’t have to rotate, Rhino can do that for us. So, lets start with Front view. To do so, click on the Front group of curves (or layer) from Top viewport and run RemapCPlane and click anywhere inside front viewport. You should get the same situation like on image 5 below.

image 5

Using Move tool and with help of Osnap (End option would be enough, but just to be sure you can check Intersection too. Near could be a little confusing) we will position our front layer in right place according to our top layer (check image 6).

image 6

We will do this same step for all other views, so we get a “house” made of plans. Sort of. Note: when using RemapCPlane for other views (groups of curves) make sure you use the right viewport and cplane. For example, if you want to remap back layer you will have to select it, run the RemapCPlane and click anywhere on Back viewport. Since Back (or left) viewport is not active by default, you can click on any of 4 viewport names with right mouse button, then Set View, and there you can choose which viewport to use. Just remember, For back group of curves you need back viewport, for right group of curves you need right viewport, and the same applies for left, front and even top.

I don’t think this should be very hard to setup, and once you do, you will have something like on the image 7 below.

And note the orientation of the letters above groups. That should give you pretty good idea of how well you did to recreate this.

image 7

RESOURCES

STEP 1

We will start from the bottom up. So, first we will model the bottom plate. Create two circles from the top viewport, one 11.9cm in diameter (if you see a diameter option in Circle command, click it so it turns into Radius – that means the diameter is on) and other 11.5cm.

Then we will need three more circles (you can make them anywhere, just make them concentric). Make them 0.3cm, 0.6cm and 0.8cm in diameter.

Now, using Mid, Quad and Cen options in Osnap, position these three little circles on the End (or Quad) point on the outer bigger circle. And move those three from right to left by 0.85cm.

Now we need three more groups of those 3 circles. So, we will use Arraypolar, and array them 4 times around the center of bigger circles (in my case that is 0,0 as I usually have my models in the origin).

Now, select the inner circle of two big, and outer circles of each three-group circles and move those circles up by 0.25cm (from front viewport):

Now, select and copy the inner circle of two bigger, and move it up by 0.55cm

Now, copy the outer circle, and move it up by 0.8cm:

Now, back to those 3-group smaller circles. Select the inner one (4 of them) and move up by 0.75cm. Then, copy those moved circles, and move the copied ones up by 0.2cm.

Now, pick one group of circles, and we’ll start making the boss. Create a surface between two smallest circles. I used extrude, but you can use Loft as well.

Now, the bottom one, I’ve extruded it to the bottom small circle (here, if you want to use loft, you need one more circle that is in the same construction plane as the bottom smaller circle).

And then, extrude the biggest circle to the upper small circle:

Now, we need to create the surfaces between inner and outer circles. We’ll do that with PlanarSrf.

Join those surfaces, and ArrayPolar like we did for the circles.

Now, we’ll make the bottom surface, so select outer circle, and 4 little ones and using PlanarSrf make a surface with 4 holes (just run PlanarSrf command and hit enter):

Repeat the same step for upper 5 circles:

Now, using the Loft command, make a surface out of outer circles (Use the straight sections in style option) :

Join those surfaces, and we’re done with the plate.Theres just one thing to do, that is fillet the edge. So, using FilletEdge and 0.1cm as radius, fillet the shown edge:

In this tutorial I will show you how to model a plastic bottle. To be more precise, this is a Domestos bottle. But the same method can be used to model any kind of bottle like shampoo bottle.

Image made by: gery

RESOURCES

TOP VIEW->180420084211.jpg

STEP 1

Ok, before I forget, the background image in top viewport is 208 units wide, and the one in Front viewport is 191 units wide. Ok, so after you set up your image references, we can start with the base of our bottle.

We will first make two lines with Polyline (or Line) command and make the second one go through the middle of the first one. You can either make the lines first, and then using Mid osnap option position the two lines in their middle, or you can make a longer line with Polyline and then using Line: From Midpoint (From lines menu) and start that line from the middle of the longer one…

The longer line is 92mm, and the shorter one is 60mm. If you use Midpoint line then input half, 30mm.

Next, create a circle of Radius 85mm anywhere in the top viewport. And then, using Quad option in Osnap move the circle to fit the end of the shorter line.

After you’ve done that, we need to mirror that circle over our longer line and then make two lines at each end and perpendicular to the longer line.

Trim the parts we don’t need, and fillet the corners with radius of 25mm.

Now make an ellipse 84mm wide and 54mm high.

STEP 2

Join all curves into one closed and extrude by 170mm upwards.

Next, make a line at the mid of our extruded ellipsoid.

With InterpCrv command make a curve and then using match command match that curve to be tangent to the line we just made:

In the Front viewport, from the start of curve make a line like on the image below and make it 50mm long, then from that line’s middle point, make another line 40mm long (it would be very helpful if you use Line: from Midpoint). Next, make another line perpendicular (use Perp option in Osnap) to those two lines, and make it long enough as the cap of this bottle is. Now move the 40mm long line along that perpendicular line so it fits the image.

Create two circles with center on the perpendicular line, and end point on the end of each line (the ones 50mm and 40mm). The easiest way to do this is from Perspective view. Mid and End options in Osnap are very helpful here.

Now on the other end make a small line as on the background image:

Now, make an interpolated curve between the upper end of this small line and bigger circle:

Using PointsOn command show the control points of that curve (that is still showing as a straight line – but not for long). Now move one of the control points to the left a little :

Fillet the curve and little line with 10mm radius.

Now, you can turn off the control points with PointsOff command.

With Sweep 2 rails (sweep2) command select two opposite curves as rails and the bigger circle and the surface edge as two cross sections:

Ok, first, sorry for delay, I’ve been meaning to write this one down for 4 days now.

I must say that I’m pretty happy with this one, it turned out very accurate and great. I really like it! And it is pretty easy to model it. So check it out:

RESOURCES

1042008419.jpg

STEP 1

Ok, first things first, so lets start with tubular part. The part where the motor and heater is. I’ve measured 120mm the length and make a line with Polyline or Line command (the length of our reference image is 190mm). We will make three circles two on the start and end of line, and one 30 or 40mm from the left circle. You need to offset them by 2mm, or simply make another circle. I made another circle, so in the end I ended up with 6 circles. Far two right circles are in radius 26 and 28mm. The far left two are 34 and 36mm, and the inner two are 35 and 37mm.

Using InterpCrv command make a line connecting three outer circles. (use Quad option in Osnap for easier snapping). Next, do the same step for 3 inner circles.

Using Sweep2 for first and second rail select outer two circles, and for cross section curve select Curve we made earlier.

Make an ellipse and position it like on the image below:

Next, from Front viewport use Project command to project that ellipse onto our tubular surface. You will get two curves on the surface, and we need only the front one. Using it, we will trim the surface and make a hole:

Now, we’ll move onto handle. I like jumping from one part to another, I guess you already found that out

From top viewport using reference image, outline outer edges with InterpCrv. Just to make sure, I made a straight horizontal line in Top viewport (using Ortho) and trimmed off the two curves. Now, we are sure those two curves has endings in the same cplane.

Create another ellipse, this time one radius 15mm and other 13mm. Using End and Quad options in Osnap, position the ellipse between two curves, first move it to the end of one curve, and using PointsOn command, stretch the ellipse to fit the other curve’s end.

Copy that ellipse, and position it like on the image below. You also need to stretch it with moving control points so it touches both curves. I have also made this ellipse 4 points higher. So, select upper three control points and move them 4 units up, and then move lower three control points and move them by 4 units (mm) down.

Next, using that second bigger ellipsoid and two handle curves, we will make a sweep2.

Using DupBorder we will duplicate border of newly created surface. We will get two closed curves, and we need the little one only, as we already have the bigger one. So, now, delete the surface, and again create sweep2 rail between two rail curves, and using now three closed curves:

And now, we have a handle! Next, we will blend the two surfaces, so use BlendSrf command. Note that we need to check the Same height shapes option:

Hopefully you got something like on the image below:

As you might notice, all these tutorials are pretty much the same. This is the method I use, and find very good. First, make the shape of the model, and then cut the details.

Well, this time we I won’t be showing you how to set the reference images in the background, as I think you have learned that from previous tutorials (I’ll add in tips & tricks section how to insert these, for future reference).

RESOURCES

STEP 1

We’ll make a rough outline trace for the speaker from Front viewport. Using polyline create 4 lines and position them using rotate like on the image below:

Then, using Trim command, trim off the parts we don’t need, so we have a closed curve. Fillet the left upper and lower edges with 12 units (I have set the resource image width to 83 units, just for the aspect ratio reference).

From top viewport, adjust the closed curve so it matches the angle as on the reference background.

Next, from the upper left corner (in top viewport) make a straight line 80 units in length. Using PointsOn turn on the control points for the closed curve, and using RemoveKnot command, remove two outer fillet knots on each round part.

And mirror that closed curve using this straight line’s mid point and Ortho option.

Using these two closed curves, create a surface with Loft command.

Close the objects both left and right sides with planar surface command (PlanarSrf) and join those three surfaces in one object.

Next, we need to make the back side curvy, so lets create a curve with Interpolated points (InterpCrv) like on the image:

Extrude the line (you can use Bothsides option to make sure it goes outside your object). Also, you will probably have to adjust the direction of extrusion, and you can do that by clicking on Direction option of Extrude command.

Trim off the parts of both extruded surface, and that object. After that, join the object.

Now, we will create a curve for splitting the base model. We are using the same method as for creating the rough outline trace as on the beginning of this tutorial…

We do this step again for top curve:

Using filletedge command fillet the two edges where our new curvy surface touches the flat surfaces.

From frot viewport, project the curve on the base model. You should get this:

Do the same for the top curve, but Project the curve on the object from Top viewport.

Copy the main object with Copy command, and paste it with Paste command (CTRL+C and CTRL+V works here). It is better to first copy, then trim the base object with one (either top or front curve) then paste that copied object and do the trimming with other (if you first trimmed with front curve, then now trim with top curve) curve.

Using earlier projected curves we will create cross sections between them with polyline command.

Mid and Perp options in Osnap toolbar are very helpful here. Near option is also needed here. Proceed with creating cross section lines until you get something like this (please not those lines need to be perpendicular to the curves).

Using sweep 2 rails (sweep2) command and set the yellow two curves from upper image as two rails, and other lines as cross sections. And tick the Closed Sweep option.

Unhide all the other parts, and join this surface with other two.

Now, you can explode that as we will be offsetting (offsetsrf – I have offset by 0.5 units) the main two surfaces and we’ll again create the cross section…

Using Duplicate border on the offset surfaces create the rail curves.

This is the same way of creating the object as few steps before, but this one is by 0.5 units smaller. I believe we could simply scale down the bigger part, but hey, this is me, and I’m making this…

Ok, so we made an alternative to non-existing shell command in Rhino3D v4 (rumor is that in v5 there will be shell command-yey!).

Resources

cinch_connector.pdf

STEP 1

Ok, lets begin. First, using circle command you make one circle with center in origin of coordinate system (that is 0,0). Start in Right viewport. As I usually use my slide rule tool to measure dimension, I have my round measures in diameter, not radius. So, when you clicked where the center of circle will be, next you need to specify in command line that you want to input Diameter (you can, of course, divide my diameter by two, and input radius, if you feel like doing more work). Now, input our first diameter, so type in command line 3mm (that is 1.5mm radius in case you were wondering). Note that I used millimeters, so one box in grid is one millimeter.

Next, we need another circle, with the center positioned like the last circle, but bigger diameter. So, start circle command, type in 11.5mm and hit enter.

Next, we need the third circle, that one will be the same diameter as last one (11.5mm) but we will move it by 15mm right looking from Front or Top viewport. Using copy and past commands you can copy that circle, and using move command, you can move it by 15mm. Now, another circle, just 3mm to the right from the last one, and make that circle 7.4mm in diameter. Copy that circle, and move it to the right by, again, 15mm. Now, copy the first circle (the one with 3mm diameter) and move it right so its center is in the same place as the last circle (that is 33,0). You should have a series of circles like on the image below:

Now, using Loft command, start clicking on circles the same order as we created them. When prompted with loft options, select from drop down menu Straight sections, and click on Closed Loft check box. That should make you a base model like on the image below:

STEP 2

In this step we will be making some details. So lets start from the right side.

First, create in Right viewport a rectangle 1mm high, and make it longer than the smaller diameter part.

Move that rectangle by 2 mm left, and position it in the middle of our base model:

Next, create another rectangle, and position it like on the image (here you will find very useful snap turned on, and in osnap End property.

Copy that rectangle, and move left by 2mm. So there is 1mm between each rectangle. Keep doing this step until you have six of them. Then, you have to mirror them according to the middle of your base model. Check the image below:

Now,using ExtrudeCrv command extrude those rectangles so they go outside of your base model. Make sure you have Both sides to Yes, and Cap to No.

We will use that extruded rectangles to trim our base model. So, using trim command, trim off outside of your rectangles (easier if you do it from Top Viewport), and base model too (easier from Front viewport – look the image below, where the red dots are, you need to click [while in trim command of course]).

Using FilletEdge command, fillet the upper left edge of our base model. Set the fillet radius to 0.3mm. You should have something like on the image below: