coils in autodesk

[caddahkter]

does anyone know how to draw a 3D coil in autodesk 2004? i have been trying for days and cannot figure it out. please help its driving me nuts!!!!!

 

[redshift]

Try the program below. It works wonder for me.
Thank the Author. Hope it helps.

Also, check out this web link:

http://www.acms-cad.com/lisp.htm

*********************************************************

;;; A.Dudek
;;; 3DSPIRAL.LSP
;;; Copyright (C) 1993 by Autodesk, Inc.
;;;
;;; Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software
;;; for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided
;;; that the above copyright notice appears in all copies and that
;;; both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in
;;; all supporting documentation.
;;;
;;; THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
;;; WARRANTY. ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR
;;; PURPOSE AND OF MERCHANTABILITY ARE HEREBY DISCLAIMED.
;;;
;;; DESCRIPTION
;;;
;;; This is a programming example.
;;;
;;; Designed and implemented by Kelvin R. Throop in January 1985
;;;
;;; This program constructs a spiral. It can be loaded and called
;;; by typing either "spiral", "3dspiral" or the following:
;;; (cspiral <# rotations> <base point> <horiz growth per rotation>
;;; <points per circle> <start radius>
;;; <vert growth per rotation>).
;;;
;;;
;;; Revision 3/9/95 Anthony Dudek
;;; Fixed problem of not drawing a full 360 degree helix when using only one
;;; rotation of 3dpolyline
;;;

(defun myerror (s) ; If an error (such as CTRL-C) occurs while this command is active...
(if (/= s &quot;Function cancelled&quot
(princ (strcat &quot;\nError: &quot; s))
)
(setvar &quot;cmdecho&quot; ocmd) ; Restore saved modes
(setvar &quot;blipmode&quot; oblp)
(setq *error* olderr) ; Restore old *error* handler
(princ)
)

(defun cspiral (ntimes bpoint hfac lppass strad vfac / ang dist tp ainc dhinc dvinc circle dv)

(setvar &quot;blipmode&quot; 0) ; turn blipmode off
(setvar &quot;cmdecho&quot; 0) ; turn cmdecho off
(setq circle (* 3.141596235 2))
(setq ainc (/ circle lppass))
(setq dhinc (/ hfac lppass))
(if vfac (setq dvinc (/ vfac lppass)))
(setq ang 0.0)
(if vfac
(setq dist strad dv 0.0)
(setq dist 0.0)
)
(if vfac
(command &quot;_3dpoly&quot ; start spiral ...
(command &quot;_pline&quot; bpoint) ; start spiral from ;base point and...
)
(repeat ntimes
;;;
;;; section of revised code

(if (= ntimes 1) ; if the number of
;rotations is 1
(repeat (1+ lppass) ; then calculate points ;one extra time to allow
; for the missing polyline segment at the end of
; the rotation
(setq tp (polar bpoint (setq ang (+ ang ainc))
(setq dist (+ dist dhinc))
)
)
(if vfac
(setq tp (list (car tp) (cadr tp) (+ dv (caddr tp)))
dv (+ dv dvinc)
)
)
(command tp) ; continue to the next point...
);close inner repeat
;;;
;otherwise
(repeat lppass
(setq tp (polar bpoint (setq ang (+ ang ainc))
(setq dist (+ dist dhinc))
)
)
(if vfac
(setq tp (list (car tp) (cadr tp) (+ dv (caddr tp)))
dv (+ dv dvinc)
)
)
(command tp) ; continue to the next point...
);close inner repeat
);close if
);close main repeat
(command &quot;&quot ; until done.
(princ)
);close defun

;;;
;;; Interactive spiral generation
;;;

(defun C:SPIRAL (/ olderr ocmd oblp nt bp cf lp)
(command &quot;.undo&quot; &quot;group&quot
(setq olderr *error*
*error* myerror)
(setq ocmd (getvar &quot;cmdecho&quot)
(setq oblp (getvar &quot;blipmode&quot)
(setvar &quot;cmdecho&quot; 0)

(initget 1) ; bp must not be null
(setq bp (getpoint &quot;\nCenter point: &quot)
(initget 7) ; nt must not be zero, neg, or null
(setq nt (getint &quot;\nNumber of rotations: &quot)
(initget 3) ; cf must not be zero, or null
(setq cf (getdist &quot;\nGrowth per rotation: &quot)
(initget 6) ; lp must not be zero or neg
(setq lp (getint &quot;\nPoints per rotation <30>: &quot)
(cond ((null lp) (setq lp 30)))
(cspiral nt bp cf lp nil nil)
(setvar &quot;cmdecho&quot; ocmd)
(setvar &quot;blipmode&quot; oblp)
(setq *error* olderr) ; Restore old *error* handler

(princ)
(command &quot;.undo&quot; &quot;end&quot
)

;;;
;;; Interactive spiral generation
;;;

(defun C:3DSPIRAL (/ olderr ocmd oblp nt bp hg vg sr lp)
(command &quot;.undo&quot; &quot;group&quot
(setq olderr *error*
*error* myerror)
(setq ocmd (getvar &quot;cmdecho&quot)
(setq oblp (getvar &quot;blipmode&quot)
(setvar &quot;cmdecho&quot; 0)
(initget 1) ; bp must not be null
(setq bp (getpoint &quot;\nCenter point: &quot)
(initget 7) ; nt must not be zero, neg, or null
(setq nt (getint &quot;\nNumber of rotations: &quot)
(initget 7) ; sr must not be zero, neg, or null
(setq sr (getdist bp &quot;\nStarting radius: &quot)
(initget 1) ; cf must not be zero, or null
(setq hg (getdist &quot;\nHorizontal growth per rotation: &quot)
(initget 3) ; cf must not be zero, or null
(setq vg (getdist &quot;\nVertical growth per rotation: &quot)
(initget 6) ; lp must not be zero or neg
(setq lp (getint &quot;\nPoints per rotation <30>: &quot)
(cond ((null lp) (setq lp 30)))
(cspiral nt bp hg lp sr vg)
(setvar &quot;cmdecho&quot; ocmd)
(setvar &quot;blipmode&quot; oblp)
(setq *error* olderr) ; Restore old *error* handler
(princ)
(command &quot;.undo&quot; &quot;end&quot
)
(defun C:3s ()
(C:3dspiral))
;;;
(princ &quot;\n\tC:SPIRAL and C:3DSPIRAL loaded. &quot
(princ &quot;\n\tStart 3DSPIRAL command with 3S&quot
(princ)

 

[njwcad]

I once spent far, far to long drawing a coil with as 3d polyline path and a circle object. I then extruded the circle around the path.

It looks rubish and you can not use a spline but what do you expect for an outdated package that cost upwards of 3 grand?

 

[CadDesigner]

Folks,
found one ready to use spiral program, and it's free to download.
see the download section of

http://www.3designersmate.com

Paul

Working is still the cheapest amusement...