Helix Feature

Are you using AccuDraw? The AccuDraw RE shortcut will be helpful in orienting the compass to align with your profile so that it will be easier to define the axis for the helix in the plane of the profile. The helix feature always maintains your profile orientation during the sweep (it works similar to the Helical Surface tool) which means you do need to draw/place the profile in the correct orientation. Solid by Extrusion Along works similar to the Tube Feature, where you can select both path and profile. Currently the Tube Feature lacks an option to lock the profile rotation, that would be a nice addition.

-B

I need to draw many tubular helical handrails which I would like to be able to adjust the geometry using Variable Driven Modelling and Constraints. Ideally I should be able to use the Helical Feature tool to do this however I have a few problems / questions that I resolving before I can do this... My current procedure for drawing helical tubes is to draw a path using the 'Helix Curve' tool and then apply the 'Solid by Extrusion Along' tool. I can specify the Inner and Outer radii and most importantly the angle of the tube is locked to the correct angle to produce a consistent tube. Of course, the downside of using these tools is that I cannot edit any other geometry and therefore need to redraw every time. I would therefore prefer to use the Helical Feature so that I can edit all values. However, the problem with this tool is that I cannot produce a consistent tube. Using either the profile or cell method the tube is not consistent as it rises up the helix. I imagine that this is because the profile / cell needs to be placed at the correct angle prior to using the tool which is time consuming and can be very inaccurate. I have attached an image file showing the differences. It would be ideal if the feature tool included the parameters of the 'Solid by Extrusion Along' tool allowing the user to specify and alter profile radii and automatically kept the profile at the correct angle if desired. Does anyone know of a solution / work around to producing accurate and consistent helical tubes using the 'Helical Feature' tool? Regards, Paul