c-section using cad tools and saving as 3d moulding polyline...how do we make it

[adamjedgar]

i wanna draw some c-section channels to use on a metal framed shed. i have stuffed around for an hour trying to make the bloody things without any success.

i just realised the easiest way would be to create the 2d 4"x2" c-section shape using cad tools and then import that profile back into the mouldings part of the libary. i could then just draw a straight line and convert it to a 3d moulding, select the moudling type i have just made in cad and wella, i have my c section beam.

trouble is, i havent done that before.

any ideas?

[Allen Brown]

Easy. Just draw your shape, select it, then look at your "Edit Toolbar" that shows up when something is selected, usually at the bottom of the screen, look for the icon that is a couple of books with a + sign (Add To Library). Click it once and it will add that cad shape to your moldings library. Rename it something you will remember, then you can add it to your molding polyline.

[Allen Brown]

Now that I think about it, I think making them out of polylne solids would be a better idea. I assume you are doing it so you can view them in place in 3D? Molding polylines can be a pain to manipulate & copy/paste & move around.

[dshall]

You could also draw a framing member and change to a C CHANNEL or an I BEAM etc

[adamjedgar]

gee,

i really was having a moment, i never thought of simply using a framing member and changing it to c section!!!

allen thanks for the tip on enterring my shape into the libary. i have a question though, i tried that and was able to add it to the library but it was not accessable from the library as a molding. what am i doing wrong?

[adamjedgar]

You could also draw a framing member and change to a C CHANNEL or an I BEAM etc

scott,
how do we edit the material thickness of these converted framing members? the i beam for example seems way to thin!

[dshall]

scott,
how do we edit the material thickness of these converted framing members? the i beam for example seems way to thin!

I do not know, I am assuming we can't. It appears that the cross sectional area is 1/4" ( or 0.635 cm or 6.35mm). Because of this I never use a steel I beam with thicker flanges and webs, thus I have used some very very deep I beams, just another limitation we need to deal with.

[adamjedgar]

ok.

another question,
i have kind of gone a little farther with your idea of using framing members...i got a brainwave of sorts and decided to try to change the general framing tools dbx>wall tab-defaults for walls to c section.....er....what the ****....well i thought i would be able to at least.

since i cant seem to find an option to set the wall stud members as c section (you can for just about everything else in the same dbx but not walls for some reason), does this mean i have to individually select every single wall framing member in the framing 3d camera view and change it to c section?

[dshall]

Adam, you are going to stop throwing these softball questions at me, I am beginning to lose respect, give me something harder.

Answer: Use the steel wall types (should be there already.)

[adamjedgar]

well there you go,
cept in my program its not there! i dont have steel c section wall studs for some reason. id better go to the library and see whats up i think.

[dshall]

well there you go,
cept in my program its not there! i dont have steel c section wall studs for some reason. id better go to the library and see whats up i think.

Maybe it came out in X3, I just don't know. I think I will do a video on this, particullarly if anybody wants a curved steel framed wall...... must delete top & bottom plates and use molding pline for top & bottom plates.

[adamjedgar]

why you little....!!!!

i was going to say, where did you get that framing type from...here's me making a fool of myself and you were looking in x3 instead of x2.

in any case, it doesnt matter though because i would like to be able to create my own shapes for framing just like you have suggested. the whole concept of using cad tools to create 2d shapes then saving them to the library for use in 3d molding polylines and the like is something i havent bothered to play with before. now is the time.

how did the chief guys create the rectangular wall studs shown in the materials definition dbx in x2? surely if i were to do the same and change the shape of the material to that of c-section i can get my desired outcome (which apparently is what you get in x3 as a default)

[adamjedgar]

btw allen,
for some reason, when i draw a moulding polyline, in the desired shape to be added to my moldings library, i have a problem.

the add to library button dissapears unless i convert the **** polyline to a line. that is crazy if i try to copy that to the library i end up with a whole heap of individual moldings from the different sections of the original polyline shape i created.

i am beginning to feel a bit like the time i played golf and lost 4 golf balls on 3 holes. now that might not seem strange except all 4 balls were lost off the middle of the **** fairways and i didnt see one of them get stolen!

turns out adam didnt know in those days, that a bird known as a crow to us here in australia (i think you guys call them ravens) liked to sneak in and steel the bloody golf balls!i genuinely thought i was loosing my marbles! (true story)o

anyway, am i loosing my marbles or is it the program?

[dshall]

for some reason, when i draw a moulding polyline, in the desired shape to be added to my moldings library, i have a problem.

Don't draw a MOLDING polyline, you only need a closed polyline.

[adamjedgar]

scott,
this is giving me the poo's,
i have tried....
1. cad tools>line ....i cannot add a line closed or otherwise to the library
2. trim tools>moulding line....i cannot add to the library

the only thing i can do is to convert anyone of the above to a plain polyline...then i can add it to the library,but it doesnt work properly. any break points on that polyline (ie change in angle) save as individual moldings...so with a 6 sided shape, i get 6 moldings in the library, with 1 line each molding, at the angle of the corresponding side of the original shape i drew.

whats this about a closed polyline, the help dbx says that we can use either open or closed polyline? (neither work in my case anyway)

you might have to spell it out for me in point form and ill try that and see if im still having trouble.