Barley Twist Spirals

[Gaieus]

@dave r said:

Pilou, you trot that video out every time someone asks how to draw anything.

That's not a barley twist either.

True but otherwise a brilliant solution!

(I could imagine Kito Raupp is Pilou himself in a humble disguise)

[gilles]

Here is a step by step.

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[archturn]

@gilles said:

Made in one shot with screw1_5.rb.

AND it works also with components.

This is what we call a rope twist not a barley twist. The barley twist has another (interior) radius. The rope twist looks like rope - though your method may work for a barley twist as well. David R's is definitely a barley

[Dave R]

@gilles said:

Here is a step by step.

Nice rope twist.

[archturn]

Dave R
Love your solution but I need to fit it to the other part of my newel. Gilles method looks like it will work. In CAD I'll usually do a sweep of the newel profile then draw my barley twist profile - sweep the barley profile with the correct pitch then subtract it from my newel sweep. I wish I could do it this way (specifically the subtract function) in SU since this yields the most realistic geometry - though again Gilles looks pretty right (just needs more interior radius to be classified as a true barley twist). Thanks

[gilles]

Its up to you to create the good profile.

You can also do this with screw:

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[Dave R]

archturn, you could use the method I showed and create the transitions when you've finished. There isn't any reason you couldn't fit it to the rest of the turning. I did on the table legs. The transitions are similar to creating the pommels which I've showed in several other blog posts so I didn't bother with them in that one. The Screw plugin is nice, too. although you can do multiple starts the way Gilles shows, I would still make a single turn as a component and copy it as I did in the blog to keep file size down and make it easier to adjust the length.

[gilles]

@dave r said:

archturn, you could use the method I showed and create the transitions when you've finished. There isn't any reason you couldn't fit it to the rest of the turning. I did on the table legs. The transitions are similar to creating the pommels which I've showed in several other blog posts so I didn't bother with them in that one. The Screw plugin is nice, too. although you can do multiple starts the way Gilles shows, I would still make a single turn as a component and copy it as I did in the blog to keep file size down and make it easier to adjust the length.

Totally agree with this.

[charly2008]

Hi,
here are two more options

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[archturn]

I can see that I should have been visiting the forum more frequently instead of pulling my hair out. Awesome!!!

[Dave R]

Yes. You should have. And as I wrote before, there's more than one way to arrive at the final result in SketchUp. This is a great example.

[archturn]

@charly2008 said:

Hi,
here are two more options

Charly
I'm wondering how to use the "follow me keep" plugin". I installed it and though it shows up in my plugin menu nothing seems to happen when I click it.

[massimo]

You have first to select both the path and the face and then run the plugin.

[gilles]

Just a question: why use two plugins instead of one which does very well the job?

[archturn]

@gilles said:

Just a question: why use two plugins instead of one which does very well the job?

I'm going to try them all. I remeber some time back trying the "draw helix" without the "follow me keep" tool. That was one of the times I gave up. The result from using the native "follow me" is pretty ugly so I thought I would see what this tool was all about.
Again, I wasted a lot of time by not coming here first.

[archturn]

@gilles said:

screw1_5.rb.

select 3 profiles (in the following case), set start point, set end point, enter n steps n turn and go.

Could you elaborate on using screw1_5??

[gilles]

Will do later, its late here in France and I should sleep.

[jeff hammond]

use a whole bunch of profile curves then apply wonky style?

[dale]

Just a quick question. In reality, can you turn a Barley Twist, or is it more of a carving exercise?

[Dave R]

Dale, barley twists can be turned, sort of. There's a machine that combines a router with a lathe and gears them together for creating barley twists and other ornamental milling. Check out this link. I used to have one of their machines and used it a lot. Of course now with CNC-driven equipment, it gets even more sophisticated. I can't say I would recommend dealing with the company but the idea was interesting.