OpenSCAD making complex parts

[curious aardvark]

Throw in an angle adjuster and you can make any curve:-)

// CA's simple curve and arch generator

$fn=50; // change to adjust roundness of arch NB: numbers between 4&20 make some interesting shapes

ca=90; // angle of curve - 180 makes an arch

ah=30; // arch height
aw=40; // arch width
at=3; //arch thickness
bt=5; //beam thickness
bw=50; // adjusts beam width - larger numbers make narrower beams

resize([aw,ah,at])rotate_extrude(angle=ca,convexity = 10) translate([bw, 0,0]) circle(d = bt);

So to make a smooth arch with a pointed top you could generate a 90 degree curve then mirror it to join two together with a more pointed apex.

The applications are almost endless.
Rotate the 90 degree curves around the centre and you'd get a sort of pergola effect.
I've also rotated the whole thing to sit flat on the usual plane:

// CA's simple arch and curve generator

$fn=8; // change to adjust roundness of arch NB: numbers between 4&20 make some interesting shapes

ca=90; // angle of curve
ch=0; // curve height adjuster

ah=60; // arch height
aw=40; // arch width
at=3; //arch thickness
bt=5; //beam thickness
bw=50; // adjusts beam width - larger numbers make narrower beam

module curve(){
resize([aw,ah,at])rotate_extrude(angle=ca,convexity = 10) translate([bw, 0,0]) circle(d = bt);
} // end mod curve

nps=10; //number of pergola segments

module pergola(){
rotate([90,0,0])for (i = [1:nps]) rotate([0,(360/nps)*i,0]) curve();
} // end mod pergola

pergola();

pergola1.jpg

Add enough pergola sections and you can make interesting 'buildings'.

Basically it's now a fairly useful little script.
I know I'll be using it again ;-)

Oh yeah, a 2 segment pergola is an arch :-)
So no need to use the curve module.

Also using 180 curve with the pergola module makes a whole bunch of different shape arches.