Hi all, I’m at a loss here and hoping someone can point me toward a better workflow.
I’m trying to make a honeycomb cut pattern around a lofted/shelled cylinder. The part is a tapered cupholder insert:
- Bottom diameter: 89 mm
- Height: 76 mm
- Top diameter: 96 mm
- Honeycombs: circumscribed polygon, 5 mm
My current process is:
- Sketch bottom circle
- Offset plane to the top of the part
- Sketch top circle
- Loft between the two circles
- Shell the body
- Sketch honeycomb pattern on the front plane, centered through the part
- Extrude cut through all
- Circular pattern the cut feature around the cylinder
I’m attaching pictures of the model, sketch, cut, circular pattern, and timeline for reference.
The problem is that I cannot get the honeycombs to line up cleanly around the body. Depending on the spacing/count, they either overlap and get uneven after the cut extrude/circular pattern, or they do not cover enough space. I’ve been trying to brute-force it with different pattern quantities and spacing, but there doesn’t seem to be a “Goldilocks” setting where the honeycomb tiles wrap cleanly and consistently.
I’m assuming there has to be a smarter way to approach this than sketching a flat honeycomb panel, extrude-cutting through the lofted body, and circular-patterning the cut. Is this a case where I should be using emboss/deboss, surface projection, sheet metal/unfold/refold, a different kind of pattern, or something else entirely?
Also, since the body is tapered, I’m not sure if that’s part of what’s throwing everything off. The top and bottom circumferences are different, so I’m wondering if a normal circular pattern is just the wrong tool for getting a clean honeycomb wrap on this shape.
Any advice on the proper Fusion 360 workflow would be appreciated.
