Best methods for drawing a handrail in 3D

[Rico]

this is my first post in here, woo-hoo!

now for business ....

I've just gotten back into 3D after about 10 years off and, for the most part, I'm finding the transition smooth save for ONE thing ....

I am drawing a handrail (for a 180 degree stair) and I'm doing it "old school".

circle, extrude, draw triangle at 45 degrees, subtract ....

and I was fine with it until this morning when I stopped and said "There has GOT to be an easier way ..."

so this is my question ....

is it possible to fillet or chamfer an extruded object like a circle?

example: 2 pipe lengths intersect at 90 degree angles and I want to fillet them so that there's a 45 degree joint in it ... how do I do this?

[.chad]

example: 2 pipe lengths intersect at 90 degree angles and I want to fillet them so that there's a 45 degree joint in it ... how do I do this?you chamfer it, not fillet ;)

3ds Max had a fillet & chamfer command, i dont know why autocad wouldnt.

[Rico]

you chamfer it, not fillet ;)

3ds Max had a fillet & chamfer command, i dont know why autocad wouldnt.chamfer doesn't work for me ..... note that I've drawn 2 circles and extruded them ... as far as I can see, the chamfer command only works for solids? extruded objects do not seem to be affected by this .......

maybe I'm not doing it right ....

[david_peterson]

Last time I did handrail like that, I used a pline that had a fillet in it. As the top bar crosses over (where you would have the bend) make it a radius. For "t" intersections (where you would weld 2 pieces together) extrude past the, and subtract. Just a thought.

[Rico]

For "t" intersections (where you would weld 2 pieces together) extrude past the, and subtract. Just a thought.this is what I'm doing currently.

is there no quicker way to do this? I've spent more time drawing this handrail than every wall in my 3D drawing combined ....

[david_peterson]

Even if you had ACA (Which has it's own handrail component), I'd still suggest the solids method if you want to get your desired look (and have it look perfect). You man be able to cheat by other methods, but the results can be sketchy.

[.chad]

you can also go around it and use other software. sketchup has a great follow command, which you can take a shape and have it follow a 3d path. that can be exported to autocad pretty easily.

[Rico]

you can also go around it and use other software. sketchup has a great follow command, which you can take a shape and have it follow a 3d path. that can be exported to autocad pretty easily.well i like the idea, except that it's not an option here. all software has to be approved by management and IT prior to installation. so that means that sketch it is not allowed to be installed on my work PC.

[Rico]

I wish it was an option to fillet extruded objects and have them line up and cut themselves as opposed to this long, ridiculously complex way. it's definitely not very user friendly ...

[Arben.Allaraj]

this is my first post in here, woo-hoo!

now for business ....

I've just gotten back into 3D after about 10 years off and, for the most part, I'm finding the transition smooth save for ONE thing ....

I am drawing a handrail (for a 180 degree stair) and I'm doing it "old school".

circle, extrude, draw triangle at 45 degrees, subtract ....

and I was fine with it until this morning when I stopped and said "There has GOT to be an easier way ..."

so this is my question ....

is it possible to fillet or chamfer an extruded object like a circle?

example: 2 pipe lengths intersect at 90 degree angles and I want to fillet them so that there's a 45 degree joint in it ... how do I do this?

Try to use these commands:uninon, interfere and work with solids editing toolbar.

[JD Mather]

http://home.pct.edu/~jmather/content/CAD238/AutoCAD_2007_Tutorials.htm