Spirals and Helices

Use the Spiral/Helix tool to create a three-dimensional spiral or helix as a NURBS curve.

Basic	Standard	Professional
-	-	O

Usage

1. In CAD Mode, select Spiral/Helix from the Toolbox's CAD creation tools.
   
2. Drag in the Figure Window to create the bottom face.
   
3. Drag in a perpendicular viewport to specify the height.
   (Clicking will set the height to 0.)
   
4. Drag again to specify the radius of the top face.
   
5. Drag a final time to specify the number of loops (turns) in the spiral or helix.
   

Tool Parameters

Reference Plane

Select the XZ, YZ, or XY plane to use as the reference plane for creating the spiral/helix.

When using the mouse, the plane used for the initial drag becomes the reference plane.

Center

The center XYZ coordinates of the spiral/helix.

Radius 1

The radius of the bottom of the spiral/helix.

Height

The height of the spiral/helix.

Radius 2

The radius of the top of the spiral/helix.

Loops

The number of loops, or turns, that the spiral or helix makes.

Right-handed

Creates a right-handed spiral/helix. Deselect this option to create a left-handed one.

Apply

Confirms the spiral/helix creation.

Show Dimensions

When creating the object, its dimensions are displayed in the Figure Window.

Note Available in Shade3D Professional.