Bending a rod

3DC will not arbitrarily create points and edges along which to bend. andnbsp;So, before you can bend, you have to create points and edges where the cylinder will be bent. andnbsp;I recently tried to do this, with the boneheaded idea of using divides (the first thing that came to mind). andnbsp;However, I quickly ended up with a 2000-face cylinder andnbsp;:.

Probably the more appropriate thing to do is to create a cylinder, select the face(s) that make(s) up the andquot;topandquot; of the cylinder, use the extrude operation to extrude it a little, and repeat the process until you have enough andquot;ringsandquot; around your cylinder to make the bend as smooth or convincing as you want. andnbsp;Once you have these andquot;ringsandquot; (edges that go around the circumference of your cylinder), try the bend operation again.

Maybe there’s a better way to divide your cylinder, but that’s the best I could think of.

I suppose this question appears obvious to most of you, but how do I bend a cylinder say 2 inches in diameter and 3 ft long along a curve? Final shape similar to the back of a figure 6 without the loop on it…

I have selecting the cylinder and then applied the bend operation, but nothing happens – Obviously I am doing it wrongly, so would appreciate a more detailed instruction than ‘use the bend operation’.

Mike. andnbsp;

Thanks to you both, and it was not as easy as it seems at first glance. It is great that you can ask here and get an immediate answer straight from the horses mouth though <!– s:-) –><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_smile.gif" alt="" title="Smile" /><!– s:-) –>

Thanks once again – Mike.

Sounds like a job for the Extrude andquot;Toolandquot;.

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Richard

Aw, man, I knew I had seen something like that somewhere! andnbsp;Thanks again, Richard!