FCHoneycombMaker Macro

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TheMarkster
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FCHoneycombMaker Macro

Post by TheMarkster »

I updated this macro and added it to the repo. It can now be installed via the Addon Manager. Full documentation at:

https://github.com/mwganson/FCHoneycombMaker
honeycombmaker-pd-screenshot.png
honeycombmaker-pd-screenshot.png (71.93 KiB) Viewed 1466 times

The macro creates a parametric honeycomb grid. The parameters are kept in a spreadsheet. (You should only edit those values in Column B. The ones in Column E are calculated based on those in Column B.)

honeycombmaker-spreadsheet-screenshot.png
honeycombmaker-spreadsheet-screenshot.png (32.91 KiB) Viewed 1466 times
You can adjust the radius, the separation between hexagons, etc. The tweak values will adjust the position of the grid.

When you run the macro you have a choice of either a Part Design project or a Part workench project. If you choose Part Design project you get a Body object and a Pad to start. If you choose the Part workbench option you get a Part::Cut object. If you would like a sketch you can make one from the Part Design project by selecting the "BaseFeatureFace" object and using the Draft workbench tool Draft menu -> Draft to Sketch. But the sketch will not be parametric to later changes to the EditMe spreadsheet and it will not be fully constrained.

In this video I demonstrate making a convex grid.

phpBB [video]


A few notes on performance. The smaller the radius you choose the more hexagons it makes, which takes longer to process. The same can be said for the width and length of the grid. You can set a larger radius than the final project will be to improve performance while configuring it to your liking, and then set the final smaller radius at the end.

Edit: change topic title to FCHoneycombMaker macro
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