Taper a wire into an ear hook

WhereThe top bar: the row of words that begins File, Edit.

DoDownload p2-13-start.blend from Files above and open it. Then choose File > Save As and save it under the name below, in a folder of yours. Open an exercise file and keep the start file safe (P0-07) shows how.

Typemy-ear-hook.blend

You should seeThe 3D view shows one thin curve, a hook: straight at the top and curling to the right at the bottom. The words at the top left of the 3D view begin Front Orthographic. The title bar, the strip above File and Edit, begins my-ear-hook.

It worked whenThe title bar, the strip above File and Edit, begins my-ear-hook.

WhereThe sidebar: the CAD/CAM tab, then Draw in the section bar, then scroll down to the Sweep panel. Then the Outliner, the list at the top right: the row Hook.

DoOpen the Sweep panel as in Sweep a section along a rail (P2-12), then click Hook in the Outliner.

You should seeThe Sweep panel reading “1 curve selected: 0 closed, 1 open”, and Pipe no longer grey. A closed curve ends where it began. The hook is open: it has a start and an end, and the start is the top.

It worked whenThe Sweep panel reads “1 curve selected: 0 closed, 1 open”.

WhereThe Sweep panel, the Pipe button.

DoPress Pipe.

You should seeA round wire along the hook, and in the panel the name Sweep1 1, with Start diameter (mm) and End diameter (mm) both at 1.00: the same wire all the way. A pipe is a sweep with a round section, so the panel is the one you met in Sweep a section along a rail (P2-12). A Weight line stands further down.

It worked whenThe panel shows Start diameter (mm) and End diameter (mm), both at 1.00.

WhereThe Sweep panel, the field End diameter (mm).

DoClick the End diameter (mm) field, type 0.8, then press Enter.

Type0.8

You should seeThe wire a little thinner towards the tip, from 1.00 at the top to 0.80 at the end, with the change spread evenly along the curve. The change is small: read the field, and the Weight line falls from 0.30 g to 0.25 g. The top is the start, the tip is the end. A hook is thinner at the end that goes through the ear and thicker at the top that carries the weight.

It worked whenThe field End diameter (mm) reads 0.800.

WhereThe 3D view. The hook’s tip, at the lower right of the hook.

DoZoom in on the tip: put the pointer over the 3D view and slide two fingers on the touchpad, or turn the mouse wheel. Look at the end of the wire.

You should seeThe end of the wire cut square, like a pipe cut off with a saw, and not rounded. The first end, at the top, is cut square too. A jeweller rounds the tip with a file and polish before the hook goes through an ear: a sharp square edge scratches.

It worked whenThe end of the wire in the picture is cut square.

WhereThe Sweep panel, the field End diameter (mm). This step makes a warning appear, so that you know its words. Your hook is unharmed: you put the number back in the next step.

DoClick the End diameter (mm) field, type 0.5, then press Enter.

Type0.5

You should seeA line with a warning mark under the Weight line, which begins “Section 0.50 mm across”. It says the wire is under the add-on’s starting number for a free wire, a wire standing on its own, which the panel calls the house default, 0.60, and it is a question: is this metal carrying load, and did you mean it thin? A tip at 0.50 does carry load here, so the answer is no.

It worked whenThe Sweep panel shows a line that begins “Section 0.50 mm across”.

If it goes wrongThe warning does not show at once: The panel makes it a moment after the number: look again after a second.

WhereThe Sweep panel, the field End diameter (mm).

DoClick the End diameter (mm) field, type 0.8, then press Enter.

Type0.8

You should seeThe warning line gone, and the field reads 0.800 again. The warning goes as soon as the wire is back over the least. Your hook is as it was before the warning: 0.80 at the tip.

It worked whenThe field End diameter (mm) reads 0.800, and no warning line stands under the Weight line.

WhereThe Sweep panel, the Check Minimums button, under the Weight line.

DoPress Check Minimums.

You should seeThe Sweep panel showing no warning line under the Weight line. The status bar, the line along the very bottom of the window, reads “1 live form checked: nothing under the minimums” and fades. The check looked at the thinnest place of the wire, 0.80, and found it over the least the add-on warns under, 0.60. 0.80 is also the bench’s number for structural metal.

It worked whenThe Sweep panel shows no warning line under the Weight line.

WhereThe 3D view: move the pointer over it.

DoPress Ctrl+S.

You should seeBlender writes your copy at once, with no question, because the file already has a name. An asterisk, *, in the title bar marks changes that are not saved, and it goes now. Save your work and get it back (P0-12) says more about saving.

It worked whenThe title bar begins my-ear-hook and carries no asterisk.