Sweep

Sweep moves a closed shape along a path and leaves a solid behind it, like icing squeezed along the top of a cake. Use it for a bent handle, a towel rail, a curved pipe, a ring, or a moulding around a picture frame.

You need two sketches:

• The path: joined lines, arcs or a spline. It can be open, like a handle, or closed, like a frame.
• The shape (the profile): a closed shape, such as a circle or a rectangle, on a plane square to the start of the path.

How to use it#

1. Sketch the path, for example on Top, and click ✓ Finish sketch.
2. Sketch the shape on a plane square to the path, for example on Front or Right, sitting across the start of the path. Finish the sketch.
3. Click Sweep, or press W. The newest sketch is used as the Shape, and the one before it as the Path.
4. Check that Shape and Path are the right way round.
5. Choose New part, Add or Remove.
6. Check the preview, then click ✓ or press Enter.

Options#

Tips#

• Sharp corners in the path are mitred, like the corners of a picture frame. On a closed path, the shape can sit anywhere along it.
• For smooth bends, like a bent steel rod, round the corners of the path with a sketch fillet.
• Construction lines in the path sketch are left out, so you can use them to help you draw.
• If the start of the path is not on Top, Front or Right, make a Plane there to draw the shape on.
• To change a sweep later, double-click it in the feature tree.

If it does not work#

• The profile lies along the path. Draw the profile on a plane square to the start of the path (for a path on Top, use Front or Right).
• The sweep has no volume. Put the profile across the start of the path.
• The path branches. A path must be one chain of lines with no forks. Delete the extra line, or trim it.
• The path has separate pieces. Join them into one chain. Drag the line ends onto each other.
• The profile and the path must be different sketches. Choose a different sketch in Shape or Path.