In this tutorial, I will teach you to make a lofted cut using SolidWorks. This feature uses multiple sketches on different planes to perform a cut profile for achieving your desired shape. Useful in several piping structures to make organic shapes, lofted cut provides a variety of options to use which we will be utilizing in this example. The part shown below is a cylinder which we will shape into a grip using a lofted cut.
Image 1: Solid Cylinder
Sketching and Planes:
Firstly, select the face of the cylinder to sketch. Make a circle the same size as the cylinder radius. Define it properly using the Smart Dimension tool.
Secondly, Select the face you sketched on. Go to Reference Geometry and choose a plane. This enables you to make a plane with the reference being the face where you sketched. Now choose the distance. Once you assign the distance and click the green tick mark, the plane will be created. Follow the images below to make the plane.
Image 2: Plane Command
Image 3: Plane Offset
Now that we have made the planes we repeat this step to create planes at different offsets using the plane command. Repeat the sketching on those new planes as well. Right now, you may feel confused but just wait till you see how the loft cut command works.
Image 4: Planes with sketches
Lofted Cut:
Now click the lofted cut command from the Features Toolbar. The Property Manager shows a bunch of options for you. These parameters will guide your lofted cut profile and help you set things into motion the way you want them to. The Profiles option, in the beginning, needs sketches to assign and link them together. The start and end constraints are for sketches with splines to make them more controllable but that is not needed here. Guide Curves are the guidelines you can sketch to keep the profiles nice and tight. We won’t use this option here as well. As for the bottom options, make sure to check “Merge Tangent Faces” and “Show Preview”.
Image 5: Lofted Cut Command Explanation
Select all your sketches starting from right to left. The order is very important in using multiple sketches on different planes. Do not select in any other order.
The merging option merges the faces we cut and show preview shows you what the command is about to do to the part. You will see that in the next image. This is useful in determining that the sketches are aligned to make the desired profile. Click the green checkmark to implement the command and you get a grip cut model of your cylinder.
Image 6: Preview of the Lofted Cut after sketch selection
Image 7: Lofted Cut Grip
This is how we use the lofted cut command. We use this command to cut a body or part using different shapes and custom profiles. This enables us to get diverse final results as you can see above. hope you liked this tutorial and read others on this website as well.
