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Free software to design bowls/vases

billooms

billooms

Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Messages
76
Likes
65
Location
Prescott, AZ
Website
www.billooms.com
I've written some software to help visualize a bowl or hollow form in 3D prior to turning. This software is available to wood-turners free of charge!

You draw an outline by moving points. A smooth line is curve-fit to the points. A 3-dimensional view of the bowl is created from the outline, and can be rotated with the mouse to view it from all angles. The outline can be printed on a 1 inch grid pattern and used as a template to turn the shape. This will be especially useful to those making segmented bowls. You can save or print the 3D view, and you can save the data in a file for later use.

The software runs on both PCs and Macs (although some older computers may have problems). If there is a lot of interest in this kind of program, I'll put more effort into enhancements. Send email directly to me with any suggestions (bill@billooms.com).

To download the software, go to www.billooms.com/bowlshape.html

Enjoy!
Bill
 
Thanks Bill,

I too struggled with Sketchup and like the looks of this program. I would be interested in enhancements/upgrades and paying a small fee for them.

Regards,

Ken
 
Thanks - v. useful program!

Off-the-cuff ideas for enhancements:

Finer grid option
Metric grid option
Resizable outline editor window so you can start with the dimensions of your blank
Grid in the outline editor
Scale it so you can draw taller forms like urns

I'd be happy to pay for an enhanced version.
 
I too played with your program a little. I can see where it will be very useful for me in the very near future. Thanks for such a good program.

Greg
 
Thanks all for trying the software.

To add additional points, simply double click on the black background where you want an additional point to be added. A friend of mine who did some testing added about 100 points! To delete a point, drag it out of the editor window (i.e. off the black background). The user's manual has more tips on adding/deleting points and some observations about more points vs. fewer points.
 
Nice program, Bill.
I had no problem opening it in Linux Kubuntu, there is up-to-date Java available for all popular distributions of Linux.

It would be great to be able to alternately switch between a Bezier curve (I think that's what that is) and a straight line, so you can turn a sharp corner.

I've seen other 3D apps do this but I guess it's not possible with this one.

Still, very useful, and thanks!
 
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