Iconic Ionic: Dynamic Column builder

Simple, but dynamic column builder library.

Inspired by: Wikipedia Artwork and this preview.

I've uploaded a couple ready-made column design as stl files, but you probably want to download the .scad file and open it inside OpenSCAD.

Preface

I had a lot of fun making this library, however I'm most likely going to drop this project😭.

The way this works is that every section has a 10x10xZ area (it may overlap on the X and Y axis as well). 
Each section is responsible for scaling its children (the sections on top) in a way that they align with the section itself.
Ideally, the sections would pass around x and y dimensions in mm, however because models cannot be called dynamically, the only way to do this in OpenSCAD is to use children and scale([x,y,1]).
However, this messes with dimensions, and makes it hard/impossible to create squares or proper cylinders.

In the end, this limitation kind of killed the joy for me, however by spending more time tweaking values, you can still manage to design really cool columns.

So have fun 🌸

Usage

To use this library, simply download and install OpenSCAD and open the columns.scad file.

Near the bottom of the file, you will find a section titled // BEGIN COLUMN CONFIGURATION which ends with // END COLUMN CONFIGURATION.

In-between, you can place your column definition.

As all sections are OpenSCAD modules, you define your column top down: The base is at the top and the capital at the bottom.

The modules take care of scaling the next layer to fit, so all you have to do is stack the sections you want on top of one another, and configure them to your liking.

A simple column could look like this:

rounded_circle_slab(2)
detailed_circular_section(40, 20, 0.1, round_top=true, round_bottom=false)
rounded_circle_slab(3)

With a 2mm rounded  circle slab below the 40mm main shaft and a 3mm rounded circle slab stacked on top.

Once you are done, hit F6 (or Design > Render ) - this might take a while, so grab a cup of tea 🧋.

Afterwards, you can export the .stl by hitting F7 (or File > Export > Export as STL)

(Note: You might want to change base_size)

To achieve more rounded, you might also want to change $fn to a value ≥30, or set it to ≤25 for a less rounded look.

Contents

Mostly complete list of available column sections. Have a look at the comments in the source file for more information.

Note: the preview in the following models were generated with $fn set to 10, which is why the circular sections only have 10 subsections.

square_section

A simple cuboid section with a specific height. You can optionally pass a scale factor to the module as well.

usage: square_section(height, fact=1.0)

example: square_section(5)

concave_bezier_square

A cuboid with its edges cut using a Bézier area

usage: concave_bezier_square(height, inset, angle1, angle2, attack1, attack2, step=0.1, flipped=false)

example: concave_bezier_square(10,0.3,23,45, 1/3, 1/2)

 convex_bezier_square

Cuboid with its edges intersected with a Bézier area

usage: convex_bezier_square(height, inset, angle1, angle2, attack1, attack2, step=0.1, flipped=false)

detailed_square_section

A cuboid section with details. The inset sections can either be square or circular, and can optionally be rounded on the ends.

usage: detailed_square_section(height, detail_type, padding, segments, round_top=false, round_bottom=false, fact=1.0)

example: detailed_square_section(20, “square”, 0.3, 5, round_bottom=true)

rounded_slab

A cuboid with round overhang

usage: rounded_slab(height)

example: rounded_slab(5)

circular_section

Simple cylinder with the given height. You can optionally pass a scale factor to the module as well.

usage: circular_section(height, fact=1)

example: circular_section(5)

detailed_circular_section

A cylindrical section with details

usage: detailed_circular_section(height, segments, detail_size, round_bottom=false, round_top=false, fact=1.0)

example: detailed_circular_section(20, 8, 0.3, round_bottom=true)

concave_bezier_circle

A cylinder with its edges cut using a Bézier area

usage: concave_bezier_circle(height, inset, angle1, angle2, attack1, attack2, step=0.1, flipped=false)

example: concave_bezier_circle(5,0.3,20,40,1/2,1/5)

convex_bezier_circle

A cylinder with its edges intersected with a Bézier area

usage: convex_bezier_circle(height, inset, angle1, angle2, attack1, attack2, step=0.1, flipped=false)

 

inset_square_section

Cuboid section with extending sections

usage: inset_square_section(height, margin, outline, inset, extrude)

example: inset_square_section(10, [0.05, 0.5], [0.1, 1], 0.1, 0.1)

dual_spiral_section

Ionic style top column spiral detail

usage: dual_spiral_section(extrude, start_radius=0.1, step_size=0.1, radial_growth=0.0003, start_thickness=0.1, thickness_growth=0.0001)

example: dual_spiral_section(0.05)

rounded_circle_slab

Cylinder with round overhang

usage: rounded_circle_slab(height)

example: rounded_circle_slab(5)

Examples

Note: The following images are screenshots from the editor preview, which may contain visual artifacts. When properly rendering the models, these will not be visible.

Also, the previews were generated using $fn=10, if you want the shapes to be more rounded, set it to 30 or larger ✨

Iconic Ionic

square_section(1)
convex_bezier_square(1, 0.1, 0, 90, 1/3, 1/3)
concave_bezier_square(1, 0.1, 0, 90, 1/3, 1/3)
detailed_square_section(5,"round", 0.2, 5, round_bottom=true, round_top=true)
concave_bezier_square(3, 0.2, 20, 90, 1/3, 1/3, flipped=true)
square_section(1)
scale([0.8,0.8,1])
rounded_circle_slab(2)
detailed_circular_section(40, 20, 0.1, round_top=true, round_bottom=false)
rounded_circle_slab(2)
scale([1.2,1.2,1])
dual_spiral_section(0.02, radial_growth=0.0004, thickness_growth=0.00015)
square_section(1)

Rounded

circular_section(1)
convex_bezier_circle(1, 0.1, 0, 90, 1/3, 1/3)
concave_bezier_circle(1, 0.1, 0, 90, 1/3, 1/3)
circular_section(1)
detailed_circular_section(5, 20, 0.1, round_top=true, round_bottom=true)
circular_section(1)
concave_bezier_circle(1, 0.1, 20, 90, 1/3, 1/3, flipped=true)
convex_bezier_circle(1, 0.1, 0, 90, 1/3, 1/3, flipped=true) 
circular_section(1)

Cuboid

square_section(1, fact=0.8)
concave_bezier_square(1, 0.1, 0, 90, 1/3, 1/3)
convex_bezier_square(1, 0.1, 0, 90, 1/3, 1/3)
detailed_square_section(5,"square", 0.1, 5)
rounded_slab(1)
square_section(1)
detailed_square_section(5,"round", 0.2, 5, round_bottom=true, round_top=true)
square_section(1)
concave_bezier_square(1, 0.1, 20, 90, 1/3, 1/3, flipped=true)
convex_bezier_square(1, 0.1, 0, 90, 1/3, 1/3, flipped=true) 
square_section(1)