Goal:

Create a set of small stacking or nesting objects functional or otherwise (cups, baskets, coasters, measuring spoons, Matryoshka dolls etc.)

Step 1: Basic Stacking Bowl

Use Rhino and/or Grasshopper to create an initial object (cup, doll, etc)

The bowls were created using the curve function and then revolving the resulting open curve. I tried this both in Rhino and in Grasshopper (using the RevSurf block) with the z-axis as that of rotation.

Step 2:

Use Grasshopper to duplicate and transform the object so that you have a set of at least 5 stacked or nested copies.

I used Grasshopper to duplicate and transform the bowls so that I had a set of 5 stacked copies using python code matching that found in the tutorial. The bowls are transformed along the z-axis to produce the stack.

Step 3:

Ensure that the copies will effectively stack or nest by baking the copies and performing a boolean union on the set. All the objects should remain separate after the union.

I ran into the challenge of overlap between adjacent cups. I therefore used two methods to correct this. Firstly I adjusted the original open curve used in step 1 to produce a shape more optimal for stacking. Secondly, I introduced this element of a stacking offset. By adjusting this offset I could increase the distance between adjacent cups to an optimum point where they stack nicely, at the correct depths.

Step 4:

The finished result stacked nicely, and I will 3D print 2 or 3 at a small scale once my 3D printer is up and running. I aimed to now either develop the complexity of the bowls, or the complexity of the transformation in order to get a nest of bowls incrementally decreasing in size.

Step 5: Progression & Inspiration

After completing a set of regular stacked bowls as described in the tutorial I wanted to develop a more complex set of 'stacked' bowls. Above you can see some of my inspiration. I wanted to develop the 'standing' bowls above that I liked into a set with a stacking element. I decided to use these cutouts often added to bowls to hold chopsticks. These will also be used to help stack the bowls on top of each other.

Step 6:

I created a simple bowl using the same method as above, rotating an open curve around the z-axis. I then added 4 cutouts at the rim of the bowl at 90-degree increments. As a separate object, I created a set of legs. I initially tried to do this in grasshopper, however, the code and flow got very complicated very quickly, so instead, I created this manually in rhino. I created an 'X' shape on the top view, with the same length as the diameter of the bowl. I then extruded this to a height great than that of the bowl. I then 'cut out' the shape of the bowl into this extruded cross, leaving a bowl shape hole for the bowl to be placed into.

Step 7:

By duplicating the bowl and legs together, rotating them 45 degrees around the z-axis, and transforming them vertically along the z-axis, this gave a neatly fitting stacked set of bowls.

Step 8: Challenges

I then tried to bake and use a boolean union function on the 2 separate objects to combine them for printing. When trying to combine the 'legs' with the bowl into a single object, the BolleanUnion function failed both with grasshopper code, and manually in rhino. There were errors at the interface connection point preventing the operation. In order to fix this, I re-made the legs using rhino, and ensure that there was an overlap at all connection points, rather than two flush surfaces.