# How to make a perforated cylinder (pipe)?

**URL:** <https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-to-make-a-perforated-cylinder-pipe/27216>\
**Category:** Modeling Questions\
**Created:** [August 7, 2023, 8:48am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-to-make-a-perforated-cylinder-pipe/27216 "2023-08-07T08:48:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bobas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c0e974/32.png) [@bobas](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/bobas)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2023, 8:48am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-to-make-a-perforated-cylinder-pipe/27216/1 "2023-08-07T08:48:04Z")

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I would like to make a cylinder (a pipe) which has honeycomb (preferably) perforations. What is the way to achieve that? What would be the way to make any surface perforated?

 ![honeycomb](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/b/d/bd7eadfb793861a14b6526ec3412eccc7fd4a04f.png)

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**Author:** ![welshsteve](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/welshsteve/32/16111_2.png) [@welshsteve](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/welshsteve)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2023, 2:35am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-to-make-a-perforated-cylinder-pipe/27216/2 "2023-08-08T02:35:33Z")

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Rather than perforating a pipe, I created a pair of hexagonal nuts (offset diagonally) then performed a circular array before creating a linear array to form the length of the tube…

[![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/d/2/d208f06d584304bc14a3ce8f816eb21e00392716.jpeg "Perforated Tube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbk4u6col-8)

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**Author:** ![welshsteve](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/welshsteve/32/16111_2.png) [@welshsteve](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/welshsteve)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2023, 4:56pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-to-make-a-perforated-cylinder-pipe/27216/3 "2023-08-08T16:56:10Z")

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In this second example, I first created a ‘tree’ of shapes (hearts in this case) then used the tree to subtract from the cylinder.  
By scaling the shapes from the centre (loft) you can subtract from any diameter pipe and the hole shapes will remain scaled accordingly…

EDIT: The scaling is not totally reliable. While the hearts scale just fine the spaces between them changes. Probably better to model a single pipe then scale the pipe to the desired size.

[![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/7/9/7901a800f7babf353f5f2f22068497c9f4cc3854.jpeg "Heart Pipes") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA7QtLbBNBQ)

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**Author:** ![welshsteve](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/welshsteve/32/16111_2.png) [@welshsteve](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/welshsteve)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2023, 9:58pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-to-make-a-perforated-cylinder-pipe/27216/4 "2023-08-08T21:58:00Z")

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Now it’s just getting silly…

In this example I simply created a few holes then copied them around the pipe and then along the length. There are so many ways to achieve similar results…

[![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/3/e/3e6ef6ee1ca41bab01d9401b7b47723a9bc31e53.jpeg "Moon Stars Z's") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSqS2TKluGA)

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**Author:** ![dermerkel](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/dermerkel/32/24214_2.png) [@dermerkel](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/dermerkel)\
**Post date:** [January 6, 2024, 9:09pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-to-make-a-perforated-cylinder-pipe/27216/5 "2024-01-06T21:09:01Z")

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Wow, that’s awesome - can you make a short tutorial on how to achieve this?
