# How to measure from center of a spiral to center of another point?

**URL:** <https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-to-measure-from-center-of-a-spiral-to-center-of-another-point/29631>\
**Category:** Modeling Questions\
**Created:** [December 31, 2023, 9:27am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-to-measure-from-center-of-a-spiral-to-center-of-another-point/29631 "2023-12-31T09:27:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 11\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jan-Willem](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/jan-willem/32/28329_2.png) [@Jan-Willem](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Jan-Willem)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2023, 9:27am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-to-measure-from-center-of-a-spiral-to-center-of-another-point/29631/1 "2023-12-31T09:27:25Z")

</div>

I would like to center (align) a spiral on the center of an rod. only I cannot find any direct points at the spiral to perform this with the Translate tool, for example.

Can anyone tell me how to accomplish this anyway?

 ![Scherm­afbeelding 2023-12-31 om 10.11.57](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/7/5/753caf03ba590c5ea524fb98b1ced45862672ceb.jpeg)

![Scherm­afbeelding 2023-12-31 om 10.11.33](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/8/9/89f982a4bd35f7519ff7eedb72b2b43d9addf623.png)

 ![Scherm­afbeelding 2023-12-31 om 10.13.07](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/e/6/e6a077cea2509e7b51801078c59af8198657bf47.jpeg)

 ![Scherm­afbeelding 2023-12-31 om 10.13.31](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/3/0/30acb934b4eb17d6d899a695cee190cfa553c3b4.jpeg)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Cjacob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Cjacob](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Cjacob)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 6:53am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-to-measure-from-center-of-a-spiral-to-center-of-another-point/29631/2 "2024-01-01T06:53:41Z")

</div>

Hi Jan Willem,

You could draw a circle at the end of the shaft, rotate 90 degrees, and then move to your required position for the spring. Using the align tool align the end of the spring to the circle.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![andrew](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/andrew/32/5757_2.png) [@andrew](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/andrew)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 4:48pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-to-measure-from-center-of-a-spiral-to-center-of-another-point/29631/3 "2024-01-01T16:48:38Z")

</div>

I’m not OP, but I’m having a lot of trouble visualizing how this would work. Would you be able to take a few screen shots?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jan-Willem](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/jan-willem/32/28329_2.png) [@Jan-Willem](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Jan-Willem)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 7:09pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-to-measure-from-center-of-a-spiral-to-center-of-another-point/29631/4 "2024-01-01T19:09:55Z")

</div>

Hello @Cjacob,

Thanks for your response. Just like Andrew (@andrew), I had to think quite a bit about exactly how you mean, but I managed in the end!

Assuming that I managed to center the spiral perfectly around the axis, I think I used too many steps to do so. Below I give step by step how I did it.

Possibly you can indicate if it is possible to perform the centering with fewer steps.

 ![Scherm­afbeelding 2024-01-01 om 18.16.36](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/d/7/d79c35cae16503524982ffb75413c8e834f54622.jpeg)

 ![Scherm­afbeelding 2024-01-01 om 18.17.14](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/7/d/7d0ac7842d1f5594298f98d6d39b3e6ab58c34a1.jpeg)

 ![Scherm­afbeelding 2024-01-01 om 18.18.51](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/4/8/48e8a107d619858f5c5bb342aee9f11d4ede94f2.jpeg)

 ![Scherm­afbeelding 2024-01-01 om 18.19.55](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/b/2/b20b84e7490761c15558ab7e79a967a20fd04966.jpeg)

 ![Scherm­afbeelding 2024-01-01 om 18.22.26](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/d/3/d301f6deea3ef3851c6ac72cc8140f6fea45eb60.jpeg)

 ![Scherm­afbeelding 2024-01-01 om 18.23.28](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/5/d/5dba41b9001f3eaeb952ba799ffcd14731c44b96.jpeg)

 ![Scherm­afbeelding 2024-01-01 om 18.24.25](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/b/6/b63360ec7b1a231db038930d23e323752c58e6f3.jpeg)

 ![Scherm­afbeelding 2024-01-01 om 18.24.58](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/9/7/970ec5bffe4b4078ddbf354940eba0801d4322e9.jpeg)

 ![Scherm­afbeelding 2024-01-01 om 18.25.14](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/6/a/6a8682187cf38ab9f45a307f0014a758f15f2ceb.jpeg)

 ![Scherm­afbeelding 2024-01-01 om 18.25.46](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/a/3/a3aa46640f1c6ed2e0871a588e382ab2222abd56.jpeg)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TigerMike](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/tigermike/32/32650_2.png) [@TigerMike](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/TigerMike)\
**Post date:** [January 1, 2024, 7:16pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-to-measure-from-center-of-a-spiral-to-center-of-another-point/29631/5 "2024-01-01T19:16:28Z")

</div>

Here’s how I did it. I used the sketched line at the center of the coil. The cylinder I made at the center of coil is temporary and used to do the final align.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Jan-Willem](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/jan-willem/32/28329_2.png) [@Jan-Willem](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Jan-Willem)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 6:52am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-to-measure-from-center-of-a-spiral-to-center-of-another-point/29631/6 "2024-01-02T06:52:40Z")

</div>

Hello Mike @TigerMike,

Definitely a nice solution. Thanks for your video. I hadn’t noticed before that during the revolve function the sketch is automatically made invisible, so you don’t see the sketched line in the center.

So you see… Both @Cjacob’s solution and your solution give the same end result, but with a totally different approach.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Cjacob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Cjacob](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Cjacob)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 8:32am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-to-measure-from-center-of-a-spiral-to-center-of-another-point/29631/7 "2024-01-02T08:32:55Z")

</div>

Hi Jan-Willem,

Seems there is always a way with Shapr3D. Great App!

I have a question or query. On the attached sample, how can I move the O’ring from one groove to the other groove using the alignment tool. Or possibly there is another tool? Haven’t been able to figure this out yet.

Thank you.  
[O’ring Alignment.shapr](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/uploads/short-url/6ogzvpPSo8uGWRaVWVTnLq3lm2C.shapr) (8.2 KB)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bob3DPO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7993a0/32.png) [@Bob3DPO](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Bob3DPO)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 9:16am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-to-measure-from-center-of-a-spiral-to-center-of-another-point/29631/8 "2024-01-02T09:16:54Z")

</div>

Hi CJ,  
For this the alignment tool won’t work. You want to use the **Move/Rotate** tool. First measure the distance between grooves. I measured from the top flat surface (a face) to the other top flat surface (another face) to get 60.325mm. Then select the o-ring and move it that far. I also selected the **copy** function to make a 2nd o-ring.

 ![IMG_0479](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/3/9/3937834ba5de1565387d53306b10daa25899ef1b.jpeg)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Cjacob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Cjacob](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Cjacob)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 10:51am UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-to-measure-from-center-of-a-spiral-to-center-of-another-point/29631/9 "2024-01-02T10:51:09Z")

</div>

Hi Bob,

Thank you.

Yes, was thinking the same thing. Just wondering, if the O’ring groove is on another body on the “assembly” how could this be performed? Like, can a round object, (i.e. O’ring shape), have a method for “alignment” to a groove?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Bob3DPO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7993a0/32.png) [@Bob3DPO](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Bob3DPO)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 3:01pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-to-measure-from-center-of-a-spiral-to-center-of-another-point/29631/10 "2024-01-02T15:01:55Z")

</div>

There is no way to do that directly. You can only align planar, cylindrical, conical and spherical.

A work-around: instead of aligning a “real” o-ring, make a “non-o-ring” by revolving a square. (Like a flat washer) Then you would have a cylindrical surface that could be aligned to the cylindrical groove. Finally, fillet the square o-ring to make it round…. If the groove is not flat, you’d have more challenges.

If your o-ring is on one “assembly” that you want to align to groove on another “assembly”, you could add a square profile non-o-ring (flat washer) to the first “assembly” then align the two “assemblies” together (using the cylindrical surfaces) and delete the flat washer (or better yet, hide it in case you need to align again!)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Cjacob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Cjacob](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Cjacob)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2024, 4:42pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-to-measure-from-center-of-a-spiral-to-center-of-another-point/29631/11 "2024-01-02T16:42:12Z")

</div>

Great explanation. Understood on the workaround.