# How would you model a Tanglecube?

**URL:** <https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-would-you-model-a-tanglecube/41602>\
**Category:** Modeling Questions\
**Created:** [September 9, 2026, 12:22pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-would-you-model-a-tanglecube/41602 "2026-09-09T12:22:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 14\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Yepher](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/yepher/32/8902_2.png) [@Yepher](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Yepher)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 12:22pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-would-you-model-a-tanglecube/41602/1 "2026-09-09T12:22:57Z")

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How would you model a basic tanglecube in Shapr like this:

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/f/8/f86b539319823c24fd33280c569d7e8f0bf5bf50.png)

It is basically this equation:  
 ![Screenshot 2026-09-09 at 7.21.21 AM](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/8/1/81097fcfeadfd23e8cd92c1e126207c6c1d7daf1.png)

Is there a way to model this parametrically? I want to create an interlocking puzzle made from some of these shapes.

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**Author:** ![Xdrakosha](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/xdrakosha/32/24881_2.png) [@Xdrakosha](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Xdrakosha)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 12:56pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-would-you-model-a-tanglecube/41602/2 "2026-09-09T12:56:49Z")

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Looks good enough?

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/8/b/8b4b3171753d95e41437b226020ccf678d1a259c.jpeg)

[Cube.x\_t.zip](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/uploads/short-url/qklKp40uBWjLOreDI3JkM5omiHn.zip) (46.5 KB)

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**Author:** ![Yepher](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/yepher/32/8902_2.png) [@Yepher](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Yepher)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 12:57pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-would-you-model-a-tanglecube/41602/3 "2026-09-09T12:57:54Z")

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Did you do that in Shapr?

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**Author:** ![Xdrakosha](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/xdrakosha/32/24881_2.png) [@Xdrakosha](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Xdrakosha)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 12:58pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-would-you-model-a-tanglecube/41602/4 "2026-09-09T12:58:27Z")

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> [@Yepher](#):
>
> Shapr

Yes. But that is just a quick test.

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/f/d/fd27ce5f534493fd536189ad60050ae7b4430649.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![Yepher](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/yepher/32/8902_2.png) [@Yepher](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Yepher)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 12:58pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-would-you-model-a-tanglecube/41602/5 "2026-09-09T12:58:50Z")

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Very cool. Any tips on how I can draw that?

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**Author:** ![Xdrakosha](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/xdrakosha/32/24881_2.png) [@Xdrakosha](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Xdrakosha)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 1:00pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-would-you-model-a-tanglecube/41602/6 "2026-09-09T13:00:29Z")

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> [@Yepher](#):
>
> Any tips on how I can draw that?

That’s just a series of spheres connected by tubes, with fillets applied afterward.

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**Author:** ![Xdrakosha](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/xdrakosha/32/24881_2.png) [@Xdrakosha](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Xdrakosha)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 1:01pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-would-you-model-a-tanglecube/41602/7 "2026-09-09T13:01:36Z")

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If you need more detailed answer I can make a video later.

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**Author:** ![Yepher](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/yepher/32/8902_2.png) [@Yepher](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Yepher)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 1:02pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-would-you-model-a-tanglecube/41602/8 "2026-09-09T13:02:50Z")

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That would be great. But I think I see how you did it. The Shapr project would be helpful because then I can just look at the history to work it out. But what you say makes sense. I was trying through subtraction with elipses.

thanks for the tips

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Xdrakosha](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/xdrakosha/32/24881_2.png) [@Xdrakosha](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Xdrakosha)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 1:13pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-would-you-model-a-tanglecube/41602/9 "2026-09-09T13:13:40Z")

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> [@Yepher](#):
>
> The Shapr project

[Cube.shapr](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/uploads/short-url/g1jbEBWquyrYvMOBP3rduMss0D0.shapr) (122.6 KB)

This one is parametric ready. Adding some variables it can be controlled easily.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Yepher](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/yepher/32/8902_2.png) [@Yepher](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Yepher)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 2:24pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-would-you-model-a-tanglecube/41602/10 "2026-09-09T14:24:54Z")

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I see. That makes sense. Thanks for sharing.

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**Author:** ![gary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@gary](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/gary)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 7:48pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-would-you-model-a-tanglecube/41602/11 "2026-09-09T19:48:34Z")

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not sure if you mean how to create that in shapr (no idea if that’s possible) or if you can get that surface into shapr. for the latter I created the surface parametrically in houdini from the formula and brought in an stl.

 ![tanglecube](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/b/b/bbb772a366af70b8399dbaa3d5de0fbdf36c0962.jpeg)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Yepher](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/yepher/32/8902_2.png) [@Yepher](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Yepher)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 7:54pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-would-you-model-a-tanglecube/41602/12 "2026-09-09T19:54:44Z")

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@gary Yes, I specifically want to do it in Shapr3D. I’m also not sure it is possible. Xdrakosh had a rough approximation, which was helpful. But I am still trying to make one more precise, like the one you shared.

Thanks for sharing.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![gary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@gary](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/gary)\
**Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 8:04pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-would-you-model-a-tanglecube/41602/13 "2026-09-09T20:04:12Z")

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not sure if it’s helpful but you’re welcome to the shapr file. The approach in Houdini was to create a patch of 1 section and duplicate and mirror it around

 ![patch](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/4/9/49253550a4c3572a64f491bb43ef0b7af86c553d.jpeg)

[tanglecube.shapr](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/uploads/short-url/edCvGdg5Y8aDulMgqDs6oj5yf79.shapr) (12.6 MB)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Yepher](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.shapr3d.com/yepher/32/8902_2.png) [@Yepher](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/Yepher)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2026, 3:58pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/how-would-you-model-a-tanglecube/41602/14 "2026-09-10T15:58:13Z")

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I wrote some code to generate a shape3D project for it. But it is not really usable. I was going to upload the project, but it was too big.

![2026-09-10 10.55.02](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/a/2/a2cdf5cfffb7bae009ebdf44df63cec0f8f0b0ac.gif)