How to Cut Sections in Rhino

Ahh…gone are the days of the laborious section drawing when plan/model/section where separate sheets of paper strewn about the desk, well not completely but with this Rhino tutorial plan/model/section are conflated and multiple sections can be cut very easily. Using the Rhino method in conjunction with analog drawings to test design ideas creates fast measured analysis drawings for you to use during the design process.

Open a model in rhino, this would most likely be an rhino model that was originally brought in as a CAD plan.

Step 1_Set up drawing

Open drawing and create a layer labeled sections, to cut sections it is best to be in TOP view.

Step 2_Cut Sections

Type in SECTION into the command bar on the top.

Select all of the objects to cut through.

A cursor will appear on screen select the beginning of the section and drag it across the line of the section cut.

Cut all of the desired sections.

Step 3_Make Sections into Drawings

Change view ports to PERSPECTIVE

Turn off all the other layers and only leave the sections layer visible.

To use the sections as a drawing, they will need to be rotated. To do this open the TOP and PERSPECTIVE viewports. Select a section in the TOP view port.

Copy the section off to the side, that way you will retain the section cut locations on the original drawing.

Type in Rotate 3D into the command tab.

Choose the rotation axis and then rotate backward.

After all of the sections are rotated, select them, go to the FILE menu and EXPORT SELECTED as a DWG or DXF and then you will have lovely, measured sections in CAD. Or simply print them from RHINO or export them as an AI file to render them illustrativly.

Also, cutting sections in RHINO can lead to streamlined laser cut models, such as this one from UT Austin, Alfonso Tomas Calero Lopez:

This model was actually spec’d with real lumber sizes and could be constructed as a deck in the manner of a series of sections. Another example of digital tools expanding ideas on design and construction methods.