Surface pattern: Spiral Hexagon (Customizable OpenSCAD)

This is another one in my series of surface textures, like the Rhombille surface pattern; but this one can also be used to make tiles of varying and/or periodical tilings, like the classic “triskel-like” or a variation that mixes 2-arm and 3-arm highlights (see 4th picture, after the surface-modified Printables logo). Not only that —the designs can be made in several nesting levels at the same time! (The OpenSCAD customizer app will tell you in the console the size of a nesting tiling of the same characteristics.)

Polygonal spirals (or spiral polygons) are quite interesting shapes obtained by joining the half-sides of nested polygons. That is, the progression of the polygons is such that the radius of one is the apothem (inradius) of the previous/next in the series. The number of polygons in the series, or iterations of the process, determines the number of sides of the spiral arms (which is one of the parameters in the customizer).

So, the spiral hexagons/hexagonal spirals can be mixed with hexagons and rhombilles (and triangles, too). Also, the nesting quality of the hex spirals means that by controlling the number of sides (and inside hex width/length) you can mix or “grow" different color or infill patterns, or make a “solid” one with a hole so tiny it will be filled in print.

The OpenSCAD customizer app included has detailed descriptions for each parameter; plus, a JSON file with the presets (collection of values for the parameters) is also included in the “Other Files” section. To make it available for your customizer, just place the .json and .scad files in the same folder. Check the bundled “Using OpenSCAD customizer” PDF for more tips and tricks on this powerful (and empowering) OpenSCAD feature, and make your own unique spiral tilings and surface mods!

To make fully separated spiral arms, a grid thickness of 0.2 or greater works usually well enough. 0.15 will give you “breakable” spiral arms, while less than that is useful for full-tile patterns.

In the bundle of Model Files, you'll find 4 folders with the files used to make everything in the pictures. Check those to see how you can “Add Part”, modifiers and negative volumes to give bling to your prints. If you're interested in these “pretty patterns for surfaces”, check out the documentation in the Rhombille surface pattern.