How I made the Smooth Circle or smooth cylinder in Tinkercad

Part creation update, in the description below...
The standard cylinder within Tinkercad is limited to 64 sides. I developed a technique to make it far smoother and I'm thrilled with the result. www.tinkercad.com/things/dQZj...
To create your own Part, select your object, click onto the "Basic Shapes" pop up menu, select "Your Creations" and then click onto the "Create Shape" button
Follow me on twitter / jayteeau

[@matthewfolbre1635]

Best tutorial about Tinkercad I've seen.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Thanks so much, glad you found it useful. Anything else you'd like to see within Tinkercad? Cheers, JAYTEE

[@Caleena1989]

For me as a beginner in TinkerCAD I've not only learned how to make a smooth circle, but also how to center objects and save objects in my own part list :-) Thanks a lot!

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@BenHawkerTrovan]

A solution so simple and elegant that I feel stupid for not thinking of it myself. Well done.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Thank you. There are different ways of doing this, but this technique does not rely on any TC customisers. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@fishpotpete]

Between smoothing and aligning a hole in a cylinder, I think I've learn too much today! Both of these will save me a boat load of time... Thanks!

[@JAYTEEAU]

Awesome, we're always learning. Glad you found this useful. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@joeduhclown]

This is great. Thanks for sharing the technique and the file.

[@garyblackwood9459]

Absolutely brilliant as this has been bugging me for quite a while. thank you very much for sharing.

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome Gary, glad it helped. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@gr8dane22]

I came to your video hoping to learn one thing and learned so many things! Thank you for putting this up and your hard work!

[@JAYTEEAU]

I'm glad you did Danny. We're always learning. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@mattdicke3414]

Super helpful. Been trying to solve this for a while, and this is so simple and so effective. Thank you.

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome, glad it helped you out. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@RuudK.]

Brilliant! So simple but so effective. Thank you very much for sharing.

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome. Glad you found it useful. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@terryorsi2970]

Thank you for this! Makes my prints so much cleaner.

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@JestersHammer]

Perfect, exact the instructions I was looking for. And very good explained!

[@JAYTEEAU]

I'm glad it helped you. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@AlandelMundo1003]

Learned a lot from this. Going to try this with a circle and doing it on 2 axis as a need a nice smooth sphere for an upcoming project. THANK YOU!

[@JAYTEEAU]

Glad this was helpful. Sounds like you're about to produce a LOT of duplicated objects. Hopefully the servers don't crash 😂 Cheers, JAYTEE

[@strangewigglytuff]

this is genius! youre a life saver dude, i was struggling with exporting blocky models for texture mapping in blender. thank you so much!!!!!!

[@JAYTEEAU]

Fantastic, glad it was helpful. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@Prowler2k]

Simply genius, thank you JAYTEE

[@JAYTEEAU]

@Mark Conway You're more than welcome. Hope you get some value out of it. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@TD3DMakes]

Good stuff Jaytee. Thanks for sharing!

[@JAYTEEAU]

Thanks Thierry 👍

[@rrrailservicehoscalemodelr4734]

Thanks for this tutorial. It helps to resolve a problem in a couple files I had printed. 3D modeling is very new to me.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Hey, glad it helped. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@bassreaper7779]

Excellent video. I was really frustrateed with this problem. Thanks for the solution.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Glad it helped you out. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@raydavis3966]

Jaytee, Thank you! A real benefit to makers.

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're welcome Ray. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@fissschy]

Mate - Excellent tutorial. Exactly what I was looking for, thanks!

[@JAYTEEAU]

Hey mate, no problems at all. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@geoninja8971]

Awesome.... the curves in Tinkercad have always driven me nuts - I'll definitely use this tip....

[@JAYTEEAU]

Excellent, thanks for watching. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@davidfellows899]

Very kewl, and even better, VERY TIMELY! Thanks!

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@cnjeepman]

Brilliant! Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

[@JAYTEEAU]

Glad you found it useful. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@Engineerboy100]

Excellent tutorial! Thank you I will be using this smooth circle method tomorrow. :) Very cool!

[@JAYTEEAU]

Glad you liked it. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@davidmcgrath8372]

I felt your aha! moment right after it all came pretty, thanks for this!

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@user-cf1ju4jl5p]

Excellent vid I used this technique just now to make a round gasket for a grease gun.. nice work man.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Great stuff, glad it works for you. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@NellShamrell]

This is FANTASTIC! TY so much!

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@Centurion3D]

That was a great tutorial! Thx very much, that solves a lot of problems for me. Cheers👍

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome, glad you found it useful. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@TheRmaguire]

Genius, was wondering how to do this. Worked a treat! Cheers

[@JAYTEEAU]

Thanks Ross, glad it helped you out. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@max_maldini]

Very clever! Thank you so much for sharing.

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@TheBayAYK]

Awesome. This saved me some much sanding. Great trick and it works perfect!

[@JAYTEEAU]

That's great to hear 👍 Cheers, JAYTEE

[@robertpelland5649]

Congrats for your effort, very informative.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Thanks Robert, glad it was useful. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@765934]

Excellent work.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Thanks, glad you like it. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@tattoosfromgrease]

GREAT video! Thanks for sharing!

[@JAYTEEAU]

Thank you, glad you liked it. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@drewfish8092]

This was a HUGE help. Thank You

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@MrNickpeck36]

Worked great, thanks so much.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Perfect, glad it worked for you. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@ericlanglais]

I came here to learn one thing and learned several things! Thank you!

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome, glad it helped. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@kevinefms]

Thanks mate. This is just what I need right now.

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@DieterWoestemeier]

Very clever! Thanks for sharing!

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome, glad you found it interesting. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@jm892]

Very nice idea and thanks for sharing !...

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@mychair10]

Excellent, well done ,especially useful for 3D printing.very gratefull for your efforts in producing tutorials like this, keep up the good work.Subbed.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Thanks mychair, glad you like it. Do you have a use case in mind? Cheers, JAYTEE

[@mychair10]

@@JAYTEEAU well as you know 3D prints don't like post machining so the more accurate the circle the better and the fewer walls you can getaway with! cheers.

[@JAYTEEAU]

@@mychair10 Very true ;)

[@iHayri1]

Thank you very much Sir, I was just designing a case for my GPS Speedometer and wanted to increase the sides of the cylinder and a quick Google search brought me here. Thanks for sharing, greatly appreciate it. Regards, Hayri 🙂

[@JAYTEEAU]

That's great, glad I could help. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@Steve2Q]

Brilliant..love this!

[@JAYTEEAU]

Fantastic, I hope you can make good use of it. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@starkey0417]

That was AWESOME. Thank you!!!!!

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@dougwagner7556]

Great trick. I tried it a slightly different way. My first duplicate was .5 degrees and then (never took the highlight off the duplicated circle) duplicated it 10 more times. It saved me from entering the degrees for each duplicate. It should also work at .4 degrees with 14 total duplicates. And .3 degrees with 19 total duplicates.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Excellent Doug. Nice improvement. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@marymary5172]

Thank you so much, i saw your video and finally i made a gorgeous ring on my 3d printer. thanks a lot

[@JAYTEEAU]

Fantastic, glad it was helpful. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@TravisFPV]

Brilliant. Thanks for the tip!

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@Dave99925]

That was a huge help. Thanks!!

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@appletreehifi]

one word: Brilliant. Thank you very much.

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome

[@OMEGA2669]

Love this! Thank you!

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@kz6fittycent]

This was awesome! Thanks!!

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@christiantrab6160]

I just tried this for printing a motorcyclepart - it works great, thanks!

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@AzteCypher]

Thank you very much for this tutorial. I had assumed that I was stuck with all those facets. I'm very happy to have been proven incorrect. Cheers!

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome

[@dougcotterill]

Great video Jaytee, thank you :)

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're welcome Doug. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@AddyRCBuddy]

Very nice tutorial, really helpfull! Thank you sir ✌

[@JAYTEEAU]

Thanks very much, glad you enjoyed it. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@ChickensAndGardening]

Great idea!

[@JAYTEEAU]

Glad you like it. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@cyrillowe1271]

So Awesome thanks for this!!

[@JAYTEEAU]

Glad you liked it. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@malcolmgay2206]

Your a legend Thank you JT

[@JAYTEEAU]

You are very welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@Ezbos2]

Brilliant!! Thank you!!

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@jwc82579]

For the love of god, why did I not know this years ago! Hope to see you at the next MRRF whenever that may be! *jwcproductions*

[@JAYTEEAU]

Ha ha, thanks Jim, glad this helped. Another MRRF would be fantastic. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@TheTylerDax]

Flippin´ brilliant 😁

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're flippin' welcome 👍 Cheers, JAYTEE

[@DCC-DUDE]

Brilliant!!

[@JAYTEEAU]

Glad you liked it. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@user-zr3io2ft1x]

freaky clever thanks alot bud I will make cones too as i use them from time to time

[@JAYTEEAU]

Awesome. Cones will work beautifully too. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@EarlWallaceNYC]

Brilliant ! ! ! Thanks

[@JAYTEEAU]

Glad you like it. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@6romansoldier]

Def shouldnt neeeeeed to do this but you helped me make this tabke saw vacuum tube adapter perfectly thank youuuuu

[@JAYTEEAU]

Glad it helped you out. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@nabicht]

exactly what i was looking for

[@JAYTEEAU]

Excellent, glad it helped. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@nemocheerio]

Thanks for this. I'm making wheels and was wondering what to do about the facets. I'm gonna give this a try in my design and see if Tinkercad can handle it. Thanks for your work.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Sorry for the late reply. I hope it worked for you. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@nemocheerio]

@@JAYTEEAU Hey, Yeah. Worked out great. I made two piece wheels that hold a section of pool noodle tire for my RC airplanes. They came out great! and 2 grams lighter than my previous ones I turned on a lathe!! Thanks.

[@JAYTEEAU]

@@nemocheerio Fantastic.

[@guate6]

Great video, cheers.

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@x7falcon689]

Thank You so much !

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@erynstreeter3756]

Thanks for the video

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@GeekTranslation]

thank you very much for this

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@adams1625]

SMART!!! Thanks bro great idea

[@JAYTEEAU]

Thanks Adam, glad you found it useful. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@adams1625]

@@JAYTEEAU Of course! I find when I zoom in that the pattern is wavy. The flats point in and out. Is this an issue? It looks fine zoomed out though

[@JAYTEEAU]

@@adams1625 If you zoom right in, you're seeing the remnants of the flats, however, if you're 3D printing these objects, the slicer ( usually ) ignores the small variations. Cheers

[@spikekent]

Great hack mate. I'm sure it will be invaluable to newcomers. I find Tinkercad hard work these days, it's not the fault of Tinkercad at all, it's me. I began with Tinkercad but since moving to Fusion 360, I can't get my head around TC.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Thanks Spike, I've found it useful myself not just as a concept. I need to spend the time to model in F360 but I don't do mission critical stuff so TC is great for my little things. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@raeburn1277]

I'm 3 years late to this video but that's a genius solution and I will be using it a lot.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Hey, thanks for watching. Glad you can make use of it. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@phantom12321800]

Oh nice. I will be doing this to refine some larger conical and round objects.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Great, glad it might help you out. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@CarmeloEstablier]

FINALLY! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

[@JAYTEEAU]

You are very welcome Carmelo. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@MikeSiggins]

Perfect. Thanks.

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@Spinkeyco]

Thank you!

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're welcome

[@hasher22]

LIFE SAVER!

[@JAYTEEAU]

Glad it helped. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@erickrhoades1469]

If it could make a smooth circle out of the gate it would be a perfect program for makers.... but it's pretty close already ;)

[@JAYTEEAU]

Agreed. It's pretty slick for what it is though. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@billjonesnation]

amazing

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@katrinaredford4150]

Thank you!!

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome

[@owmince-]

thank you

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@kavishdixit1330]

Good Idea bro 👍👍

[@JAYTEEAU]

Glad you liked it

[@JordanJay35]

thanks for that!

[@JAYTEEAU]

No worries at all, hopefully it's useful to you. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@halvardu]

Thank you! :)

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@jej3451]

Nice.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Glad you liked it. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@qus.9617]

Nice!

[@JAYTEEAU]

Thanks. Glad you liked it. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@caleliebig1356]

This is great thankyou - can anyone recommend a program that is similar but the next step up? But still this kind of easy to use for a non engineering type like myself? 😁

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're very welcome. I was 'forced' to go from tinkercad to Fusion 360... What a learning curve 😉

[@scottsound4711]

Nice video. I have a question does anyone know how to cut a circle into 8 parts so you have 8 triangles ?? Thanks

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're welcome, glad you got something out of it. Do you mean similar to Pizza slices?

[@lcandmrpcomputers]

Very nice tutorial i have used your method and made much better bases for my 3D prints

[@JAYTEEAU]

Great to hear. Any links to the results? Cheers, JAYTEE

[@keithbell9959]

Great thankyou

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@geraldwalker4035]

Do you know of a way to make an adapter for a vacuum system that smoothly changes from one size to another. I have only been able to design one that has two cylinders stacked on top of each other and the transition is quite clumsy.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Hey Gerald, thanks for watching. I would probably incorporate a cone into the mix to try and make a better external transition, but I guess it depends on the variation of the inner diameters. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@nebulousJames12345]

because it makes sense that making a smooth surface should be so hard.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Yep, it seemed silly to me too. I understand why the simplified primitive shapes are being used, but at least give us a 'render' option 😉 Cheers, JAYTEE

[@orionred2489]

With the current GUI, you click on the "Basic Shapes" arrow box, and select "Your Creations". This will show the "Create Shape" button.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Great thanks, I'll add a note. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@bravotangoecho8598]

Thanks so much for explaining how to do this. I'm now trying to do something similar with the Torus, but I don't think I paid enough attention in geometry class because I'm failing. Any suggestions?

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're welcome. I just had a look and there are several predefined Torus objects available if your search for Torus. Some have more configuration options than others, but they are mostly smooth. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@bravotangoecho8598]

@@JAYTEEAU Still new to Tinkercad, so I didn't even think to look at community things. That alone was a great tip! As you suggested, I found some that will work. Thank you!

[@JAYTEEAU]

@@bravotangoecho8598 Awesome

[@eslmatt811]

I was concerned that the extra faces would increase print time, but after making a cylinder with 20, 64, and smooth. Prusaslicer does not show a difference in print time. I also found a simpler way; Duplicate rotate .5deg then duplicate 10 more times.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Excellent work, great testing and refinement. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@Spartacusse]

Great idea. But I wonder, why not duplicate, rotate, and then keep hitting duplicate with the object still selected, it will duplicate the new objects already with the previous rotation added on top.

[@JAYTEEAU]

Ha ha, excellent point. My method is easy to grasp, but once you know what you're doing, your improved workflow is definitely quicker. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@davidmcdermott1973]

Thanks

[@JAYTEEAU]

You're welcome. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@jf6720]

Great video! Do you know is this only a problem with tinkercad, or just a problem with Cura?

[@JAYTEEAU]

Definitely an limitation of the Tinkercad engine using it's standard 'primitives'. Cura can only do what it's told. Cheers, JAYTEE

[@ArabellaPottery]

I understood it up to the red ad orange then turning it 3 degrees. But which one did you turn at 1.5 degrees. The orange, red or both. Did you group them after each degree?

[@JAYTEEAU]

Hey there, thanks for watching. Performing a Select All is the safest way to ensure we get the correct amount of rotation. I realise we're making a lot of objects, but that goes away once we create a stand alone part. Cheers, JAYTEE