Sprue External Frames

Sprue External Frames

The Sprue External Frames command draws a rounded rectangular runner around the pieces you select: the frame follows their combined bounding box, grown by a margin, and straight connectors reach inward from the two long sides — plus one from each end — to feed the pieces.

It suits rows of flat pieces laid side by side: earrings, charms, links — the frame surrounds the whole set and every piece is fed from the rail next to it.

ArtisanSprueExternalFrames

Selection

Pick the meshes to frame. The number of connectors is seeded automatically to the number of pieces you selected — one feed per piece — and can be changed afterwards.

Frame

• Margin — how far outside the pieces’ bounding box the frame runs.
• Corner Radius — the fillet of the rectangle’s corners.
• Diameter — thickness of the frame tube.
• Move Z — shifts the whole frame up or down from the pieces’ mid-height.

Connectors

• Number — connector positions along the long sides; each position puts one stub on each side, reaching inward.
• Separation — spacing between consecutive positions, centered on the frame.
• Diameter — thickness of all connectors.
• Length — how far each side connector reaches in.

End connectors

• Enabled — adds one connector at the middle of each short end.
• Length — how far the end connectors reach in.

Gumballs in the viewport do the fine adjustment: orange sliders shift each long-side row of connectors independently along the frame, blue sliders shift the end connectors sideways, and arrow gumballs on the frame and connectors adjust the diameters and lengths in place.