How can I make a twisted cone?

Question

I've looked everywhere on how to do this shape, and the closest I can get is to a spring shaped item. Whenever I try to manually do it by extruding I don't get the exact look I want. Anyone know an easier way?

https://gyazo.com/49cdb8ec0b285802a7bdb1e05f52dc07

( For those who can't use the link, the shape is kinda like a Unicorn horn/cone shape but with it twisting around and around. )

Thanks!

Answer 1

As has been mentioned, there are multiple ways to achieve what you want, but I just thought I'd elaborate on the technique I used when I did this very thing not long ago...

First, Add 2 circles and move them so they're just touching. Then select both and Join (Ctrl+J) them into a single mesh, and set their Origin to Geometry (Shift+Ctrl+Alt+C) so that the pivot point is centered.

Next, add a Screw Modifier and change the Axis, Screw, and Iterations values until it looks right (for circles of size 1, a Screw value of 4 seems right), and then Apply the modifier.

Next, go into Edit Mode (Tab) and Deselect All (A). Then change to Wireframe Mode (Z) and select just the top few vertices.

After that, turn on Proportional Editing (O) and Scale the vertices to 0 (S>0). You can then scroll your mouse wheel until the Proportional Editing circle covers as much of the screw as you desire.

And one last thing, for whatever reason, the normals on one of the circles is always inverted, so just select Make Normals Consistent (Ctrl+N) to get them all facing out. You should then have a nice-looking twisted cone.

Answer 2

Here's one way:

Add a cube. Add a Subdivision Surface modifier to the cube and change the levels to 5.(I used 3 levels in the pics)

Go into edit mode, and add two horizontal edge loops to the cube, sliding one close to the top and the other close to the bottom.

(You can skip this step, but adds more detail) Add a vertical edge loop. With that loop still selected, press CTRL + B then + to bevel the loop to three segments. Press CTRL + - to shrink the selection the middle edge loop and scale it in a bit.

Deselect everything then select all the vertices at the top half of the cube. Move these up to the length you want the cone to be. Select everything and scale it in on the X axis.

Go to top view(NUMPAD 7) and move the cube right on the X axis a little. Make sure the 3D cursor is centered.

Go back to Object mode. Add an Empty. Rotate the empty 90 degrees on the Z axis.

Select the cube and add an array modifier with these settings:

Then add a Simple Deform modifier with these settings:

Finally, add another Simple Deform modifier with these settings:

You can adjust the twist with the deform angle on the first Simple Deform modifier. You can adjust the point with the deform factor of the second Simple Deform modifier. Oh and set shading to Smooth.

Answer 3

There are many ways to do this, but the one I found to be the easiest was to use a lattice. First, make a cone (go to and scale it to the desired size. Next, create a Lattice object and add a lattice modifier to the cone. Make sure to scale the lattice so that the cone fits inside it. Also make sure to add the modifier to the cone, and not the lattice. Next, connect the lattice to the cone by adding the lattice to the modifier under objects. Also subdivide the cone in edit mode (press 'tab') to make it smoother. Switch to the lattice and change its W value to 5 (great value=smoother horn). Go into edit mode and select all the vertices on a 'level' (same z position). Press 'r' then 'z' then enter how much you want to rotate the horn by. Rotate the rest of the 'levels' of vertices at intervals (45,90,135,etc.). More than likely your cone might look a little off until you're finished rotating all the vertices. When you are done, to make it look smooth, add the sub-surf modifier. To avoid crashing blender, don't set sub-surf higher than 4-5 (mines at 2). You can also use the sculpt tool to add more detail (a lot of videos/ articles on how to sculpt).