# Sketch up question



## RobertMP (21 Feb 2007)

I'm reasonably good at AutoCad but now I'm thinking about wood more than engineering I thought I'd give sketchup a try. Think knowing CAD is working against me here 

I've been defeated at the first hurdle! I'm trying to draw up some small tables I am going to make. The table top is easy - or so I thought. I've tried a couple of times but don't really know how to draw it. The edge profile has me beat!

Here it is in CAD 2D along with the scary table edge bit I bought for the router.









How can I see that table top in 3D in (free version) sketchup? Profile on all edges of a top say 15" x 24".

I could draw it in 3D in autocad but as it is just for me I'll not bother.


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## Nick W (21 Feb 2007)

You need to use the Follow Me tool 8-[ . Search for it in this forum, it's been covered several times.


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## RobertMP (21 Feb 2007)

That was painful 

Not the follow me tool - that worked quite well..... just constructing the geometry for the profile and creating the extrude path (sorry autocad thinking again).

I think I'll have to shelve sketchup and complete my design in 2D cad. It just feels so clumsy and I'm used to accuracy. I don't doubt it can do accurate just not in my hands yet. Even the 3D orbit won't turn how I want it. Again I'm pre programmed for the same tool in autocad that behaves a bit differently.

Thanks for the pointer. I have a table top and I will continue to play with SU but it is going to be some time before I'll be able to do anything useful with it.


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## SketchUp Guru (22 Feb 2007)

Robert, you are probably right that your previous CAD experience isn't helping you with SU. I will assure you that SketchUp can indeed give you the kind of accuracy you need. 

If you could direct me to information about that router bit or send me a DXF or DWG file of the profile, I could do a quick tutorial showing how to draw the table top with the edge profiled.


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## RobertMP (22 Feb 2007)

Thanks Dave for the offer.

I have managed to draw the table top but found it difficult to draw the edge profile. I started with construction lines and circles as I could not understand the arc tool (guess I should have looked up the help  ). Trimming back to the section I wanted and getting it to join up and recognise it was a surface was a bit of a nightmare.

Here is the top






and if you feel like showing me how easily it could be done here is the size details (I think of big things in feet but work on detail in millimetres :lol: )






I know sketchup does layers and my normal working is one component to one layer. Need to read up on how/if I can make a block or group of a component and lock it once I'm happy with it. Still think I'll finish this first one in cad though


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## RobertMP (22 Feb 2007)

Oh and just to add one other note.

I discovered this morning that holding the control key (suspend gravity) make the orbit tool behave how I'm used to and it was so nice to be able to move the view without getting annoyed


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## SketchUp Guru (22 Feb 2007)

Robert, when I get into work I'll give it a go. One thing though, since you've already drawn the profile in AutoCAD, you could just import it into SketchUp to use it on the table top.


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## SketchUp Guru (22 Feb 2007)

Oh and about orbiting, be careful with your alignment. The solid blue axis is the positive Z-axis. Your screen shot of the table top shows the top standing vertically and the camera lying on its side.


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## Shultzy (22 Feb 2007)

Robert - Having never used any 3D package, I bought TurboCad 8 for £12 off the web. It took a bit of learning but not too much to get started. Your experience of AutoCad will mean you won't have any difficulty. I've only used it for woodworking projects so it is an option. Here's a pic of a telephone seat / shoe cupboard I designed for my mom.


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## SketchUp Guru (22 Feb 2007)

Shultzy, what's with those funky diagonal lines?


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## RobertMP (22 Feb 2007)

Dave R":kg7ewow3 said:


> Oh and about orbiting, be careful with your alignment. The solid blue axis is the positive Z-axis. Your screen shot of the table top shows the top standing vertically and the camera lying on its side.





Yes that was earlier when I was getting annoyed with the orbit tool. I used rotate just to get the applied wood texture the right way and used it again to get a view for a screenshot.


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## SketchUp Guru (22 Feb 2007)

You don't need to rearrange the model to get the textures applied properly. You can rotate the texture. Check out the help files.


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## SketchUp Guru (22 Feb 2007)

Alright, I took the dimensions you gave and constructed the cutter profile. I started by drawing a vertical rectangluar surface on which to work. Then I constructed the profile. I used guides as needed to give me references and laid out the arcs as needed. I deleted the waste and moved the profile, or a copy of it in this case to the corner of the table top. I could have drawn it in place on the edge of the table top but I didn't this time. Then, I selected the top edges all the way around, selected the Follow Me tool and clicked on the profile. Presto!

Since you have it and seem more comfortable with AutoCAD, you might as well create the profile there and import it.

I'm not sure I would bother with trying to draw the profile perfectly anyway. You won't use the SketchUp file to have the profile made. You just need to represent the profile. Look at the door on the right in the next image. It gives the idea of a raised panel with a coved raising. I just drew a profile that looked alright to my eye but I didn't try to match a cutter. The same was done for the profiling on the rails and stiles. I don't think it matters. The viewer would understand what they are seeing and I spent very little time drawing it.






Keep in mind SketchUp is not a CAD application in the same sense as AutoCAD or TurboCAD is. It was never intended as such. For what most woodworkers have invested in it, SketchUp is more than capable of doing what they need of a computerized drawing program. It can certainly generate usable working drawings if those are needed and it is perfect for showing your client how a piece would look when complete.

SketchUp may not be as good as AutoCAD for dimensioning but I've never had any trouble putting in the dimensions I need for working from them in the shop.

Robert, you mentioned layers and so on. I don't have time right now to repeat what I've said about using components, groups and layers. I have covered them ad nauseum here in the Design forum. I would urge you to read back through. Also take a look at my long tutorial showing the construction of an armoire for some examples.

For the moment I will say this. Always leave the default layer called Layer 0 as the active layer. (Don't argue with this. I didn't make it up. It is part of the old SketchUp wisdom I learned three or four years ago when I first started with SketchUp. If you don't follow this rule you will find it easy to get geometry scattered around on various layers and you'll find it very time consuming to fix.) Draw entities, make them components and move them to other layers as desired.


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## Chris Knight (22 Feb 2007)

I find it slightly quicker to first select the top face, rather than 4 edges, then to remove the waste with the Follow-me tool.


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## SketchUp Guru (22 Feb 2007)

waterhead37":2182rqtt said:


> I find it slightly quicker to first select the top face, rather than 4 edges, then to remove the waste with the Follow-me tool.



Yeah, you can do it that way with a double click on the top face to select all the bounding edges. No matter what way you do it, you need to select the path for Follow Me.

You can also click on the profile with the Follow Me tool and drag around the edges. I feel like I have more control in a lot of situations by selecting the path and then the Follow Me tool. With a shortcut key for the tool, it is very fast.


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## RobertMP (22 Feb 2007)

Dave R":3ll4q1qm said:


> I'm not sure I would bother with trying to draw the profile perfectly anyway. You won't use the SketchUp file to have the profile made. You just need to represent the profile. Look at the door on the right in the next image. It gives the idea of a raised panel with a coved raising. I just drew a profile that looked alright to my eye but I didn't try to match a cutter. The same was done for the profiling on the rails and stiles. I don't think it matters. The viewer would understand what they are seeing and I spent very little time drawing it.
> <snip>
> Keep in mind SketchUp is not a CAD application in the same sense as AutoCAD or TurboCAD is. It was never intended as such. For what most woodworkers have invested in it, SketchUp is more than capable of doing what they need of a computerized drawing program. It can certainly generate usable working drawings if those are needed and it is perfect for showing your client how a piece would look when complete.
> 
> SketchUp may not be as good as AutoCAD for dimensioning but I've never had any trouble putting in the dimensions I need for working from them in the shop.



I do appreciate what you are saying and also appreciate your assistance. My background is sheet metal engineering design. As a manager I've always been intolerant of approximate detail as when final assembly comes the approximate component does not fit in the real product. Now I know all that is behind me and my new design tasks are simpler and wholly under my control but it just hits a nerve to do things in design that look about right but are not what it will actually be.

That is one of my problems with sketchup. I must have true sizes and whilst it can do true sizes most of its functionality comes from following lines on other features and I'm not confident it is following the right feature as I don't understand it enough.

I have read through some of your excellent tutorial and others. I had already noticed the door panels (as reposted here) were not true to life.I will keep dabbling with sketchup but it is a way off feeling right yet


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## Shultzy (23 Feb 2007)

Dave R":am1qqe0u said:


> Shultzy, what's with those funky diagonal lines?



Its the lighting effect because I just used draft render.


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## SketchUp Guru (23 Feb 2007)

Ah. I see. I thought it was a design feature.


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