# Help required with SU..



## NeilO (16 May 2006)

Guys and Gurus....
I have tried to follow Dave R`s tutorials, but the X,Y,Z factor is not sinking in...
However i did manage to start a design for a new workbench (after following several posts on making as opposed to buying), my problem, or question is when using multiple components , should i be placing each component on a new layer ( i.e front leg assembly, rear leg assembly and so on..) the problem being if i make a mistake and try to erase it i lose more then i intended, bearing in mind i have it all on the same layer at the moment.
i have finally sorted out how to "draw" to a specified dimension , thanks to Dave R`s tutorials, so i figured a simple task of a workbench would be fairly easy :shock: boy was I wrong......  

so if anyone can point me in the right direction :? 

Thanks 
Neil


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## SketchUp Guru (16 May 2006)

Neil, first of all, I'm glad some of my stuff is useful.

Now, as to the method of work, first always, always, always do your drawing on Layer 0. Next, use layers only as an organizing tool. Maybe all legs on a layer called 'Legs' If you have to delete a leg and redraw it, there is no reason you should lose more than the leg. Think of the layers as layers of tracing paper on a pencil drawing. Does that help?

I'll be back after dinner so I'll check in.

D


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## Shady (17 May 2006)

Dave's stuff is great, but maybe aimed at the intermediate level of user - I'm learning a lot from it. Would people like a really 'mickey mouse' beginner's one - on, say, designing a workbench? I'd be happy to come up with something, if people want it .


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## SketchUp Guru (17 May 2006)

Shady, I can do "mickey mouse", too. You should see me with a wizard's hat and an old broom! 

My apologies if I've skipped the basics. I'll try to do better.

Regarding the design of a workbench, here's perhaps a little more detail into how I might go about it. Think about a European style bench.

First I would probably draw a bench top. I'd probably have a good idea of how big it needs to be and how thick it will be. I would ignore things such as vises, aprons, dog holes, tool tray, etc. Just a rectangular solid of the appropriate size. I'd group that. 

I probably would have started drawing the top off the origin so I would now move the top up to the desired height. Now, I have defined the space in which the rest of the workbench must fit. I have the edges of the top as limits. The bottom of the top and the ground plane tell me how tall the legs must be.

Last step for now on the top is to make a new layer call Top and move the top to that layer.

Next, I start drawing one of the leg assemblies. First rough in the top rail, make a component of it. Next the foot since we know where that goes. Make it a component.

Now, vertical parts. If they are to be mirrored versions of each, I would draw one, make a component of it, copy, move into place and mirror the copy. No need to worry about joinery at this point. Simple rectangular solids and butt joints will be fine. Add a stretcher if there is one between the legs. Make it a component.

Now, if the legs for the opposite end are just a mirrored version of the first, select all of the parts of the first leg, copy, move into place and mirror the copy.

Make a new layer called Legs, and move the parts to that layer. You could make layers for the specific parts if you want. Depends on how you wish to look at them later. In any case, you keep working like that until you have at least all the major parts drawn. Make changes in the position of the parts as needed. Since you haven't drawn the joinery yet it won't be a lot of work to move things around.

Once you have the bench drawn and the parts in the correct places, you could start drawing joinery and detail such as shaping the feet if you want. Turn off layers as needed to improve visibility.

The top was only roughed out. You might want to go back an redraw it in several parts. If you want to draw the square dog holes with their actual shapes, you might draw a solid up to one side of the dog holes, draw in the dog hole profile, Push/Pull to get the shape and make that a group. Add the next part of the top, draw in the tool tray, etc.

Vises haven't been drawn yet so you might want to figure out the positioning of the hardware before you get too excited about placing the legs and doing all that joinery. You might need to move them.

Does that make sense? I've got a SKP of a Euro style bench I did. If someone is interested, I could e-mail it or someone could host it on some web space for me? It could be dissected at your leisure.


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## NeilO (17 May 2006)

well finally had a "real" play around in SU, and here is the result......I know not quite one of Dave R`s masterpeices, but.....













Then realising I hadnt braced the lower legs, i added feet....




please be kind with your comments, its my first real try...


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## SketchUp Guru (17 May 2006)

Neil, it looks like a good start. I can't really offer a lot of sugestions without seeing the SKP but I think you've got the right ideas.

From the Profile lines showing I think there might be a few issues that need to be taken care of and I wonder what you have set as your Precision and if you have unchecked the Enable Length Snapping box. 

In case you haven't seen this before, once you've worked out the rough ideas for the bench, think about indiviual parts. Draw them one at a time making sure make components or groups of them as you go so that you can easily edit them or hide them as needed later.

Keep working at it, you'll get it.


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## SketchUp Guru (17 May 2006)

Here's a screen grab of the bench I referred to previously. I'm not showing it to show you up but rather to give you some ideas. This is still a WIP so not all the joinery is drawn. If you were to look at the SKP, you'd find that all of the parts of the top are separate. I can pull out just one of the strips with the dog holes in it or the breadboard end can be removed. This means I could do an exploded view which could be dimensioned and used for shop drawings. It also makes it easier to edit individual parts. For example if I decided I didn't want so many dog holes, I only have to edit the parts containing the holes. I don't have to redraw the entire bench top.


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## NeilO (17 May 2006)

Dave,
just checked my SU i did have lentgh snapping checked, so turned that off, my template (after following your tutorial) is set for decimal, millimeters, 0.0 precision...using a metre x metre x metre and half as a dimensional space ( the "invisible" cube, average working dimensions)
i take it the .skp is the file extension SU saves with???
if you see the w/bench in wireframe you can see all the components, ie leg assembly, crossbracing, top, and storage , all saved to seperate layers..
And a BIG thanks for taking the time to "walk" myself and more than a few people through this piece of software...


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