Sketchup drawing and finished project

[Andy F]

Just thought I would share a sketchup drawing of some drawers/mitre station in my workshop that I did, along with the finished thing. The open front spaces are also on runners allowing me to store the bigger heavier stuff.

The shelf for the mitre saw is removeable and can be lowered to fit the router table stored below it.

The reason for posting the sketchup drawing is to show how useful the program is. I had some pieces of white melamine desktop being thrown out from work which I knew the sizes of. I also knew how long and how high it all needed to be. The wood is all 44mm square or 19mm ply. Sketchup did all the rest of the dimensions and, with an add-in, will produce a cutting list.

All I had to do was to draw it, cut the wood to size, (I didn't check the dimensions at any point), and screw it together, lots of pocket screws. The drawers were all ply boxes with a rebated bottom and a false front, again all measurements read from the sketchup cutting list.

Oh, and I did it all while my right leg was in a full cast!

 

[nick d]

Very smart
What version of sketchup do you use? Because I use the free one and cannot get anything that useful from it...

 

[Rorton]

looks good, I do pretty much everything in sketchup first - I love the plugins that work out the material sizes etc for you and create a cut list, so you can just cut everything to size and know it will fit

 

[billw]

Very smart
What version of sketchup do you use? Because I use the free one and cannot get anything that useful from it...

The free one is great? My usage is veeeeeeery basic though.

 

[MikeK]

Looks good Andy! I did the same thing with my miter saw workstation to ensure it would fit in my shop with the rest of my equipment. I built the workstation in SketchUp, then built the shop and placed the equipment I knew I wanted in it. I had to make a few adjustments on the workstation because the plans were for a much larger workstation (the Jay Bates workstation).

When I was satisfied with the layout and the dimensions of the workstation, I bought the plywood and built it. Because everything was laid out in SketchUp before I cut the first sheet, there weren't any surprises when I started assembling the workstation and placing the equipment. I removed the dust collection run over the saw to the P/T for clarity.

Aside from the bandsaw, everything is placed where I designed it in SketchUp. Later, I removed the dust collection above the workstation and added a set of storage shelves.

@nick d, I use Sketchup Make 2017, which is free and still available from the Trimble website. I learned how to use it by watching YouTube videos and a bit of trial and error...lots of error. I had the most success with Justin's The SketchUpEssentials videos.

 

[Chris_Pallet]

This is a great thread. I tried the program once, got so confused with it I uninstalled it lol.
But seeing these I might give it another go, cheers...

 

[NewbieRaf]

+1 for sketch up confusion which is weird because I work in IT and Tech is what I do haha. Still working on trying to find a way round it but for now either good old pen and paper works or a standard vector program

 

[nick d]

I use Sketchup 2017 free version, and i find it great for designing, however I have no clue how to get cutting lists from it. Do you sketch it with every part beinga component?

 

[Rorton]

yeah, you need to make each part a component, so when sketching a box, you'll have 2 side components, a front and back, and a lid and a base. I use a free plugin called Open Cut List, and it then gives me a cutting list - it also tries to show the cuts on material. but I ignore that - I just like having a list to show how many components I need from which thickness of timber

here's a router fence I did, and then the cut list the plug in makes - one it the sketch up file, the other an excel spreadsheet - needed to zip them up as the forum doest like the sketch up file types

 

[Andy F]

Very smart
What version of sketchup do you use? Because I use the free one and cannot get anything that useful from it...

I also use the 2017 Make free version like some other people have posted. The later versions are web based, run slower and cannot use extensions. 2017 Make is still available as a download. If you download it, I would recommend keeping it safe for when they withdraw it . If the pro version were under £100 I would buy it, but I think it is closer to £800, and that is a yearly subscription! Only to be used by professional technical drawing people I suppose. The extension is called "Cutlist" available in the Extension warehouse. but for the ply panels I went to a website (https://www.cutlistoptimizer.com/ - but there are many others) that will arrange your pieces in 8x4 panels to tell you how many to buy. I set each piece to be a Group, CutList then lists each one as width x height x length. Components weren't useful in this project as most of the pieces were of different lengths but CutList would treat them in the same way.

I did the same thing with my miter saw workstation to ensure it would fit in my shop with the rest of my equipment.

Mike, I am jealous of your workshop. It's layout is very similar to mine but yours looks better. We have been in this house for 3 years and I still have to paint the walls, put something soft on the floor, add decent lighting, etc.

+1 for sketch up confusion which is weird because I work in IT and Tech is what I do haha. Still working on trying to find a way round it but for now either good old pen and paper works or a standard vector program

I work in IT too. I have no clue about graphic design progs like photoshop or illustrator, but Sketchup makes drawing stuff easy. It is worth sticking with. As Mike said there are loads of tutorials on youtube. The best way to learn though is to have a project to do, then just draw it. It doesnt take many minutes to be able to make it look good.

Ta

Andy

 

[MikeK]

Mike, I am jealous of your workshop. It's layout is very similar to mine but yours looks better. We have been in this house for 3 years and I still have to paint the walls, put something soft on the floor, add decent lighting, etc.

Thanks, Andy! This is what I started with once I made the decision the garage wasn't going to work for me. My challenges included clearing the space, putting up the wall to separate the shop, and finishing the space. The basement is below grade and does not have exterior access, so everything had to come down the stairs. The Minimax saw had to be disassembled more than it was when the distributor delivered it. The main chassis of the saw is still in the garage for his photo, but some of the slider components are along the wall on the left.

Here are the heavy components of the saw waiting to be carried to from the garage to the basement. Each item could be moved by two people, but the concrete counterweight in the middle was the heaviest, at about 100KG.

 

[DBT85]

Yeah both sketch up and fusion are great when you spend a little time to learn them. I still have the free sketch up stored incase I need it, though I only use fusion now. Being able to change a dimension (say the height) and the whole model updating(side panels, drawer sizes, drawer face sizes, door sizes, side panels etc) is very useful.

I notice Andy that you've avoided the prevailing tendancy of having a fence all the way along, thereby giving you more working area than those that put the fence on. A sensible choice IMO. Are you going to run a little t slot in the worktop to put a stop in or just clamp a bit of wood down when needed? Very nice job regardless!

 

[Andy F]

Thanks, Andy! This is what I started with once I made the decision the garage wasn't going to work for me. My challenges included clearing the space, putting up the wall to separate the shop, and finishing the space. The basement is below grade and does not have exterior access, so everything had to come down the stairs. The Minimax saw had to be disassembled more than it was when the distributor delivered it. The main chassis of the saw is still in the garage for his photo, but some of the slider components are along the wall on the left.

That is all really organised (and heavy!) My garage is great but it needs a proper folding door fitting. It currently has an up and over which has rails that take up all the ceiling storage space. I keep banging my head on them, and I am of average height. The door lets in moisture from the rain so things go rusty. It also needs proper lighting. I did put the dust collection piping in already though. I was going to put a table saw in similar to yours but I took the decision to "Not" build the workshop around the table saw. I have a Makita MLT100 on a trolley and it pushes up to a big heavy bench I have when I need an outfeed table.

Yeah both sketch up and fusion are great when you spend a little time to learn them. I still have the free sketch up stored incase I need it, though I only use fusion now. Being able to change a dimension (say the height) and the whole model updating(side panels, drawer sizes, drawer face sizes, door sizes, side panels etc) is very useful.

I notice Andy that you've avoided the prevailing tendency of having a fence all the way along, thereby giving you more working area than those that put the fence on. A sensible choice IMO. Are you going to run a little t slot in the worktop to put a stop in or just clamp a bit of wood down when needed? Very nice job regardless!

Thanks, I might have a look at Fusion, as I said the cost of the pro version of SketchUp is prohibitive for domestic use.

You are right about the lack of fence. Just before I designed this I saw a YouTube video explaining why a fence was not so useful, so I left it out. It means I can use the whole table top for laying out stuff or other things generally. It isn't just a mitre saw station. I have had need to clamp a stop block to the top once or twice so I will fit some T-Track when I can.

 

[DBT85]

Thanks, I might have a look at Fusion, as I said the cost of the pro version of SketchUp is prohibitive for domestic use.

Fusion is great. They recently changed the pricing model so anyone fan use it for free (was always the case), but for commercial use you now either need a startup license (under £100k a year and be less than 3 years old) or the full license which is £438 a year. A bit less if you get the 3 year subscription. Still more than Sketch-up mind. Before the start of this month you could use it for small businesses for free.

There have been some usability limits placed on the free version, but for the things we would use it for I don't think they are anything to worry about.

As I said, when you've designed your entire workstation like yours and then near the end decide that actually it would be nice it it was 50mm shorter in height, 100mm longer in length and 75mm deeper, maybe with 5 drawers rather than 4, you can change those parameters and everything will recalculate.

You set your "height" parameter to be say 800mm, your "drawer height" parameter to be say "(Height-kickboardHeight)/numDrawers".

Your drawer fronts would have a height of "drawer height".

Now you can change how many drawers you have, the height of the whole unit or the kickboard height and everything would recalculate automatically. Same for basically every dimension, angle, etc etc. Some of the formulae I used when designing my workshop to be fully adjustable were frankly ridiculous.

This design meant I could change how long or wide the workshop would be in units of whole bricks, I could adjust how wide the door would be, stud spacing, roof angle etc etc. It was massive (massive massive massive) overkill but I did it to really wrap my head around the software. I didn't learn much about the modeling side and use of most of the tools as I only really needed variously sized rectangles (bricks, framing timber, sheet goods etc), but the parameter side of things was great to learn and exploit.

The longest parameter, for reference, was how long the studs needed to be based on a calculation rather than just a set value.

min(EavesHeight - MaxHeightMinus - RafterEaves - StudWidth * 3 - BrickThickness * 3 - mortarthickness * 4; MaxHeight - MaxHeightMinus - HeightAbovePlate - StudWidth * 3 - BrickThickness * 3 - mortarthickness * 4)

 

[Mark Karacsonyi]

Great thread,

Have downloaded the software, and the cut list add on as earlier recommended. Will go through the learning curve.

I need to do a full workshop revamp. Especially as I prior brewed beer and had a mouse invasion.

Also the old units I inherited, relics from the communist period, will soon go into the wood burner.

Now I just need to do the layout. Logically I need to work it out, for raw materials enter the workshop, and do a full rotation with finished pieces leaving, avoiding to crisscross the floor.

A nice COVID period exercise, whilst customers are scarce.

 

[Vinn]

I use it all the time. Rather unorthodox interface, so a bit of a learning curve. Lots of good tutorials on YouTube

 

[Andy F]

The longest parameter, for reference, was how long the studs needed to be based on a calculation rather than just a set value.

Interesting code, is that Fusion's own or based on something else? I don't know Sketchup well enough to know if I could use any kind of calculations in that. I looked at the Fusion site and see that it is an Autodesk product. I practiced with AutoCad many years ago as a bit of a hobby when I was building PCs for friends and came across a dodgy copy. It looks like Fusion might be a better product to use when I get round to buying a CNC router.

I use it all the time. Rather unorthodox interface, so a bit of a learning curve. Lots of good tutorials on YouTube

Impressive bookcase Vinn. I am building something similar but I suspect it will not turn out as nice. Is the drawing software Sketchup or Fusion?

 

[Vinn]

Impressive bookcase Vinn. I am building something similar but I suspect it will not turn out as nice. Is the drawing software Sketchup or Fusion?

Thanks Andy. Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention - it's Sketchup

 

[DBT85]

Interesting code, is that Fusion's own or based on something else? I don't know Sketchup well enough to know if I could use any kind of calculations in that. I looked at the Fusion site and see that it is an Autodesk product. I practiced with AutoCad many years ago as a bit of a hobby when I was building PCs for friends and came across a dodgy copy. It looks like Fusion might be a better product to use when I get round to buying a CNC router.

That's my equation, made it and worked it out my own self.

I don't think sketch up has any functionality like that. The best it can do is have one clone component update all the others.

Sketch up is totally fine for many many people. I literally only even tried fusion as I saw what it could do and figured I'd give it a whirl.

 

[Robbo60]

I am trying to get sketchup free but get to the stage where it says it is sending a link to my e-mail, but never happens. Tried 2 different e-mails. Any idease please?