So, do most of you use sketch up for your designs?

[Eric The Viking]

I use Inkscape too, but it is VERY hard to learn, partly because it is poorly documented (but wonderful compared to the iOs device I have!).

I have used a lot of drawing packages down the years (and loved Corel Draw - I have typeset books in it), but I would still use SU for roughing out designs, etc. as its learning curve is far shallower gradient than Inkscape.

And Inkscape is essentially 2D, not 3D, and that makes a big difference.

 

[Robbo60]

Try Alistair Johnson at Freebird interiors

I've recently tried Sketch Up and condenser myself quite pc literate and quick to learn ! However I'm struggling like hell with it ...

I am too but watch this. It shows you how to design a carcase and as we all know a box is the basis for many things. I got this and just watched part 2 but haven't tried to emulate it.

 

[billw]

PS: Woodworking SU models aren't very big (filesize), so once you start on real projects, don't be afraid to save several copies: "hall_table_1, hall_table_2, etc. You can always delete stuff you no longer need, but sometimes it saves you from over-writing something you need to keep with a version that later turns out to be a mistake.

DEFINITELY do this! I've saved myself so much time by being able to go back to a previous version that I knew was OK after making a mess of things.

 

[MikeK]

Like Roger and Eric stated, I make every cut piece a component in SU. When I build drawers using the component sides, ends, and bottom panel, I make the drawer assembly a component. This is handy for me when I have lots of drawers that are the same size. If I make a change to a sub-component that I want to apply to all of the drawers, I modify the component, and the change is applied immediately to all of the affected components.

One of the few times I use groups, is when I have several drawers in a carcass and I want to be able to move them in and out of the carcass while keeping the spacing and alignment between the drawers.

 

[Eric The Viking]

I think that is the first useful application of groups I have come across.

Of course, I should get out more...

 

[Dovetaildave]

https://www.youtube.com/c/SketchUp/videos
I have learned enough from the link to teach students myself.

All our files are first drawn in SU and exported either 2 or 3D.

1. opened in cura is 3D and require printing.
2. opened in coreldraw if 2D for laser cutting.

Regards,
Dave

 

[Peri]

At the mo, Inventor HSM - only because I teach it at work. Reading this, SU sounds like it might be better suited for my simple carpentry projects.

 

[AJB Temple]

I'm very much in two minds about this. Although I am very computer literate and have dabbled with SU briefly a few years ago, for the things I have made in the last few years I find I can do a scale drawing more quickly than using sketch up. Part of the frustration here is printing for use out in my workshop (which moves around currently due to my projects). At home I only have an A4 laser jet, whereas I can use A2 or A3 on a board.

This year I've largely made an entire quite large kitchen, including making all cabinetry, a 5 metre Island, some oak framing, two solid oak external doors, two internal sliding doors, roof strengthening, two insulated loft hatches etc. The oak framed cabinets were laid out on the stone floor in chalk and sketched on paper. Construction of cupboards is very simple and I just measure in situ and cut. I've done quite a bit of framing and I just visualise joints and mark up directly with the timber. I don't think I had any dimension errors. Just one leg where I cut the joints incorrectly (made it as a centre leg with three mortices - it was supposed to be a corner with two).

Now I have to make 22 drawers for the kitchen and 18 more for the utility (just doing kitchen for now) plus 9 cupboard doors. There are a handful of different drawer depths and widths, but basically they are all just boxes and I can't really see the advantage of a SU print of something that has only three critical dimensions.

I'm willing to invest some time in learning SU properly, if I could see what I am going to gain from the investment. I can't help thinking there must be lots of templates out there that can be just adapted with very little work? I know guys like Mike K are really good with this stuff - how long does it take to learn?

 

[Spectric]

Hi

In previous design jobs I used Catia, Autocad, a little solidworks and many specialised packages like Orcad and ICAP but in woodworking I use hand drawn sketchs. For layouts and where there are complex angles and potential footprint issues I use Qcad, a simple 2D cad package and sometimes Mathcad for more numerical issues.

 

[Spectric]

Forgot to mention that in metalwork a CAD drawing can be essential as you can send it to a metal cutting shop for laser cutting and they just cut it out of sheet steel for you, and if you want many items cut their software will maximise the number you can get from a sheet. It also cuts all the stud holes when I used it for items like exhaust manifold headers and adaptor plates for transmissions, send the drawing and collect that afternoon.

 

[MikeK]

I know guys like Mike K are really good with this stuff - how long does it take to learn?

You are too kind, but I think I am still a novice at SU, and it is a perishable skill. I had a lot of AutoCAD experience with 2D engineering drawings, but SU is my first attempt at 3D. I was making simple cabinets in about 30 minutes the first time I used SU.

Everything I learned came from YouTube, mostly from Justin Geis, The SketchUp Essentials. Justin has hundreds of short videos that go into detail on every feature of SU, including the free Make 2017 version that I use.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJafTeHBrRBL9tS-S-kRbpw
I was able to model my shop, with all of the equipment, in about four hours. This included baselining the footprint, searching the 3D Warehouse for the 1:1 SU models for as much of the equipment as I could find, and going back to the SU tutorials to determine how to do something I had forgotten. I already finished the miter saw workstation, so I was able to import it as a component into the shop layout. As a result of seeing how it fit in the model, I made a few adjustments to the workstation to make the shop less cramped.

When I decided to make a mobile MFT-style workbench, I created a SU model. I think the workbench took me two hours to create, and another two hours, or so, to modify it by adding more drawers and surface support beams.

Here is the SU model of my workbench, not including the wheels, sliding shelves and drawers on the side, or the drawer fronts for the end drawers.

Here is the actual workbench as of two hours ago. I still have a lot of work to do, such as make the holes in the Valchromat top, but I was able to make changes to the design with SketchUP before buying more plywood or aluminum extrusion. Please excuse the clutter in the basement. It is also a work in progress.

The original design had three full width drawers on the end, at 100mm, 150mm, and 212mm high. Over the weekend, I changed my mind and made three 100mm high drawers and one 150mm high drawer. After another inventory of the things I know I will put in the drawers, I need three 100mm high drawers. I only had three sets of 500mm full-extension drawer slides, so I ordered more today and pre-drilled the holes for the slides.

I installed the 400mm full-extension drawer slides at the bottom along the side openings, since these were easy to install while the partitions were out. When I figure out which tools I want in the workbench, I can add the remaining slides.

 

[billw]

So that begs the question, should you use SU for rough ideas or absolute exact piece by piece work?

 

[AJB Temple]

That is a quick scoot up the learning curve Mike. Impressed. Lovely job of the table. Looks beautifully engineered.

I presume the other apertures are for sustainers? Do they take special drawer runners? There appears to be some sort of cut out on the front of my systainer boxes, and the new boxes have a wider one.

 

[MikeK]

So that begs the question, should you use SU for rough ideas or absolute exact piece by piece work?

I use SU for complex exact work when tolerances are critical, or as critical as they can be with wood. I also use paper if I'm building something I've done before and know where the critical collision points are. I have an A3 desktop drafting table when I need it; otherwise, I sketch by hand with a straight edge.

 

[Sean33]

I've recently tried Sketch Up and condenser myself quite pc literate and quick to learn ! However I'm struggling like hell with it ...

Likewise, not sure if its because the pc we have is a mac as the boss is a photographer or just me but can't even get the thing to stay in mm or cm, change it in settings and still works in inches, If i do manage to drawer something, copy and paste, no chance..Spent countless hours trying to work it out to no avail...

 

[MikeK]

That is a quick scoot up the learning curve Mike. Impressed. Lovely job of the table. Looks beautifully engineered.

I presume the other apertures are for sustainers? Do they take special drawer runners? There appears to be some sort of cut out on the front of my sustainer boxes, and the new boxes have a wider one.

Thank you!

The apertures on the sides are 430mm wide (405mm between the drawer slides), which is perfect for the Systainer T-Loc on an open shelf. With the exception of the VAC SYS, all of my Festool tools are T-Loc. The VAC SYS is the original container with the side locks.

I haven't built the shelves yet, but they will be 19mm plywood rectangles with four recesses for the Systainer feet. Gravity will do the rest. There are three bays on each side with 550mm from bottom to top. I might put small drawers on the top of each bay for tools and leave the rest open for Systainers.

The newer Systainer 3 supposedly accepts slides on the container for vehicle use. I'm happy with the T-Loc containers.

 

[MikeK]

Likewise, not sure if its because the pc we have is a mac as the boss is a photographer or just me but can't even get the thing to stay in mm or cm, change it in settings and still works in inches, If i do manage to drawer something, copy and paste, no chance..Spent countless hours trying to work it out to no avail...

I use a Late 2009 iMac (also a photgrapher) and am using SU Make 2017. Are you setting the SU preferences? This is a global setting, and I have never changed it since I installed SU.

 

[Jelly]

And sometimes Mathcad for more numerical issues.

I'm mildly jealous, I have to resort to excel solver or clunky VBA macros these days.

Never rated MathCAD when I had access to it, but now I miss it.

Forgot to mention that in metalwork a CAD drawing can be essential as you can send it to a metal cutting shop for laser cutting and they just cut it out of sheet steel for you.

Being able to send files out to the profilers without first having to actually produce a drawing I'm 100% certain constrains all the critical dimensions was definitely a game changer...

Although actually the most useful thing I've done with model based G&DT was communicating the specification of a custom milling cutter I had ground to cut a spline profile in a single pass; I could not have fully communicated that with my hand drafting skills.

 

[Jonm]

Design of my house I had paper cut outs to scale of the rooms which I moved about to get a general layout which I then computed and printed on to paper and refined. Basically I used paper and pencil for the “design” but computer for the drafting and drawing production for planning and building control. Layout of sloping drive, retaining walls, long and cross sections all done by hand but with drafting done on the computer then printed and refined.

Simple things like a box I would probably draw directly on the computer to get the cutting sizes, mainly because it is quicker than doing it by hand and means it does not matter if I lose the paper.

My computer program is an old piece of software which runs on XP. I therefore have VirtualBox on my computer with XP running in it. Works well, drawing files are stored on the main operating system so they get backed up and I can print them, email them etc. XP sits in its own “box” with no connection to the internet so no risk of viruses. Works well, virtually seamless, with XP opening in a Window just like all the other programs.

I use the old software because I am used to it and it does everything I want.

 

[Jonm]

Likewise, not sure if its because the pc we have is a mac as the boss is a photographer or just me but can't even get the thing to stay in mm or cm, change it in settings and still works in inches, If i do manage to drawer something, copy and paste, no chance..Spent countless hours trying to work it out to no avail...

I have a Mac and run Windows XP in VirtualBox. You could do the same and use a later version of Windows and a windows version of your drafting program. Virtual box is free and it did not take me long to set it up, probably a few hours, but don’t ask me any questions about it, I followed the instructions and looked things up on the internet but only did it the once.

It works great, log in to Mac and I can open Windows XP as a window just like any other program, seamlessly switch between the two. Design files are located in the Mac part of the computer, so printing, emailing drawing are all done using Mac OS.