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

[Oakay]

Pre 1995 Drawing board
Pre 2002 approx Turbocad 2D
Pre 2010 Turbocad 3D
Pre 2011 Sketchup 8 (Google pre Trimble)
2012 to present FormZ pro which is a bit like sketchup without the need to make every object a group or component. Solids not surfaces. Wish I found it earlier but their marketing is almost non-existent.

 

[Keith 66]

When i was a D&T technician i got pretty proficent using 2d Design which is the drawing program used by 90% of schools in the UK. It had a few strange quirks such as the undo button would only work one time, not a lot of use if you balls up. It appears to be based on Qcad? Recent updates give unlimited undos & other improvements.
I have just got the new version as i know it already & dont want to have to learn a new set up!

 

[Spectric]

With the rate of technological advance it probably won't be that long before we see virtual reality entering hobby woodworking but for me at my age I am more than happy with 2D.

I have just got the new version as i know it already & dont want to have to learn a new set up!

Do you mean Qcad, I find it meets my needs well and at a good price. I use it more to help visualise things rather than complete items such as how combined mouldings will look, deciding what radius will look right on something but also room layouts to see how things will fit. It is very precise so I can take a dimension from the drawing and use it to set my router table cutter which ensures parts later fit without the unexpected.

 

[Pedronicus]

Has to be drawing board and associated gubbins for me as well like wot I used to use designing large heating & a/c systems. Tickled us when CAD was in it's infancy and the artichoke's drawings showed dimensions to 2 decimal places e.g 1112.16cm instead of 1110cm. Like the contractors were going to build to to those tolerances!

 

[bspokespaces]

I have used Sketchup for some years now. I specialise in designing and making bespoke alcove cabinets and floating shelving. Drawing everything within a given space, carcasses, doors, drawers and shelving will confidently produce something that will fit. During the build and when fitting the furniture on site.
Although it does take time to create the drawings it will give you an accurate cutting list and save on wastage. As some of the other respondents have said. It depends on what you are intending to make.
For years, Sketchup has had a free version but stopped the downloadable version in 2017. Their free version now is available to use when connected to the internet. The original pre-2017 version and the online version screen layout and tool icons are quite different which is very annoying if you've spent hours learning your way around the old one. To keep the old layout you have to pay; It's very expensive and you have to pay each year.
If your piece of furniture doesn't have to fit accurately into a space and provided you get your proportions right - hand drawing a design would be OK.

 

[Jacob]

............
If your piece of furniture doesn't have to fit accurately into a space and provided you get your proportions right - hand drawing a design would be OK.

Pencil and paper is perfectly accurate. The big issue is how you transfer your measurements to the workpiece. Pencil gives you the advantage of full size working drawings which is not possible with CAD unless you are near print shop or work in a big office.
And there are perfectly good ways to sort out cutting lists without computer assistance!

 

[Kayen]

I’ve never really got into it, but everyone seems to be using sketch up these days.
I’d be interested to know what other methods people use for design?

What alternatives to sketch up are there (paper methods or software) and is SU the best bet these days?

Cheers.

You haven't said in what capacity you are coming from?

If you're a hobbyist woodworker choose whichever you prefer.

If you're a professional woodworker taking on reasonably large and complex jobs, then SU is most definitely the way to go - there are no advantages to pencil and paper, but many with SU.

 

[rogxwhit]

It's a free world - but Sketchup or any other app is hardly necessary for the everyday design / make / install of furniture / joinery. A pencil sketch of a concept will be perfectly readable by and acceptable to a client, whilst also having a humanly organic quality.

Equally, an A1 or larger drawing board is a nicely tactile thing to use for dimensioned working drawings. And it uses no electricity!

Each to their own ...

 

[gcusick]

Fusion360 at $360/year?

No, Fusion360 at £0/year. Minor limitations, but generally insignificant.

 

[Spectric]

but Sketchup or any other app is hardly necessary for the everyday design

I suppose it depends upon the complexity but I think Sketchup is a visualisation tool for those who cannot draw like myself, I don't mean technical drawing but a picture representation of the intended object. For me just an easy 2D package like Qcad delivers what I need without a huge learning curve and spending more time on drawing an item than making it is not for me. I look at many aspects of furniture making as being creative and not technical, these items are made from the persons own vision and not from some drawing, it gives furniture individualism. This can also happen when people are using the same power tools because you then work within the tools capability, with a hand tool there are no limitations apart from your skills and vision.

 

[Jarno]

Used to be design engineer, so I still have a laptop with 3d modeling software (Creo Parametric). It is fantastic for 3d, but utterly useless for 2d. At our company, we used to have AutoCad LT for the 2d things, but the bean counters decided we could do without it. Luckily I also have Adobe Illustrator, which I used for labeling design and logo's, so I use that for 2d CAD now. And obviously pen(cil) and paper, should do more sketching though, it is good to do things away from the PC.

 

[Reffc]

Must admit I tried google sketch and found it took longer than hand drawing which may be down to my own ineptitude but being old fashioned, I always use pencil drawings for all of my designs and then pass them through the copier for use in the workshop. I find it easier to do one-off designs (which most of mine are) this way and correcting them means just a pencil and eraser are needed. In general, computers leave me cold and I find hand drawing more therapeutic. I do use specialist software for my speaker designs as it saves on pages of hand written calculations and it's a lot more accurate and quicker for things like passive crossover design providing I input accurate raw driver measurement files first. I guess horses for courses. Computer simulation of electro-acoustical response is one area where I wouldn't be without computers or software these days but drawings I always do by hand.

 

[Spectric]

If you need 2D then take a look at Qcad, the base version is FREE and for about £30 you get the full version with great support and a forum to assist. I use it for laying out a room, drawing up cabinets and seeing if the design makes sense as well as underfloor heating loops to ensure they are the same length, it has the ability to give the total length of an entity.

 

[sawtooth-9]

Just put what's in your head onto a sketch on paper.
Pencil and paper.
You will quickly see what is important to your design.
Then I tend to see where I have gone wrong - and can correct before I cut wood or metal.
No need for computer design - which can be good, but why bother.
Real skill is translating a design from your head into a real physical object - a skill that is not valued today.

 

[Just4Fun]

Today I tried to use Sketchup for the first time in months. This is what I got:

I don't want to pay, so that rules out the "Buy online" and "Contact a local reseller" buttons. The "No thanks, Exit" button does what it says and closes SketchUp. That leaves the "I agree" button. Maybe I am stupid but I cannot understand what I would be agreeing to if I clicked that. Any ideas?

 

[Jameshow]

Just put what's in your head onto a sketch on paper.
Pencil and paper.
You will quickly see what is important to your design.
Then I tend to see where I have gone wrong - and can correct before I cut wood or metal.
No need for computer design - which can be good, but why bother.
Real skill is translating a design from your head into a real physical object - a skill that is not valued today.

Yeap if it's complicated then I'll have a sketch or to show clients.

 

[Reffc]

Just put what's in your head onto a sketch on paper.
Pencil and paper.
You will quickly see what is important to your design.
Then I tend to see where I have gone wrong - and can correct before I cut wood or metal.
No need for computer design - which can be good, but why bother.
Real skill is translating a design from your head into a real physical object - a skill that is not valued today.

Agree entirely. You should be able to practically visualise the whole design in your head. I find then making a sketch and translating that to accurate scale hand drawings once I'm happy that the design will work is the way to go. If I am unsure about geometry of any specific joint, I then practise on scrap until I have it sussed and ensure the drawings draw attention to any specific requirements including making a notes column to the side of the sketch. I work on A3 paper which is easier to work from and to show clients.

 

[Allen Quay]

Today I tried to use Sketchup for the first time in months. This is what I got:

View attachment 146891

I don't want to pay, so that rules out the "Buy online" and "Contact a local reseller" buttons. The "No thanks, Exit" button does what it says and closes SketchUp. That leaves the "I agree" button. Maybe I am stupid but I cannot understand what I would be agreeing to if I clicked that. Any ideas?

Is SketchUp Make a different version to SketchUp Free? From your screenshot, I'm not sure what you'd be agreeing to, unless it's referring to the statement about SketchUp Make being potentially vulnerable to security issues, because it hasn't been updated since 2017? I'm just guessing though (based on the info available in the screenshot).

 

[J-G]

The only reason it might be 'vulnerable' would be because it wants to store you files on the 'cloud' rather than on your own PC.

If you can find the 2014 version available to download, that has no such issues and is really FREE.

 

[Bodone]

A5 Black book and pencil For me - that way I can very quickly flick back and see how designs progress. Ie rough out sketch with rough sizes through to finish sketch with accurate dimensions and cutting list with bill of materials. Back of book for all working out/rough stuff and when happy/complete finish sketch at front of book, my sign off process.

For context, weekend hobbyist, but (part of) day job have gone from drawing board to 2D/3D/4D/VR/AR and whatever three letter acronym has been thrown at engineers over the last 40 years in everything from single components up to thousands of the bloody things. Other part of day job was working at these companies so I’ve access to Fusion/Catia/SWX/SE/NX and the people who write/manage what goes into them - still use black book.

If I was doing this for a living, or lots of repeat but slightly differing components/parts I’d take the time to put a workflow/parametric in place with CAD and If I had little or no experience I’d choose the one that had the best learning resources and accessible user base rather than one that had massive functionality.