Google Sketchup - Come Along for the Ride

Betsy said:

Drawers - still more questions

I'm still working on this project and the drawers are coming closer.

As with anything there are numerous ways to get to the same destination. DaveR, who has the patience of a saint, has been trying to show me how to do this project.

See this entry http://lumberjocks.com/jocks/Betsy/blog/5575

I've been struggling with this technique - not sure why - but it is what it is. Long and short I came up with an alternate method that probably won't work if I were going to do any cutlist plugins, etc. but it's getting me closer. I still have a long, long way to go.

So without further delay - this is how I did my drawer.

First, of course, I started with my side which is .5×10.25×3.5. On one end I put in a guideline to 1/2" to start marking the box joint.



Next I copied the guideline, moved it down by 1/2" (typed in .5, hit enter, then 5) then did an "array" which is essentially the number of copies that you need to complete the project.





Then I used the line tool to outline each finger (just on the end).





Next, I used the push/pull tool to push back the top finger by 1/2".



You can push back the other fingers by double clicking the left mouse button.





Repeat the same process on the opposite end.

I don't show it, but I made a dado on the inside of the side to accept the drawer bottom. Then the part is made into a component.

You'll notice in this next shot that I have the part blued out and there is an additional guideline placed 1/2" from the red axis. You'll also notice the inference dot showing that I have the bottom inside corner of the last finger picked up to move over to the other side of my grid. The extra guideline makes it easy to know exactly where to drop the side.





You'll notice that I took out the extra guideline and you can see that there is perfect placement of the second side.



Next I used the scale tool to mirror the side so that the dado is on the correct side.



Now to work on the front/back of the box. I draw a rectangle from the upper left corner to the lower right corner of the second side. You'll see that it is green and the rectangle breaks through the box joint.



I next used the push/pull tool to pull the rectangle out by 1/2"





I failed to take a screen shot of this, but I used the line tool to outline the fingers on the front - on both ends and used the push/pull tool to move the fingers back. Then I pulled out the side.



You'll notice the completed box - I simply followed the same procedure to insert the dado and moved a copy to the other end of the box.



I finished up by making a second copy to simply move into one of the drawer openings. I also made the drawer bottom.



I next need to figure out how to place the drawer bottom into the drawer and apply the drawer front.

I've certainly been having fun with this project. Hoping to get it finished up so I can work on something else. But I really think I'm starting to get the hang of things.

If you have not already done so you should get on Youtube and search "Sketchup woodworking." You'll be given lots of good videos to watch.

As always any comments, help and suggestions are welcomes.

And a great BIG* thanks to everyone who has helped me along the road here.

Click to expand...

Betsy said:

Hall table --- project DONE!

Or as done as it's going to be. So here's the finish up.

The last entry had me down to the drawers and putting in the bottom. This shot shows where I put in some guidelines to set the bottom. I hide the side so I could see where to guide the bottom.





I also tried to do the move by using the x-ray function (found under view on the program's menu bar).



You can see here where I moved the bottom in - notice the inference dot.



The next two shots just show that I managed to get the bottom in OK and have taken off the x-ray view.





I had been wondering how I was supposed to put on the front piece, but that was one of those duh moments. I simply put in some guidelines.



Next drew a rectangle on the front.



Then push/pulled to 3/8".



Here's the finished drawer.



The table with the drawers "installed."



And drum roll--- here's the finished table. It's not perfect by any long shot of the imagination, but I think if I were to be going into the shop, I could build from this. I would probably break it out into dimensions and maybe install a cutlist plugin, but I could build without that stuff.

The "paint" is the cherry original.



Thanks for following my blog and all the input.

I've learned quite a lot about Sketchup through this little project. Along with that, I also learned a lot about computers in general and a little about patience and tenacity. When I started this project, I really did not think I would finish it. I surprised myself that I not only was able to learn the basics of the program but that I finished as well. I hope that some of you were able to learn a couple of things along the way also.

A special big thanks to DaveR who has patiently, through this blog and through private e-mail, tutored me through the process. THANKS DAVE!

Click to expand...

Betsy said:

Hall table --- project DONE!

Or as done as it's going to be. So here's the finish up.

The last entry had me down to the drawers and putting in the bottom. This shot shows where I put in some guidelines to set the bottom. I hide the side so I could see where to guide the bottom.





I also tried to do the move by using the x-ray function (found under view on the program's menu bar).



You can see here where I moved the bottom in - notice the inference dot.



The next two shots just show that I managed to get the bottom in OK and have taken off the x-ray view.





I had been wondering how I was supposed to put on the front piece, but that was one of those duh moments. I simply put in some guidelines.



Next drew a rectangle on the front.



Then push/pulled to 3/8".



Here's the finished drawer.



The table with the drawers "installed."



And drum roll--- here's the finished table. It's not perfect by any long shot of the imagination, but I think if I were to be going into the shop, I could build from this. I would probably break it out into dimensions and maybe install a cutlist plugin, but I could build without that stuff.

The "paint" is the cherry original.



Thanks for following my blog and all the input.

I've learned quite a lot about Sketchup through this little project. Along with that, I also learned a lot about computers in general and a little about patience and tenacity. When I started this project, I really did not think I would finish it. I surprised myself that I not only was able to learn the basics of the program but that I finished as well. I hope that some of you were able to learn a couple of things along the way also.

A special big thanks to DaveR who has patiently, through this blog and through private e-mail, tutored me through the process. THANKS DAVE!

Click to expand...

Betsy said:

Hall table --- project DONE!

Or as done as it's going to be. So here's the finish up.

The last entry had me down to the drawers and putting in the bottom. This shot shows where I put in some guidelines to set the bottom. I hide the side so I could see where to guide the bottom.





I also tried to do the move by using the x-ray function (found under view on the program's menu bar).



You can see here where I moved the bottom in - notice the inference dot.



The next two shots just show that I managed to get the bottom in OK and have taken off the x-ray view.





I had been wondering how I was supposed to put on the front piece, but that was one of those duh moments. I simply put in some guidelines.



Next drew a rectangle on the front.



Then push/pulled to 3/8".



Here's the finished drawer.



The table with the drawers "installed."



And drum roll--- here's the finished table. It's not perfect by any long shot of the imagination, but I think if I were to be going into the shop, I could build from this. I would probably break it out into dimensions and maybe install a cutlist plugin, but I could build without that stuff.

The "paint" is the cherry original.



Thanks for following my blog and all the input.

I've learned quite a lot about Sketchup through this little project. Along with that, I also learned a lot about computers in general and a little about patience and tenacity. When I started this project, I really did not think I would finish it. I surprised myself that I not only was able to learn the basics of the program but that I finished as well. I hope that some of you were able to learn a couple of things along the way also.

A special big thanks to DaveR who has patiently, through this blog and through private e-mail, tutored me through the process. THANKS DAVE!

Click to expand...

Betsy said:

Hall table --- project DONE!

Or as done as it's going to be. So here's the finish up.

The last entry had me down to the drawers and putting in the bottom. This shot shows where I put in some guidelines to set the bottom. I hide the side so I could see where to guide the bottom.





I also tried to do the move by using the x-ray function (found under view on the program's menu bar).



You can see here where I moved the bottom in - notice the inference dot.



The next two shots just show that I managed to get the bottom in OK and have taken off the x-ray view.





I had been wondering how I was supposed to put on the front piece, but that was one of those duh moments. I simply put in some guidelines.



Next drew a rectangle on the front.



Then push/pulled to 3/8".



Here's the finished drawer.



The table with the drawers "installed."



And drum roll--- here's the finished table. It's not perfect by any long shot of the imagination, but I think if I were to be going into the shop, I could build from this. I would probably break it out into dimensions and maybe install a cutlist plugin, but I could build without that stuff.

The "paint" is the cherry original.



Thanks for following my blog and all the input.

I've learned quite a lot about Sketchup through this little project. Along with that, I also learned a lot about computers in general and a little about patience and tenacity. When I started this project, I really did not think I would finish it. I surprised myself that I not only was able to learn the basics of the program but that I finished as well. I hope that some of you were able to learn a couple of things along the way also.

A special big thanks to DaveR who has patiently, through this blog and through private e-mail, tutored me through the process. THANKS DAVE!

Click to expand...

Betsy said:

Trinket box - I'm bored - so I thought I'd try my hand at designing a box - protractor tool

I'm sure this won't be any great shakes - but I thought I'd try my hand at making a simple trinket box that I could maybe, possibly, in the near future--someday make. OK-- so I'm feeling a little sorry for myself-- it'll pass. Any how - this will give me the opportunity to play around a little bit with the protractor tool and once I get a lid on-the rotator tool to move the lid up and down. Another thing I want to explore doing is putting on a round over on the edges-- I know that must entail using the arc tool-- at least I think so.

As always - I'm sure I'll have lots of questions-like the first I can think of is how to draw in the keys when I get to that point.

This first shot just shows the basic box. This is the same method I used to make the drawer in my hall table blog.



I'm not sure why the picture is going over the edge-- but take my word for it-- it's a box.

I've made the side a component and the front/back a component. Since I am going to make mitered corners on this-- so I can play with the protractor tool, I am going to move the side out from the box to work on it to make it easier to show what I'm doing. You can also do the next steps with the sides together - but it's harder to see.

First off - start by selecting your protractor tool - which when you move it over the model window looks eerily like the rotator tool.



Next - move it over to the upper left corner of the side - move it until you see it turn blue (indicating it is on the blue axis) and the inference dot appears. Click once.



then move the cursor to the upper right corner until the next inference dot appears and click again.



The third step is to move the cursor UP toward the other top right corner-- you should see the dotted line indicating the degrees you are moving the protractor. You should also be able to see the number of degrees in the VCB box at the lower right corner of your screen. Let go of the mouse and type is 45 and hit Enter.

You should now have this.



Next, open the component and use your line (pencil) tool to draw a line across the doted guideline from one edge to the other. (Yep - the picture below - does not show the component as open-- but I changed that.)



Then select the push/pull tool and push the new face (the mitered corner section) down until it disappears.





Now repeat for your other corners and move the box back together - you should have this.



I'm going to try to do this in a video later. But for now this is where I'll leave it for now.

As always - suggestions and comments are always welcomed.

Click to expand...

Betsy said:

Trinket box - I'm bored - so I thought I'd try my hand at designing a box - protractor tool

I'm sure this won't be any great shakes - but I thought I'd try my hand at making a simple trinket box that I could maybe, possibly, in the near future--someday make. OK-- so I'm feeling a little sorry for myself-- it'll pass. Any how - this will give me the opportunity to play around a little bit with the protractor tool and once I get a lid on-the rotator tool to move the lid up and down. Another thing I want to explore doing is putting on a round over on the edges-- I know that must entail using the arc tool-- at least I think so.

As always - I'm sure I'll have lots of questions-like the first I can think of is how to draw in the keys when I get to that point.

This first shot just shows the basic box. This is the same method I used to make the drawer in my hall table blog.



I'm not sure why the picture is going over the edge-- but take my word for it-- it's a box.

I've made the side a component and the front/back a component. Since I am going to make mitered corners on this-- so I can play with the protractor tool, I am going to move the side out from the box to work on it to make it easier to show what I'm doing. You can also do the next steps with the sides together - but it's harder to see.

First off - start by selecting your protractor tool - which when you move it over the model window looks eerily like the rotator tool.



Next - move it over to the upper left corner of the side - move it until you see it turn blue (indicating it is on the blue axis) and the inference dot appears. Click once.



then move the cursor to the upper right corner until the next inference dot appears and click again.



The third step is to move the cursor UP toward the other top right corner-- you should see the dotted line indicating the degrees you are moving the protractor. You should also be able to see the number of degrees in the VCB box at the lower right corner of your screen. Let go of the mouse and type is 45 and hit Enter.

You should now have this.



Next, open the component and use your line (pencil) tool to draw a line across the doted guideline from one edge to the other. (Yep - the picture below - does not show the component as open-- but I changed that.)



Then select the push/pull tool and push the new face (the mitered corner section) down until it disappears.





Now repeat for your other corners and move the box back together - you should have this.



I'm going to try to do this in a video later. But for now this is where I'll leave it for now.

As always - suggestions and comments are always welcomed.

Click to expand...

Betsy said:

Short Sketchup protractor tool video

Hopefully this works. I did a very short video on how to use the protractor tool to make a mitered corner.

It's a rather feeble attempt-I'm not sure why my voice is ahead of the video action. But it is what it is. Hopefully it will be helpful.

Thanks for looking.

Click to expand...

Betsy said:

Short Sketchup protractor tool video

Hopefully this works. I did a very short video on how to use the protractor tool to make a mitered corner.

It's a rather feeble attempt-I'm not sure why my voice is ahead of the video action. But it is what it is. Hopefully it will be helpful.

Thanks for looking.

Click to expand...

Betsy said:

Short Sketchup protractor tool video

Hopefully this works. I did a very short video on how to use the protractor tool to make a mitered corner.

It's a rather feeble attempt-I'm not sure why my voice is ahead of the video action. But it is what it is. Hopefully it will be helpful.

Thanks for looking.

Click to expand...