Anybody use Sketchup much?

[Tom Henderson2]

I've read a lot about Sketchup, and I was wondering if many of you use it, and if so, in what ways.

As I understand it, Sketchup will make a detailed assembly model, and allow you to visualize what the final project will look like and how the parts will go together.

But I don't think you can make detail drawings of the individual pieces, so you'll either have to wing it as you go along, or make the detail drawings separately.

So I was wondering if many of you use Sketchup, how you use it, etc.

Finally, if anybody has used the Bob Lang tutorials, I'd be interested in hearing what you thought of them.

-TH

[glenn bradley]

I primarily use it for detail drawings. It saves a lot of grief when planning mitered tenons, rail spacings, alterations to dimensions and their impact on existing parts. There is a learning curve (especially if you have years of habits in the 2D world like I did) but, you can get a working skill level pretty quickly.

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[Paul Ryan]

Apparently sketchup can do great things with help designing projects. But I have never been able to use it. I am fairly computer savy but sketchup is a pain in the arsh to use if you ask me. I cannot seem to grasp the method behind the madness. Nothing about it is easy if you ask me. I have finally decided I do not have enough time to continue messing with it. It is very frustrating if you ask me. But others seem to like it. Most of my projects are scribbles on a piece of paper that has rough dimensions. The exact measurements get made during cutting, and a lot of the measurements are stored in my head. To date I have made very few mistakes this way, but I am sure it takes me longer to complete a project due to the lack of organization.

[John Williamson]

Apparently sketchup can do great things with help designing projects. But I have never been able to use it. I am fairly computer savy but sketchup is a pain in the arsh to use if you ask me. I cannot seem to grasp the method behind the madness. Nothing about it is easy if you ask me. I have finally decided I do not have enough time to continue messing with it. It is very frustrating if you ask me. But others seem to like it.

Check out this web site. It may change your mind.

http://sketchupforwoodworkers.com/

[Dan Friedrichs]

I make a full detailed model of every project I do with Sketchup. I just don't have the skill to do it on paper or in my head - I make too many mistakes.

I start by making a simple model of the project, just to get ideas of proportions, etc. Once I'm satisfied with that, I make a second model that includes jointery, etc (ie - I include tenons, miters, etc). Then, I "disassemble" that model into the individual pieces and use the "Dimensions" tool to add measurements. I print that out, and use it as my cut-list.

It takes time to learn (and even more time to become efficient at it), but there is no other CAD software available that is even remotely as easy-to-use, and overall, I save time and material by using it.

[Jamie Buxton]

I use it a lot. It is so valuable to me that I bought a copy, back before Google bought the company. I use SU in the early design stage, when I'm thinking about look-and-feel. For me, it is a way to easily communicate with whoever will own the eventual furniture. I build 3D models, and derive from them multiple 2D perspective drawings. Those perspective drawings communicate much better than the old 2D three-view drawings I used to use.

I don't bother drawing joinery details in SU, and I certainly don't try to draw dimensioned shop drawings with it. Instead, I make 2D shop drawings with a simple traditional CAD program named DeltaCad. The shop drawings have all the necessary dimensions, all the details of the joinery, sheet-goods cut diagrams, and solid-lumber cut diagrams.

[glenn bradley]

Apparently sketchup can do great things with help designing projects. But I have never been able to use it.

I hear you. I too was at the stage where I was ready to walk away from it. I got some tutorial help and had one of those AH-HA moments at the last minute. Suddenly, I realized why things weren't in the positions I thought they were when I roatate my views and why tools acted differently when triggered from the left or from the right.

I'm still no expert and using it certainly isn't a requirement. Since I have gotten better about visualizing things in a "space" instead of on the "screen" I can get it to do the fundemantals and find it very helpful. A pencil and a piece of scratch paper still work but isn't near as easy when its time to alter a measurement ;-)

[Bill Huber]

I think it is a great program and use it a lot.

Like other I was ready to uninstall it and in fact did 3 or 4 times. Each time I tried it I learned just a little something more and then I left it installed.

I make up all types of things, when I want to know the angle of something you can measure it.

I like it to do planning with, you can see were your problems are with a project. You can get a good idea of how it will look.

I got the best help from here.

http://www.aidanchopra.com/tableofcontents

I just went though the videos and now I can do most of the things I want, there are tons more that I can't do but I get by.

[Ernie Miller]

But I don't think you can make detail drawings of the individual pieces, so you'll either have to wing it as you go along, or make the detail drawings separately.

-TH

I use it to check proportions, color combinations, wood textures, etc. Like many others, I almost gave up trying to learn to use the software - until I swallowed my pride and started watching the video tutorials on the web. Like someone mentioned earlier, I do all of my plans using DeltaCad which is a 2d CAD program that is relatively simple to learn. Before DeltaCad, I always use Sketchup. I'm sure I only use (and know how to use) a small portion of SketchUp's features but I learn new features on a need-to-know basis. As for the programs ability to show details, here's a Sketchup model of a small instrument I made - followed by a photo of the actual piece. Detailed enough, I think.

[Bob Lang]

Once you've made a detailed model, you can make copies of all or part of it for other purposes. You can also save each of the parts individually. You can use these copies to make detailed parts lists, exploded details in three dimensions, printed drawings of subassemblies and traditional front, side, plan and section drawings if you want to. The completed model is essentially a mine of information about every part of the project and how those parts fit together.

It also gives you advantages over other CAD programs or pencil and paper. You can explore variations of size and style very quickly by modifying the original model and you can show what the thing will look like from any angle or point of view. You can drop a SketchUp model into a model of the room it will go in and see how it will fit and look with the other furniture.

It's also like building a piece twice, once on the computer and then in real life. Most of the time I catch somthing I wouln't have noticed until I was in the shop and can resolve it quickly without wasting wood or shop time.

SketchUp has made me, and the folks I work with better woodworkers. We use it at the magazine to plan all of our projects and as the basis for the illustrations we publish. If it's a struggle or frustrating you don't have to give up on it. There are resources to get you over the initial hump of learning how to use it.

Bob Lang

[John Daugherty]

My only problem with it is that I don't use it enough. I don't remember how to use a lot of the functions and I have to relearn them.

[mike holden]

Hey Bob,
What is the difference between the various iterations of your sketchup training? Specifically, what is the difference between the two disc set sold by PopWoodworking and the single disc sold on your website?
Thanks,
Mike

[Myk Rian]

Just google for "sketchup woodworking training videos". They're free.

[Bob Lang]

The two videos on the Popular Woodworking site are just video. It's screen capture of the program with me explaining what is going on with narration. It's a lot like what you would see in one of my presentations at Woodworking in America. There's a lot of good information, but it moves pretty quickly.

The disc from my personal site is an eBook, there are 184 pages of text and about 400 illustrations in a PDF file. In addition to that, there are 49 short video clips embedded within the text. You can read 3 or 4 pages, then watch a video about the topic. It's easy to find a specific topic, the table of contents contains links that take you right to a specific page, and there are bookmarks for chapters, topics within the chapters and each video. This is more like taking a week-long class with me at Marc Adams.

Different people learn in different ways. Some people pick things up quickly from a video, and some like more in depth explanations. Both my disc and the Popular Woodworking products cover more or less the same territory, starting from scratch with SketchUp and progressing to the point where you can make detailed, accurate models of the next project you want to build. The whole idea is to get good with SketchUp so you can be quick enough to make it really useful and give you more, and better time in the shop.

Bob Lang

[Dave Lehnert]

I think it is a great program and use it a lot.

Like other I was ready to uninstall it and in fact did 3 or 4 times. Each time I tried it I learned just a little something more and then I left it installed.

I make up all types of things, when I want to know the angle of something you can measure it.

I like it to do planning with, you can see were your problems are with a project. You can get a good idea of how it will look.

I got the best help from here.

http://www.aidanchopra.com/tableofcontents

I just went though the videos and now I can do most of the things I want, there are tons more that I can't do but I get by.

The link Bill gives above is what I am learning from right now. It is the video portion to the book "Sketchup for Dummies"

One thing I found helpful is pick one way to learn the program and stick to it. I got confused because there is more than one way to do the same thing in Sketchup. Each teacher will show you his way. To the student, that is confusing.