Models in Sketchup

[Troy Woodbury]

I need some help. I'm trying to learn Sketchup on the fly and thought I was doing ok. I'm making models of kitchen cabinets so that I can layout a kitchen i'm designing.

What I'm trying to do is make a generic base cabinet, put that in the 3D warehouse and then modify it to make a different cabinet. Turning a 15 inch drawer base into a 21 inch drawer base for example.

For whatever reason, all I end up doing is just modifying the original cabinet when I try and upload the new cabinet. I'm sure it has a simple solution that I am too simple to understand.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated

Troy

[Harry Hagan]

Troy,

Here are a couple of good resources to help you learn more about SketchUp.

http://go-2-school.com/

http://www.sketchucation.com/forums/...7d9531af2eae97


Harry

[Ron Fritz]

Troy, First off you don't need to create a cabinet and place it into the 3-D warehouse in order to duplicate or modify it. You will also have a problem if you try to resize a cabinet by using the scale tool. (there's no quick way to resize a cabinet) If you want to make a generic kitchen layout then my recommendation is to go to the 3D Warehouse, search for ready made cabinets (there are lots of them) and then down load the cabinets that you want into your kitchen model. Ron

[Sam Rain]

In sketchup, I think they all ready have pre packed cabinet models you can use and edit from there. In sketch up try -- Window - Components - Architecture. If you see none, then go here http://sketchup.google.com/bonuspacks.html and download the architecture pack.

They have many different cabinet models you can use or just download from 3d warehouse.

[Galen Tieszen]

Troy,

I just did that -- Sort of. Here's how I did it:

Rule #1: It is important to make EVERYTHING a component -- gable ends, rails, stiles, bottoms, even drawers and doors.

First, build your cabinet out of basic component pieces like panels, rails and stiles. Build drawers out of component pieces, and if you don't have solid panel doors, build them out of rails, stiles and panels. Make the drawers and doors components, as I said above, so they can be handled as a single unit once the cab is built. Now make the cabinet itself a component.

Copy the cab by Ctrl-Move to a different place. I just move it a little to the right of the original. Be sure the copy is selected and Right click on the copy, and select EXPLODE. Exploding disassociates it from the original and removes the component name, so changes made to the copy aren't reflected in the original.

Now since the cab is exploded, you should be able to select individual pieces of the cabinet. We'll use the back panel as an example. Just repeat the process with other parts that need to be re-sized.

I first selected the right side gable end and moved it on axis to the right a bit to give me some room to work. You could do this with the cab all assempled, but it's just too easy to move it away so you can see what your doing.

Since the back panel is a component any changes you make to it are reflected throughout the model, and we don't want to change the panel if we've used it on other cabs we've created. So we have to explode the back panel to disassociate it from all other panels with the same name. Remember that this will remove the component name from the panel. But be careful -- the panel is now individual lines and faces.

Draw a selection box from the top left to the bottom right that encloses ONLY the right end of the back panel. The four edges of the right end of the back panel should be blue. Now for the fun part -- select the move tool and put the cursor anywhere on the blue edge, click once and start moving the edge in the direction you want it to go (be sure to stay on axis!), and enter the amount you want the edge moved in the VCB. Example: if you have a 24 in cab and you want an 18 inch one, move in the direction that will make a narrower panel and enter 6 in the VCB, and the end will pop to 6 inches from where you started, or a panel
width of 18 inches. Exit the move operation by hitting SPACE BAR and click outside the edit box.

Now this next step is very important -- be sure to make the panel a new component and give it a different name, after all it IS a new component. To do this you just triple click on the panel to select all of it, and make it a component. If everything it's connected to is a component, ONLY the panel will be selected.

Repeat the above steps for all parts that need to be re-sized like rails, bottoms, or drawer fronts/backs.

Since drawers (and maybe doors) are individual components, made of components, you will have to explode THEM after the initial cabinet "explosion" to be able to edit the fronts or door rails. And always be sure you're working on a COPY of the part, that way, the original stays with it's original cabinet.

Re-assembly of the cabinet is quite easy if all movements have been made on axis. And don't forget to make the re-assembled cabinet a new component.

Others have suggested it, and I agree, that using the Component and Outliner Windows will help you with your component editing.

You could build a component library by making a bunch of parts using the above procedure. Make one part, like a face frame rail, say 9" long. Save it as a component "Rail9". Make a copy of the rail, explode it, select the end with the upper left to lower right selection box, Move it longer by 6 inches, select the entire part by triple clicking and make that a component "Rail15" and continue for as many of these parts of different lengths as needed. This is especiall handy if you have something like a molded edge for a stick and coped paneled door. You only need to make one rail with the coped end, then use the above procedure to make rails of any length you need, the cope remains and the board is simply changed in length.

I'm no expert, but I did learn a lot by designing my own cabinets. Hope this helps others.

Oh, and by the way, I only used the 3D warehouse to get my appliances and sink models.

GT