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A few readers gave me a little grief about the SketchUp drawings posted here this week saying that the renders weren’t as good as a completely dimensioned architectural three-view plan. And that the file posted here was little more than a sketch on a napkin.
While I like formal three-view drawings and make them for all my projects, I think that everything you need to build that bench is in the SketchUp file. If you use the Dimensions tool (it’s under Tools in the menu), you can strike almost any dimension that you need. It’s not as freeform as, say AutoDesk, but SketchUp costs a little less.
The joinery is there. Select a leg. Use the Move tool to pull it away and you’ll see the mortises, which you can strike dimensions from. Disassemble the shelf to see how the tounge-and-groove is sized and exactly where the cleat below is located. SketchUp is quite the powerhouse for the price (free).
I like to think of these SketchUp drawings as akin to being cut loose in a museum with a tape measure. Measure everything you think is important to create the architectural three-view you need to build the piece. This could be a full set of mechanical drawings with the screw threads drawn in. Or it could be a few crude boxes inked on a TGIFridays napkin soiled with buffalo wing sauce.
Also, Wendell Wilkerson, the man who joined Mr. Roubo and Mr. Holtzapffel, is proud to announce their newest addition to the family: Little Baby Dominy. This bench has a more traditional twin-vise set-up, like Mike Dunbar’s on his famed Federal workbench from the holiest of holies: “The Workbench Book.” (Shockingly, despite my enthusiasm for it and my track record (see “Essential Woodworker”), Taunton has kept this book in print.)
Check it out. Take the SketchUp tutorials. And play with the Dimensions tool.
Dominy_workbench_color~.zip (1.37 MB)
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I just got the Holtzapffel issue. Good stuff. That’s some serious post and beam construction.
I’m not a techno-geek but I like great tools so after I gain some facility I’ll probably spring for the full version. Thanks for all the help, guys, I’m already having some fun.
Agreed, SketchUp is a great tool – it is the first professional quality tool which allows people who aren’t CAD or computer geeks an accessible way of designing and planning in 3D.
J.C., unfortunately I think you need SketchUp Pro to use it with Adobe Illustrator, as one of its main features is support for the EPS and DWG formats which can be exported from AI. However, you can download a trial version of SU Pro, import your files, then go back to the free version. I’ve had good luck working between Illustrator, AutoCAD and SketchUp Pro (but then, I work for a design firm and they will spring for it).
The components feature is fabulous. I use a lot of different 3D programs, but SU’s Components are really slick. Especially the way you can export components to separate files for reuse (great for cabinets!), and import a whole file as a single component. That way you can modify the source file, reload it in the parent file and the changes propagate through.
So, for example, in my workshop model I have the shop walls as one file, the table saw station as another, router table as another, etc., then import all of these files into a master shop layout file. I can modify any single piece of equipment or workstation, reload it in the master, and boom. Done and done. This keeps the master file small and lightweight; working in 3D is all about efficiency.
You might want to check out this thread at Woodnet, where there are some good examples of SU in action:
http://www.forums.woodnet.net/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=3192391&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=
-Matt
If you select all of the components of the bench in SketchUp and then select "Make Component" under the edit menu you’ll have a bench that you can use in planning a workshop. Great stuff (both Sketchup and all of your benches!!)
Cheers,
Todd
Sweet! Thanks. Now, if I could only import from the plethora of designs I have saved in Adobe Illustrator. Oh well, maybe that’s just too much.
always,
J.C.
J.C.,
The free version of SketchUp supports layers. The bench models that I made have all the major components (i.e. top, legs, shelf, etc) split out into different layers. I find it really useful to be able to hide parts of a design by turning off a layer.
I have the layer tool on my tool bar but it may not be on the tool bar by default. You can turn it on by going to View->Toolbars->Layers. This will put a pull-down box and layer manager button on the toolbar. The pull-down box is used to change the current layer. The layer manager opens a window with check boxes. You can check and uncheck the various layers to turn them on and off. You can also add and delete layers from the layer manager window.
Wendell
I’m a newbie at Sketchup and am excited by its possibilities. I’m an old school (orthographic) designer who has shunned most 2D/3D programs simply because of the cost and learning curve associated with programs like AutoCad et al.
Professionally I’m a graphic designer and use Adobe Illustrator daily so it’s always been easy for me to scale, layout and produce 2D blueprints along with "layers" that allow me to switch design options on-the-fly. In other words, what do these cabinets look like with eyebrow raised panels with contrasting bolections or Shaker style hardware or …
So can anyone in this blog who’s experienced at Sketchup tell me if that’s a possibility with the feebie version or do I have to plunk down the geld for the full-fledged program?
I used to use 2D CAD (QuickCAD) to design projects all the time. I was amazed at how fast I could make the same drawings in SketchUp. After finding a tutorial that explained how to use construction/guide line, my drawing abilities in SketchUp really improved and my drawings were more precise. Over the past year, I have basically stopped using 2D CAD. I can make what I need faster and better in SketchUp.
I wanted mention that are some free Ruby plugin scripts that I found really useful while making these drawings. I used a bezier curve (bezier.rb) script to help create the heads of the bench screws and the knobs on the vise handles. Chamfer_Along_Path.rb is nice script to help chamfer on the edges of boards like the shelf boards. If you use compenents in your drawing, there is a script, CutListAndMaterials.rb, that will create a pretty decent cutlist from all components you have selected in a drawing. The cutlist comes out in comma separated variable format (.csv) with the length, width, thickness, and board feet calculated for each instances of a component. I could never get QuickCAD to do that for me 🙂
Wendell
Indeed!
I consider SketchUp to be the "new language" for woodworking. Sure. I can *tell* you about this idea and you *might* get it. But let me draw it up and then we can really talk.
SketchUp takes less than an hour to learn the basics for drawing the bench in this post.
Chris
Another advantage of SketchUp is precisely in situations like these: it provides a "common language" for woodworkers to trade designs/plans back and forth in a format that is easy to make changes to. Once you get over the initial learning curve, it’s a pretty powerful program. It’s available for Mac and Windows (Linux, too?), and the price is right: $0. I can practically hear WivesAgainstSchwarz breathing a collective sigh of relief. 😉