Advice on a good design program?

[image132]

Brice, Thanks. That is the one I have been using.

Junk, Thanks, that link is useful. Was that your first post Junk? If so  [welcome] to FOG.

Wayne, wow. You are on another level. Just wow.

Ok so this is where I'm at in designing that cabinet I made.

Front

Side

And now this is my problem.

How do you apply routing to the drawing? Or more specifically how do you fill in the arc?

 

[image132]

I take back my last question. I just watched a tut vid and discovered the "follow me tool" I also now see the importance of tut videos.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Ohhh yes, I remember when I was starting out in Sketchup and used a ton a construction lines too. ;D  Thank goodness I'm long past that.  Right now construction lines as references are all part of the learning curve.  Chris, you're on the right track but I assure you there are much better ways.  You will be amazed how easy this program is when it all starts to click in your head.

I forget that other parts of the world have caps on bandwidth.  We in the States don't so I've watched many hours of Sketchup tutorials on Youtube.  Watching video tutorials will cut the learning curve by 3/4 or more.  I have to say the video Junk linked to is a very good video because it shows you how to make an actual project not how to use the program in theory.   

 

[image132]

Ok so this is where I am now and I think I got it down. Using components and groups etc.

Man this makes life easy. The next step is the hinges :/

I know there are a lot of design flaws and yes it makes me embarrassed but it is the first cabinet I have ever designed and built completely by myself so I'm happy I've seen those flaws and will learn from them.

I just want to take a bit of time to really thank everyone for their help. It has made a huge difference as you can see. Thank you.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Chris, you've been a great addition to the forum, you've been eager to learn and willing to share your experiences.  I'm pretty sure I can speak for all the guys here, it's been a pleasure helping you with this. [thumbs up]

 

[peter halle]

Chris, you've been a great addition to the forum, you've been eager to learn and willing to share your experiences.  I'm pretty sure I can speak for all the guys here, it's been a pleasure helping you with this. [thumbs up]

DITTO!

 

[mhoy]

Wayne: Wow, your spider looks a LOT like the spider kit I just built with my kids!  Love the scorpion too! Are the plans available for it? I'd need a better scroll saw, my craftsman one (garage sale) is better as a vibrating sander.  [embarassed]

Mark

 

[JEP]

So now that Chris has his cabinet designed in Sketchup, how does he get a cutlist of the parts he will need to make in the shop for this project?  Can Sketchup generate a parts list?

Joe

 

[Brice Burrell]

So now that Chris has his cabinet designed in Sketchup, how does he get a cutlist of the parts he will need to make in the shop for this project?  Can Sketchup generate a parts list?

Joe

Unfortunately Sketchup won't generate a cut list. 

 

[jonny round boy]

So now that Chris has his cabinet designed in Sketchup, how does he get a cutlist of the parts he will need to make in the shop for this project?  Can Sketchup generate a parts list?

Joe

Unfortunately Sketchup won't generate a cut list. 

There are some ruby scripts out there that work for cutlists - I've never used one myself, but a quick search reveals there's several. Here's one. Note that I've just looked at the page quickly, I've not used it so if it doesn't work don't blame me!

 

[waynelang2001]

Wayne: Wow, your spider looks a LOT like the spider kit I just built with my kids!  Love the scorpion too! Are the plans available for it? I'd need a better scroll saw, my craftsman one (garage sale) is better as a vibrating sander.  [embarassed]

Mark

Hi Mark, I did get the design from the woodcraft model, I just did alot of redesign because the woodcraft one fits together like rubbish. I want to make a nice big version one day and if i had left all the peices like they where it would never fit together because thicker pieces dont have as much give as the thin material the original model has.

The scorpion on the other hand i designed from scratch. So i havnt had the time yet to lay out a cutting plan for the pieces yet. I also need to get myself a scroll saw [eek]

 

[image132]

I tried using one and it was rather confusing. I tried "cut list 4.0" I think. It was mainly because it was all in imperial and for the plugin to register what type of wood it is you have to rename the material a specific name and then paint your design.

 

[NuggyBuggy]

The only question I have about the program is how do you get small incraments right? For instance I want to measure 800mm so I move to 799.98 and the next pixel is 800.02.

I know there have been a few other answers, but once you have started drawing a line, you can also just start entering a measurement.  When you hit enter the segment will be of that length.  The other ways work too, but this is the easiest for me.