2D lifesize CAD drawings with Sketchup?

[ByronBlack]

Hey chaps,

I just wanted to gauge your opinions on whether sketchup could be useful to my needs.

I need a free cad program to help me design guitar's in 2D in actual life size, and I need it to print out on a regular A4 printer over however many pages is required so that I can then tape the pages together to get the full size drawing. Is this something that can be done with sketchup?

 

[SketchUp Guru]

Yes, it can. In order to print at any specified scale you need to have the Camera set to Parallel Projection and an Ortho View (i.e. Top) selected.

 

[RobertMP]

This is exactly what I've been doing the last couple of days

The printing takes a little understanding but once you are past sketchup oddities it works well. Switching to wireframe view before printing saves some ink too

I wrote it up here - https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... hp?t=29055

 

[ByronBlack]

Robert, thats fantastic, I should have looked at the forum more closely, thats exactly what I was looking for.

Dave - thanks for the tips.

I've never really got on with sketchup, is there a good tutorial out there that can help me get past my dislike of it? It just feels awkard to me i.e. I can't seem to be able to draw curves or paths exactly how I want them, and then get frustrated that I can't edit a line once it has been drawn, am I missing a function in the program or can that be done also (editing the path of a line once it has been drawn)?

TIA

 

[RobertMP]

Sketchup needs a different way of thinking to using CAD. I've used AutoCad for years and the transition to sketchup was painful at first. Sketchup is the tool for the job. Persevering and using the online help is the way to learn.

Biggest tip I can give you is forget about layers and every time you draw a new part - even if you may want to edit it later - make your newly drawn collection of lines into a component (select them all then right click and choose make component). Never have anything but components in your drawing. Components are easy to edit, can be moved, copied, mirrored and scaled, and can be easily selected and hidden to make the view of other things clear.
You can also make a mating part by drawing your new piece over some of the detail of an already saved component...and so it goes on. Components is the way to make sketchup easy to use.

 

[SketchUp Guru]

Good stuff Robert. You've learned well.

BB, one thing you might consider playing with for your guitars is the Bezier plugin. You set the number of editable points and draw the curve. You can then edit the shape by right clicking and choosing Edit bezier.

 

[Johnboy]

If you are happier with real CAD then try Alibre Xpress, it is free and has much better tools for modeling and modifying in my opinion.

John