So, do most of you use sketch up for your designs?

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Alibre could be better for top-down modelling but I've never felt particularly restricted when using it in that way. I tend to avoid free stuff from commercial companies because there's no guarantee it will continue....

Yes the risk-averse tendency was one of the reasons I bought ZW3D rather than just using Onshape for everthing. For a while I used FreeCAD (which is free but not from a commercial company and does everything and more that Alibre could do when I compared them). The lack of top-down modelling was too much of a constraint though and I stumped up the (one-off) cash for ZW3D. I understand that the FreeCAD developers are working on assemblies and top-down modelling, but they weren't there yet when I was trialling the various different options.
 
I use Sketchup for the majority of my larger projects but I still revert to my A2 drawing table from time to time. It depends on the complexity.

Like everyone else for simple projects, the back of an envelope seems to suffice.
 
Sketchup is very useful for dimensioning components for you. I made a set of drawers and shelves with a mitre saw station on top, for my garage.

I had 2 pieces of melamine worktop which i knew the sizes of and I knew the total width and height. Drawing it in sketchup gave me all the drawer carcass dimensions and the amount of wood I needed without having to think about it. With a free add in to sketchup, I got a list of dimensioned parts and, using a website I found for cutting sheets of ply, a full cut list.

When I can find the original sketchup drawing, I will post it in the "What did you make" forum.

Andy
 
I've recently tried Sketch Up and condenser myself quite pc literate and quick to learn ! However I'm struggling like hell with it ...

Ignore the majority of videos on YouTube as they will teach you bad practice.

Buy a copy of the excellent DVD or download by Dave Richards https://www.leevalley.com/en-gb/sho...rkers-the-basics-and-advanced-techniques-dvds

I'm sure there's a download version available somewhere or other if you don't want to wait for the DVD to arrive.
 
Roberto, start small and piece things together from there. Is there anything in particular that's making you think "It can't be this hard"?

Ignore the majority of videos on YouTube as they will teach you bad practice.

What kind of bad practise are we talking about? I fail to believe there are not decent videos of the subject on youtube.
 
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Roberto, start small and piece things together from there. Is there anything in particular that's making you think "It can't be this hard"?



What kind of bad practise are we talking about? I fail to believe there are not decent videos of the subject on youtube.
A lot of them push Groups as a concept IIRC. Components is the best way.
 
Oh, groups can go hang :ROFLMAO:

Did you give Fusion a go at all?

Oh Christ...is this going to become a meaningless sharpening thread ?

If so, I'm out of here.

And no, I haven't tried Fusion. Why would I? SketchUp does what I need. And Fusion probably treats groups the same way SketchUp treats Components.

Frankly I couldn't care less either way. The OP was asking about SketchUp. Not Fusion.
 
I found a series of lessons on LinkedIn learning that I found really useful, although I think you have to pay for access to them usually. It was very basic but split up into sections of a few minutes long each so it never got irritating.

There's probably 90% of SketchUp that I don't use, but then again if I don't need it, what does it matter?
 
Oh Christ...is this going to become a meaningless sharpening thread ?

If so, I'm out of here.

And no, I haven't tried Fusion. Why would I? SketchUp does what I need. And Fusion probably treats groups the same way SketchUp treats Components.

Frankly I couldn't care less either way. The OP was asking about SketchUp. Not Fusion.
Ok Rodger. Sorry I seem to have said something out of place.
 
At work (a while back) I used autocad, from one floppy disk!
with that in mind I used qcad which I find great where detail is needed. 2D, but that's enough with 3 views.
 
COMPONENTS are the way to go.
  • Start off making the simplest things (even mere 2D rectangles!) into components.
  • Then practice selecting several components and collecting them into one big new component.
  • Find out how to name components, too.
  • Clone your components (ctrl+C ctrl+V, i.e. copy & paste). You position your clone after making it.
  • Make new components out of collections of components (nests of nests), and practice drilling down into them, changing one thing, then exit.
  • Notice how, if you clone components, a change made in one clone automatically affects the same bit in all the other clones - this is superbly useful. Notice, too, how you can use "make unique" to stop this happening (does what it says).​
Experiment on really simple shapes, rather than an actual project, so mistakes don't drive you nuts.

As a rule, when you are making any shapes (2D or 3D), at the first sensible point you are working on it, make it into a component, EVERY time.

I also second Roger - Dave Richards's tutorials and other videos are really excellent.

SketchhUp is brilliant, but it is also clever, and you do need to understand its cleverness to use it. Time spent systematically "playing about" with it will pay back tenfold.

Have fun, E.

PS: Woodworking SU models aren't very big (filesize), so once you start on real projects, don't be afraid to save several copies: "hall_table_1, hall_table_2, etc. You can always delete stuff you no longer need, but sometimes it saves you from over-writing something you need to keep with a version that later turns out to be a mistake.
 
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And another thing:

There is some correlation between the way you group things in SketchUp and real life. For example, a panel door set, where the rails and stiles will each be repeated on each door (although top and bottom rails might differ). I find "thinking in components" can help my real world workflow, or at least echoes it a bit: so I will set up my bandsaw to cut all the tenons in one go, to the same dimensions, and I can "virtually" do this in SU, using components.

I'm sure other 3D modelling packages do this too, but SU is easy for me, and free.

HTH, E.
 
I’ve never really got into it, but everyone seems to be using sketch up these days.
I’d be interested to know what other methods people use for design?

What alternatives to sketch up are there (paper methods or software) and is SU the best bet these days?

Cheers.
absolutely I sketch up ..:) I often draw to scale if its something I am designing from scratch. Sketching up not only helps me to visualise how It will look and perform its function but how I will go about constructing something and crucially anticipate any potential constructional problems before I start.
Besides drawing up is a great way of putting off starting a job yet convincing yourself and others that you are making progress :giggle:
 
I've tried most of the CAD programs over the years...

My hands down favourite is Siemens Solid Edge (with an honourable mention to NX, which is just a bit too powerful for my needs), nothing else holds a candle to it for me.

Fusion360 is ok and has good native CAM tools (as does SolidEdge, but Fusion has a bigger library of plugins to translate g-code for non commercial control setups).

AutoCAD is very fussy and old fashioned to use, but also so widely available that I've had to learn it... I like certain elements of it, but usually find myself wanting to use an actual drawing board instead.

Tried, SketchUp found it awful to use and once I began to get a handle on it frustratingly limited compared to a "real" CAD program; deleted it and went back to using other software

With all that in mind, I'll still default to working from a sketch when doing woodwork, it's only if I have a very complex design that I can see value in making a CAD model first.
 
Pencil and paper, but to capture ideas, not really for accurate design. I use Inkscape for other type of work where I need dimensions, like room planning, diagrams and stuff like that. I also use it sometimes for accurate marking of metal parts since the printed output is to scale. I'm at the age where I can't be bothered learning another software package which I occasionally use, then go through a mini learning curve every time I use it.
 

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