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  • SketchUp Guide for Woodworkers (eBook)

A must-have for beginning users
SketchUp Guide for Woodworkers is a comprehensive step-by-step manual to help furniture makers master Google's powerful 3-D computer-based drawing program. It's an essential guide for woodworkers who are new to SketchUp or users who want to improve their skills and results.

“...this resource just gets better and better...”

An essential tool for every furniture maker
With SketchUp, the amateur or professional woodworker can build scaled 3-D models of projects and work out all the details – dimensions, joinery, design features, and more – and produce full-size drawings or templates.

Unlock the potential
When you've mastered SketchUp, you'll open up a world of possibilities. And with SketchUp Guide for Woodworkers eBook, you'll instantly have the keys to success in your hands.

“...very helpful, logical, and progressive. I’d recommend it to anyone...”

About the Author
Tim Killen is author of the popular SketchUp blog Design.Click.Build. on FineWoodworking.com. He is a retired Bechtel Corporation executive who worked in engineering and IT management. Killen grew up among woodworking machinery in Centerville, Ohio, where both his father and grandfather had woodshops. He specializes in 18th century reproduction furniture. Killen has been using SketchUp for several years and builds all his furniture on the computer first, before setting foot in the shop. He also teaches SketchUp at local colleges.

Additional Information
Cover 191
Publication Year 2010
Isbn 978-1-60085-341-8
Author
Tim Killen
Pages 145
Format eBook (PDF)
Toc Introduction

How to Set Up SketchUp for Woodworking

The Modeling Environment and Toolbars

How to Use Basic SketchUp Tools

Learn to Draw Precisely

How to Make, Move, Copy, Edit, and Connect Components

Create Your First SketchUp Model

How to Design and Construct Joints

How to Begin and Develop a Piece of Furniture

More Tools and Functions

How to Use Photographs and Scanned Images

Advanced Modeling Techniques

Advanced Detail Modeling Using the Intersect Command

How to Add Color and Texture to Your Model

How to Create an Effective Package of Shop Drawings

Printing Full-Size Templates and Other Scenes
Intro

For years I’ve wanted to draw my furniture plans in full-size three-dimensional (3D) models. I dreamed of “building” the furniture on the computer as if I were in the shop, shaping each spindle, board, and panel and assembling them into a finished product. Existing two-dimensional (2D) computer-aided design (CAD) systems were okay, but they didn’t let me view the project from any angle or check its integrity as it developed. I wanted a design program that gave me exploded views of assemblies, perspective color images, and the ability to ensure that complex joints fit together properly.

Finally, I found what I wanted—Google SketchUp. I’ve been using this program since 2005 and will never go back to 2D CAD, nor will I enter the shop without first creating a piece in SketchUp.

SketchUp opens up drawing capabilities once available only to professional designers and illustrators using esoteric, expensive CAD systems. Now you can create virtual furniture, using SketchUp to create each piece of wood and hardware, complete with every joint detail. You can view and check every aspect of the furniture with SketchUp’s array of viewing options, including easily created exploded and X-Ray views. With SketchUp, you can design furniture full of complex shapes and angles, such as a Windsor chair or a Chippendale lowboy with cabriole legs. Once you have all the components detailed in the model, you can use SketchUp to generate full-size templates for the shop. That makes construction much simpler, faster, and more accurate, with less reworking and fewer delays to sort out discrepancies. You also gain a better understanding of construction details, which pays off when you tackle the real project in the shop.

SketchUp’s price is right—free. The no-cost download has all the features you need to produce the most complex woodworking projects and comprehensive shop drawings. A Pro version, priced at $495, includes capabilities and features for importing and exporting files to and from various CAD formats, adding information to models, and producing documents exported in the Adobe PDF format.

Most of the books and tutorials I’ve seen are designed to help architects, landscape designers, and builders master SketchUp. They aren’t always well suited to woodworkers, who use SketchUp in unique ways. That’s why I’ve created this book for professional and hobbyist cabinetmakers, furniture-builders, and designers as well as woodworking teachers.

SketchUp Guide for Woodworkers (eBook)

  • by 
    Tim Killen
  • eBook (PDF)
  • Product Code: TP-FWW61077846
Availability: In Stock
Today's Price: $11.69
List Price: $12.99
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