SketchUp Guide for Woodworkers: Taming some frustrations

This is part two in a series on Tim Killen's SketchUp book. In this post: an overview of chapters six and seven.

Chapter six of Google SketchUp Guide for Woodworkers by Tim Killen - an important chapter for modeling peace of mind (I have purposely distorted the text in the image above).

I am a church going man. But I have to admit one thing – while using SketchUp, I have let some cussing rocket from my mouth. This software has so taxed my brain, that it has caused me to loose my religion on more than one occasion.

When I first began using SketchUp, one of the frustrations (which continues today) was moving an object to an exact point. Because objects move in three dimensions, placing a component exactly where I want it can be an optical illusion. I could move something into place only to realize it just looked that way.

When I recently continued my way through Tim Killen’s Google SketchUp Guide for Woodworkers (SUGW for short) and came to chapter six, I had to smile a little. It is titled, "How to Make, Move, Copy, Edit and Connect Components" Naturally, the word "move" caught my eye.

Surprisingly, not a lot of time is spent on moving objects. Tim covers the basics and explains how SketchUp will try to determine where the user wants a part to go - a feature that is very handy. SketchUp likes to move objects along an axis. But what if you need to move an object between axes? See my example below...

Here, I need to move the top of my bookcase down and back in order to position it properly. This is something I have not yet mastered.

Moving objects between axes still has me scratching my head. Maybe that is just it - I shouldn't move an object that way; what I should do is first move it along one axis and then another. Something to think about.

But more importantly this chapter is about components - how to create them and work with them. The single biggest lesson I learned on my road to being a happy SketchUp user was how to properly make a component. Once I learned this one lesson, things got easier. This makes chapter six an important one for the SketchUp user. Tim Killen writes:

"Components are essential for success in SketchUp. Without them, all you have are a bunch of lines and faces that interact and interfere with one another."

Amen brother, and I’d put the words "interact and interfere" in a bold font.

In addition to learning ways to work with components, a handy tip I gained was a short cut for copying a component using the move tool, and then position it. Its tips like this that helps both the beginner as well as the more experienced user. I can now create models faster and more efficiently after reading this chapter.

Understanding how a pro does it
Just like with woodworking, it is often helpful to simply take time to see how other people go about building a project. With every video I view on FWW.com, I honestly find myself thinking, "I never thought to do it that way."

The same is true with SUGW. Through trial and error, I have developed my own method for attacking a model. It has been interesting to see how someone else does this and in chapter seven, titled "Create Your First SketchUp Model", Tim guides the reader through the steps to make a basic model which also includes a few more advanced steps. See the illustration below...

My model of the magazine rack which is the homework assignment from chapter seven.

As I start drawing the magazine rack, I begin to consider if the method I would have followed is unnecessarily complex (which it is). Let me explain...

How I would have done it: draw the sides separately, form the dado for the bottom and a tongue at the top. I would then draw the shelf off to the side and move it into place; then repeat for the top. I create my models just like I would make them in real life.

Tim draws one side, positions a copy of the side and then turns the second side around. He then draws the shelf and top in place. In subsequent steps, he forms the joinery.

My method has me drawing two independent sides, something I always knew was not the best way to do it, but I simply have never paid attention to "Flip Along"; the option which enables a user to flip a copy of the first side so it is oriented correctly. This is a ginormous time saver because changes I make to the left side are automatically made to the right side - in the correct orientation. This is one of those things I had seen Tim Killen do on Design. Click. Build. but I had not been able to figure out the steps.

The main reason I draw items adjacent to the model and then move them into place is past problems when creating components. When drawing a part in place and then making it a component, sometimes I would also include a part which was out of view. This was especially frustrating when this discovery happened later in building the model making the fix difficult. Tim's method has the user making the component in place, a practice I will re-visit and see how it goes. It is much easier to draw the top, for example, by simply following the outline of the sides vs. taking measurements and drawing the top off to the side.

A couple of additional high points from chapter seven: first, Tim had a neat trick to easily make the arches in the bracket feet. I won't reveal his process, but his deep knowledge of how to use SketchUp simplifies the steps needed vs. what I would have done. Secondly, Because I draw so many case pieces, applying a rabbet inset to rear edges to accommodate the back is something I do a lot. Here again, Tim does this a different way which is pretty simple.

But most importantly chapter six explains the basic steps of creating components and then how to position them. Chapter seven then employs these steps in building a model. I have looked online for SketchUp classes in my area without success. Tim's book is the next best thing to formal training.

Are you struggling with SketchUp?
Everybody struggles with SketchUp right? My advise: get Tim's Google SketchUp Guide for Woodworkers. Simply put, it is money well spent, and as of this writing, Taunton has further discounted it now to 30% off. You would spend more money on a large pizza - so go ahead and visit Fine Woodworking.com and download your copy (click here). Learn SketchUp from a pro and save yourself a few cuss words.

This is post two in this series. I cover chapters one through five here.

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Have a question or comment? Leave yours by clicking on the "Comments - post yours here" link below. My email is jobranch@yahoo.com. Consider subscribing via email or RSS by clicking here.

Some popular projects:

1. My entertainment center. 2. My workbench. 3. The oak end table.

Tornadoes visit Alabama, again

Monday was yet another day in which we were glued to our TV watching non-stop coverage of severe weather. While this day wasn't historic like the April 27, 2011 outbreak, it was bad enough. Ten tornadoes churned paths through Central Alabama claiming two lives and injuring about 100; some 500 homes in Jefferson County sustained damage.

Early reports state these tornadoes were rated a EF2 and EF3. The level three tornadoes have a maximum wind speed of 165 mph. As you can see in the video above, this particular tornado seems to bounce around somewhat. There are areas of heavy damage followed by very little or no damage and then more destruction appears.

An email this morning from our church announced the beginning of volunteer efforts to remove debris and provide other support to the damaged areas. Seems like we just went through this...

Crown molding: fabrication begins

In this photo: outdoor woodworking. Routing MDF is such a dusty endeavor, that I do it in the driveway.

Medium density fiberboard is the material I chose to create my dining room crown molding. The chief attribute of MDF which made it a winner in my mind is that it is a flat material. When stacking molding profiles one on top of the other, being flat and straight is critical. But, the chief attribute that makes it a looser in my nose and my sinuses is MDF is a highly dust prone material.

I can't ever remember doing such extensive routing of MDF. Since I had worked with it repeatedly on my table saw, I knew MDF created a lot of dust. But after routing a profile on twelve, eight foot long boards, the large amount of dust beginning to pile up on my driveway was starting to drift in the wind. I decided to form the profile of my custom crown molding in my driveway, because I knew the dust cloud resulting from indoor routing would definitely make it into our home.

I wear old tennis shoes during the routing operation - I don't want my good ones to get all clogged up with dust.

This is the dust which wasn't carried away by the wind. I just hope this stuff is environmentally friendly - there was a light dusting of it in the yard and it went clear up the walk to our screen porch.

Here is what I get accomplished during my first round of routing. Enough to get me started with the installation. You can see my shop dust collector in the background. I have never been able to connect it to my router with much success.

With rain in the forecast and therefore no outside woodworking, I decide to get started installing some of the molding. I will be installing the crown in layers with the first layer being attached to the wall and the ceiling and then subsequent layers attached to the first.

To make installation easiest, I decided to add a wood cleat around the perimeter of the room close to the ceiling. This cleat will hopefully align with the lower rear edge of the first row molding.

The cleat installed. It will give me the ability to attach the molding anywhere along the wall I choose (vs. only at a wall stud).

With the cleat in place, I use pocket screws to attach the molding to the wall and brads at the ceiling.

A corner close-up. Here you can see the cleat on the left and how the molding lines up with it. Note the pocket screw - the molding goes up amazingly well.

Finally, some molding installed. I have another board like this installed on the opposite wall.

And this is as far as I get before my back tells me to stop, but I am pleased to finally have some molding installed. I will continue to wrap the room with more molding like this and then it will be on to the next portion of the crown profile.

One side note: As I finished for the day, I commented to my wife how much I have been sweating. Then it dawned on me: our very basic chandelier is the culprit; I had never realized how much heat they generate. This heat congregates along the ceiling where I was working. I'll have a fan in there next time.

Presently, I am working on the top two rows of moldings.

To view all the posts in this series, click here. To view the next post, click here. This is post ten.

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Have a question or comment? Leave yours by clicking on the "Comments - post yours here" link below. My email is jobranch@yahoo.com. Consider subscribing via email or RSS by clicking here.

Some popular projects:

1. My entertainment center. 2. My workbench. 3. The oak end table.

Tornado Bed: Delivery Day

A symbol of hope: tornado damaged trees on a hill top in Sipsey, Alabama, showing new growth. Sipsey is home for the recipients of the Tornado Bed.

As completion of the Tornado Bed grew closer, I often wondered what delivery day would be like. I had never attempted a project like this: build a bed, search out a needy recipient and deliver it. I really did not know what to expect.

But I did have a vision in my mind how it hopefully would unfold. I pictured a husband and wife gushing with joy that this bed was now theirs. Their two daughters would be all smiles. The family would comment on how sturdy the bed was, the nice overall design, and the warm color of the wood. Something like that.

That isn’t what happened. Remember this bed went to the victims of a horrific situation. The roof of their home had been ripped off by high winds and they lost everything. Their home was damaged to the point that it was no longer a home. It was a wreck, unusable and ruined.

When my father and I arrived with the bed, I began to better understand this family’s situation. I began to leave my world and step into theirs.

Most recently, this family had been living in a tent. The tent had been their home for several weeks. Prior to the tent, they had access to a travel trailer, but as a friend told me, "once football season began the travel trailer was taken back."

Their new home, built with the help of many volunteers, was just that - new; and new is good. But when I stepped inside, reality became even more clear. The father and his daughters had been living there for a period of time with virtually no furniture. The wife was living elsewhere so she could receive care for a second recurrence of cancer.

As the family began stirring on that Saturday morning, I could see what looked like mattresses lying directly on the floor in one bedroom. I had built one bed for them, but they also needed two more.

We began carrying the bed inside and I realized that snapping pictures of the event was simply not appropriate. I handed them a comforter donated by my mother along with an afghan blanket she had hand knitted for them.

It was a very humbling moment. The recipients of the Tornado Bed were very appreciative of what had been made for them. I had hoped throughout this project that I would find a family who really needed this bed, and I did - their need was great. I pray for the wife in her fight with cancer and it is my sincere hope that life for this family continues to return to some semblance of normalcy (in the days that followed, more donated furniture was delivered by others to help fulfill this family's needs).

Delivery brings to a close what has to be the most rewarding project I have ever tackled. My sincere thanks go out to everyone who donated money to this effort. I want to say thanks to those who spoke a supportive word or two as this build slowly progressed.

I also want to recognize Restore Sipsey, an organization which co-ordinated the construction of three new homes in the Sipsey, Alabama area. Read more about this organization by clicking here. It was through my local church that I came in contact with Restore Sipsey and the family which the bed was donated to.

This was a fun project and very, very special. I plan to build additional disaster related furniture in the future.

To see all of the blog posts in this series, click here.

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Have a question or comment? Leave yours by clicking on the "Comments - post yours here" link below. My email is jeffbranch@mail.com. Consider subscribing via email or RSS by clicking here.

Some popular projects:

1. Pediment picture frames. 2. The Coffee Table. 3. The TV Console project

Crown molding: final profile design

For the next step in my crown molding project, I am using medium density fiberboard, which is just about the perfect material for this except the terrible dust it creates.

After several trips to Woodcraft to exchange router bits and one trip to UPS to return the MLCS router bit I ordered a month ago, I have settled in on the final profile for my dining room crown molding. The final design kept evolving - I went through three additional possibilities after finally coming up with a profile that was mostly true to the cornice molding I was copying, yet was reasonably easy to replicate. Take a look below (click to enlarge)…

An exact copy of the cornice molding. The lower portion of this profile is difficult to copy with router bits. Remember that I am copying the cornice molding shown in this photo.

My router friendly version - the main difference is the cove molding at the bottom. I've made slight alterations here and there, and the overall size is smaller. Otherwise, I think the design is faithful to the original.

One side note – I had ordered a large MLCS thumbnail table edge router bit to cut the round over shown in the lower half of the original profile. This bit was so big that it was actually larger than the opening in my router base. There was no way for me to safely use it. Since I have never had this issue come up before, it did not dawn on me to verify the outer radius of the router bit prior to placing the order. Lesson learned I guess. The router bit is on its way back to MLCS for a refund.

With the crown profile figured out, I made a MDF copy…

The final profile design of the crown molding.

The example shown in the photo will become the template from which all the molding will be cut, and there is a lot of molding to cut. MDF is the best material to make this molding because its flat and straight - I won’t have to contend with any warped lumber. But the main drawbacks of using MDF are 1) the tremendous amount of dust created during fabrication, and 2) MDF is very dense and therefore heavy.

I use a series of router bits to cut the profile.

In the photo above, I utilized a 1/2" cove bit and a 1/2" round over bit near the top of the profile. Then I switched to a 1/4" cove bit for the small return. Next on the way down is a large 5/8" cove bit (four cutters on this one) and then the same 1/2" cove bit used for the top of the profile.

This means a lot of router work in the coming weeks and I'll have to be extra careful to align the different layers correctly; keeping my fingers crossed for that.

After much fussing with the crown design, this is what it will ultimately look like - nice profile, not too busy and it still retains the look of the original design.

My first step will be to attach a thin strip of pine on the walls which will serve as a place for me to screw the molding into and then the MDF fabrication will ensue. That will be the subject of my next post.

This is post nine in this series. To see the next post, click here. To view all the posts, click here.

________________________

Have a question or comment? Leave yours by clicking on the "Comments - post yours here" link below. My email is jobranch@yahoo.com. Consider subscribing via email or RSS by clicking here.

Some popular projects:

1. My entertainment center. 2. My workbench. 3. The oak end table.