SketchUp Guide for Woodworkers: A detailed model

The assignment for chapter nine: make a model of a nice side table.

In this series on Tim Killen’s ebook, Google SketchUp Guide for Woodworkers, I am going through each chapter in an effort to discover tips to greater happiness with this complex and really amazing program (amazing because it is free). I have been working with SketchUp for about two years and so far Tim’s book has taught me many things about the program that I simply did not learn from Google’s tutorial videos or through other means.

In previous posts I have covered the basic steps of getting started (chapters one through five, click here) as well as building a model (chapters six and seven, click here). In this post I’ll cover chapters eight through ten, and hopefully wrap it up in my next post.

Chapter Eight: How to Design and Construct Joints
While there are many different methods of joinery available to the woodworker, Tim Killen focuses on just two: the mortise and tenon joint and the dovetail joint. Tim does not directly say this, but it is implied that learning the steps for drawing these joints will give you the knowledge necessary to form a variety of other joints.

For me, the best tip from this chapter is how you can copy and move just part of a component. For example, form a tenon on one end of an apron, select the tenon, copy it and place it on the other end of the apron. Draw one tenon and use it twice – pretty cool. See below...

After creating layout lines with the tape measure tool, I extrude one of two tenons needed for the apron (click the image to enlarge).

Here, using the select tool, I highlight the end of the tenon (note the blue lines).

Next, choose the move tool; hold down the control key (which makes a copy) and move a copy of the tenon to the right of the apron.

Using the Flip Along command, I rotate the tenon and move it to the opposite end of the apron.

My method would have me drawing layout lines on the opposite end of the apron as well and then use the Push/Pull tool to create the tenon. Tim's method is faster.

The same can be done when making dovetails. After very careful layout, you can copy the first tail of a dovetail joint and simply move the copy down to the next location. Repeat this for all the tails in the dovetail joint. I don’t want to sound like a dovetail joint is easy to make in SketchUp; it isn't because of the layout lines needed and attention to detail, but it is not terribly difficult either.

Chapter Nine: How to Begin and Develop a Piece of Furniture
In this chapter Tim takes us through the process of making what he calls a "Chamfered Post Table" which is basically a small side table. This model is a reproduction of an 18th century piece found in the pages of Furniture Treasury by Wallace Nutting. Since the design is historic in nature, the model is full of joinery from the period. Tim includes in this assignment many mortise and tenon joints as well as dovetails at every corner of the drawer. While this is a small table, it is big on joinery making this model challenging to execute.

Want to test your SketchUp skills? Try creating a model of this modest table.

This illustration shows the chamfered edges found on each leg. Tim had a unique way of drawing the chamfer in place and then rotating a copy of the chamfer for each subsequent edge. Because all the legs are copies, each leg is updated as a chamfer is created. This process took a few attempts before I fully understood how to do it.

The top features breadboard ends which have a more complex tenon design. This also means extra work creating the matching mortise; then adding the pegs brings further challenges.

I have always wanted to be a master at the dovetail joint; maybe someday I'll master it with real wood. The process is taught in chapter eight, and then comes into play in a big way with this model. Note also the beveled edge drawer bottom and the drawer knob - both part of the assignment.

There are 63 steps needed to complete this model which took me about six hours spread over several evenings. I took it upon myself to add the photo realistic textures which were not part of the assignment - I guess showing off a little bit. I'd like to get faster at this model, so I plan to make some more of these.

At the conclusion of chapter nine, Tim lists accomplishments gained from completing this model: pinned mortise and tenon joints, dovetails, chamfers, bevels, breadboard details, drawer design and construction. This was a good exercise; I did many things with this assignment which I have never done before.

Chapter Ten: More Tools and Functions
At the outset of chapter ten, Tim Killen lists additional tools within SketchUp. For me, many of these tools are already familiar, but I could certainly stand more instruction. Immediately "Mastering the Follow Me Tool" got my attention since this tool has been the source of some yelling and screaming on my part.

I used the Follow Me Tool extensively while drawing a concept for an architectural bookcase. It dawned on me then to do it the way Tim suggests. I later learned how to turn the various segments along a run of molding into individual components. Tim walks us through the steps for creating molding for a handsome Williamsburg Tea Table. Understanding the Follow Me Tool is invaluable for anyone who includes moldings in their models.

Tim moves on to various other tools like the Intersect, Scale and Rotate Tools. Of these, I find the Scale Tool to be the most difficult to use. This tool can be used in a number of ways and for me at least, the Scale Tool takes the most concentration to fully understand.

Continuing education
As with the rest of Tim Killen's e-book on SketchUp, I learned a great deal as I progressed through these three chapters. The exercises have challenged me in a number of ways giving me a deeper understanding of this program.

As I look through the upcoming chapters, the degree of difficulty continues to increase. Tim discusses using scanned images to create models and begins teaching advanced techniques using a Windsor chair as a teaching tool. Just the thought of drawing a Windsor chair gives me a headache. More to come...

Google SketchUp Guide for Woodworkers by Tim Killen is available for download in e-book format at Fine Woodworking by clicking here. They had been running it on sale, but the sale has ended and it is back to full price: $12.99. Even at full price it is well worth the money.

________________________

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.

Crown molding - taking shape

The crown molding is starting to look like something. Here I have the first layer completed. Note how it wraps around the pilasters.

If I were to pick a word that describes how I view this project currently, it would be "optimistic". As I have said before, this project is onerous at best, although the view as seen in the photo above motivates me much more.

When I first contemplated what best would do for crown molding in the home of a woodworker, stock crown was quickly eliminated. And while I did ponder the use of multiple pieces of stock crown to achieve a custom look, that idea quickly became boring to me.

But then, the idea of totally custom crown was born. No big deal, I'll just copy the design of one of my favorite pieces of furniture, a majestic thing that maybe someday I'll be fortunate enough to build (see it here).

I knew in the back of my head replicating that cornice molding would be a chore. It is one thing to do it on a beautiful breakfront in the confines of a workshop - form a piece and then walk over and see if it fits.

It is another thing all together to apply it to the walls of your dining room which means forming a run of molding in your basement (or even better, outside) and then walk up the stairs to see if it fits. And then back downstairs to make adjustments; and then back upstairs, and then - well you get the idea.

This project has been a chore, but I am optimistic because at least I can now look upon my progress and get an idea of how totally rockin' this molding will look when it is completed.

Progress
Since my last post, where I began installing the first row of molding, I have been able to complete that row and start on the second row. First, let me show you what I am talking about...

The crown profile shown with its various layers.

In the image above, you can see how the crown is being assembled by stacking different layers of medium density fiberboard (MDF) - each layer has a molded profile on its edge. I have completed the green layer and I am currently working on the yellow layer.

Every bit of what I have already installed has gone up amazingly well. I have been working my way around the room in the evenings - 30 minutes here, an hour there. Progressing this way makes the work more enjoyable than trying to knock out two or three hours on the weekend.

Trimming a small return.

The long runs go up quickly. I basically have two walls that are ten feet long and two that are 13 feet long. One 13 foot wall requires molding to wrap around two pilasters that frame an opening (note the photo at the top of this post). This involves quite a lot of angles and fine cuts on small pieces.

In the photo above, one way of accurately cutting the small return needed for both sides of each pilaster is to first glue it to the adjacent molding and then make the final cut.

Fitting these pieces requires repeated test fitting before I get it looking the way I want.

With the first layer completed, I simply repeat this process for the next layer. Sounds easy enough but if you look at the profile in the illustration near the top of this post, you will note that the outer edge of the second layer has to fit flush with the bottom edge of the first layer. This is necessary to make the two layers look like one. I worry a little if these layers will line up properly.

Here you can see the crown profile beginning to take shape.

As you can see from the photo, the two layers align very well. I had to use a flat head screw driver to pull some of it into alignment, but so far this has not been a problem.

And this is where I am currently (note the coffered ceiling I added to the adjacent room).

I will continue working around the room adding the second layer with a target of this weekend to begin on the third layer. In an attempt to speed the process, I am working through a plan to add the fourth layer at the same time as the third. This also means I’ll have to get my router out to fabricate more MDF molding stock.

Woodworking and Nasal Health
At present, I am 51 years old and have been woodworking for about 30 years. As I get older, sawdust is becoming a significant issue for me. When deep into a woodworking project, it is not unusual for my sinuses to be seriously irritated. Minimizing sawdust has become a higher priority as I contemplate future upgrades to my shop (the fine dust created by MDF is especially problematic).

In the meantime, I have started a regimen which includes twice daily squirts of saline solution in my nostrils in hopes of flushing some of the dust from my sinuses. I follow this with a prescription nasal steroid and in especially bad cases, I'll pull out the Afrin. The goal is to keep my nose breathable while avoiding the Afrin. And of course, I am using the best dust mask I can find without jumping up to a chemical style respirator.

So, I am curious: should I be practicing a different nasal treatment? Or is this kind of gross to write about in a blog post? I am about to give serious consideration to a method I saw on the Wood Whisperer - check it out by clicking here.

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

________________________

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.

Project Plan Photos

Some times in life you just got to stick your neck out there and try something new. When I first began offering downloadable plans more than a year ago, I was quite nervous about it: "Who in the world would want to build my projects" you know? I have a long way to go with my downloadable plans before I get to the same level of what you would see in Fine Woodworking magazine, but I'll get there.

At present there have been 742 downloads, so the odds are good that something has happened as a result of this activity, and recently I got some proof that sawdust has been created as a result of these plans.

I began asking for photos of completed projects; which is a little cool. Not a major push for photos, but a mention here and there. Two have come in - both interesting in their own way. Let's take a look...

The first photo is from Jim W. of Los Angeles. Way back when I built my bookcase, it took me a couple of months (I fussed a lot with the paint process), but to my surprise Jim completed his two bookcases during some time off from work between Christmas and New Years - a little under a week! And he did a very nice job.

The second photo is from Tom H. who built a version which was re-sized for his young daughter. Making a project fit your needs is one of the great joys of woodworking. Tom used cabinet grade plywood instead of MDF and utilized shelf standards to support the shelves (the shelves are out of view in his photo). Great job Tom!

Both Jim and Tom provided some good feedback and seemed to have fun with their projects.

Do you have a photo to share? If so, send it to jobranch@yahoo.com and please include some info on your build – did you alter your project? Does the project fill a unique need? etc. I will respect your privacy by using just your first name and last initial.

________________________

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. A bedside table. 2. My workbench. 3. A built-in cabinet.