Using Google’s SketchUp with Woodworking
One of the more difficult parts of a project is the design phase. Not that it is hard to design furniture but that it is very difficult to clearly communicate what a project is going to look like when it is finished. Some
people are instinctively good at understanding a verbal or written description but others have a hard time imagining what the table or shelf or bed will look like in three dimensions based on mere words. Prior to
discovering the wonders of Google Sketchup we would do a pencil sketch and hoped it was enough to inform the client how amazing the finished piece would be. But now (after the preliminary design phase and once the bid has been accepted) we simply email them a fully rotatable, fully detailed 3D image.
Not only does this help the client see what is coming, but it also helps us as we build the project. The program allows you to construct the image out of 3D “parts” exactly the shape and size of the real parts. So once the Sketchup image is completed, we already have our parts list made and we have “virtually” encountered all of our construction dilemmas, saving time as we actually build.
Let us look at some of the ways we have employed Sketchup to help us and our clients.
This is the dining table we are currently working on in the shop. The 3D model helped in multiple ways. First, it allowed us to play with the dimensions and angles of the lower stringer. This was critical. If the triangular pieces were angled to far inward, the people sitting on the side would hit their legs. If the angle was to shallow, the people sitting on the end would hit theirs. Designing the table allowed us to fiddle with the spacing and figure out the perfect dimensions. Secondly, once the stringer was designed, we could isolate each part, and dimension the lengths and angles to our hearts content.
We needed to design this bed in Sketchup because our client was looking to combine a bed with a footboard and headboard design they had seen in a picture, with one that had cannonball posts. The model allows everyone to easily understand how the combined attributes will be integrate together to form the final product.
Here is a chair that we designed to be included in our own furniture line. I have added it here to show some of the different material details that can be added to any model designed in Sketchup.
Here is a hall table we designed to be included in the same furniture line. By designing this piece in Sketchup, we were able to play with the width and length of all the curves, ensuring that they were all proportional and harmonious in their relationship to one another.
This simple cutout of a raised panel cabinet door illustrates the benefit of “exploding” a 3D model to view how the various parts come together to form the final piece.
We will finish this post by showing you our most detailed Sketchup drawing to date. We built this entertainment center and mantle for a client, and given the existing fireplace framework and the stonework that was going to be added during the process, exact measurements were extra critical. Designing any built-in unit is a bit tricky because you are working within strict constraints (walls floors, and ceilings). If any measurement is off, you may just be out of luck. With Sketchup, you can make sure that you prevent those mistakes before you begin building.
In the model above, we were able to design the entire unit, add material colors and textures, and dimension every part to aid in the building process. And, of course, having done all the hard work at the beginning, the installation was a breeze (sort of) since everything fit like the proverbial glove.
December 19th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Thank you for this recommendation. I have been considering the use of Google Sketchup and now I will definitly try it.
March 12th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
Thank you for this rwcommendation. I have been considering the use of Google Sketchup and how I will definitly try it.;