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A Shaker Oval Box

Dave Richards

Dave Richards

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Hi all. Just wondering if anyone is still using SketchUp (seems all the action is with Fusion 360 these days) and if so, would anyone be interested in a tutorial on modeling Shaker oval boxes. If there's enough interest I would do one with a video.
 
Dave Richards said:
Hi all. Just wondering if anyone is still using SketchUp (seems all the action is with Fusion 360 these days) and if so, would anyone be interested in a tutorial on modeling Shaker oval boxes. If there's enough interest I would do one with a video.
Click to expand...
I think I am to blame for all the Fusion action. I been a sketchup user for a lot of years but I felt that because of all the CNC and 3 D printing going on that the power of Fusion 360 for these types of activity needed to be brought forward. I feel that each program has it's place and if I didn't have a CNC I never would have taken the time to learn Fusion but for my needs I find that it offers a more seamless transition to the CNC/ 3 D printer world.
 
No worries Don. No blame to place on anyone. Lest anyone reading this take away from it that SketchUp isn't good for 3D printing, though, it is as capable as F360. I modeled this crank handle in SketchUp recently. It's a replacement for a drill press in our robotics team's shop. One of the other mentors is going to print it on his 3D printer or he may have already.


This is some sort of extension for a hand-held shower. Modeled entirely in SketchUp.


And these green things form a mounting support for motors on a robot.
 
Back to the original topic, I did a video showing how I went about making the Shaker oval box. I guess it'll be published in the Design. Click. Build. blog one of these days. I don't get to decide what day it's published, though. ;)
 
Dave Richards said:
Back to the original topic, I did a video showing how I went about making the Shaker oval box. I guess it'll be published in the Design. Click. Build. blog one of these days. I don't get to decide what day it's published, though. ;)
Click to expand...

In short, I'm in!

SU is my basic and advanced tool for designing my pieces. Working with curves (and making them go to precise locations) is an area I would definitely like to grow in. I am using Make 2017 as that is the logical stopping point for me as far as versions. Tutorials that involve the Pro version toolset don't do me much good. The Pro version is outside my reach as a subscription although very reasonable priced for a professional. The cloud based version is a non-starter for me as it behaves like most cloud based services; poorly.

I realize it is also not real smart for tutorials to be designed around outdated software. I enjoy most tutorials about SketchUp and eagerly go through them. There are obviously times when the methods being taught use tools I do not have.
 
Glenn, although I use the Pro version of SketchUp there is little in my tutorials that require the Pro version. The vast majority of the tutorials show things that can be done in Make just as easily. Most extensions I use work in SketchUp make, too.

I wonder what you find that is poor with the web-based version of SketchUp. I use it in addition to the Pro version and really don't have problems with it. There are some things that I do normally with extensions that have to be done differently in the web version but it is still very usable.

As you say 2017 Make is working for you. As long as it's just hobby use, it's no problem and should serve you well. Those who are using SketchUp for their businesses should be using Pro.
 
I am pretty conservative on the plug-ins I use and should probably expand that a bit (understatement :)). The cloud connection seems tenuous, things stutter and I will often lose control of an item or tool during movement. I'm not in the sticks nor am I in the city. I do get a solid 5Mb up / 30Mb down. Watching TV and videos is not a problem. I was an early "involuntary alpha tester", maybe I should try again now that it has matured. Do you happen to know if I load SketchUp Shop if it will conflict with Make 2017 on the same machine? I have other machines I could load it on to retry if that is smarter. BTW, thanks as always for all your skill-sharing and insight.
 
The web-based versions of SketchUp won't interfere with 2017 Make or any other desktop client versions.

If you used it very early on, you should try again. While SU2017 Make is done growing, the web versions are getting lots of love and have improved considerably since the initial release. The other day on a different forum a guy stated that it is impossible to model a dining table in SketchUp Shop so I did this. It's in real time and any delays were my doing as I was trying to sort out the details of what I was modeling.

Extensions are like tools in the shop. Some can be very handy to have. Some seem like they'd be really useful but don't end up getting used. Don't get new tools unless you really can't do the job efficiently with the tools you already have. ;)
 
Dave Richards said:
The other day on a different forum a guy stated that it is impossible to model a dining table in SketchUp Shop so I did this.
Click to expand...

That's kind of like saying you can't cut good dovetails with such-and-such a saw when we've all seen Frank Klausz do it with a bow saw :D. Your table video looked pretty straight forward. I wonder what he based his claim on? I'm one of those people who when faced with something not working . . . suspect myself first :D. I'll give "Free" another go and report back. I'm still in for the Shaker Box Tutorial 👍
 
Dave Richards said:
That's what I think. I love it when someone says you can't do something in SketchUp.

Good luck.

I'll post a link when the box tutorial is up.
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Dave I never said you couldn't do 3D print design in SU all I said is That I and many others have found that the ability to take those designs to either a cam software for CNC or to a printer much easier. Less hoops to junp through.
Paul McWorter states it much better than me in his free tutorials Learn Fusion 360 or Die trying . He is SU convert.
 
Sorry Don. I didn't mean to imply that you said you can't do 3D print design in SketchUp. There are those who claim you can't however and that's not at all true. Some users, like you, find the way Fusion 360 makes more sense to them. I tried it and found it very clumsy compared to SketchUp but that's just my experience. I think it just depends on the way you want to think about what you are modeling.
 
Awesome as usual Dave.

I could start a poll but, why not just thread-jack this thread o_O?

Something I struggle with is dust collector ducting. I can fight my way through it but, primarily it is alignment and rotation that messes with me. Thinking about our clan here I wonder if a tutorial on dealing with dust collection pipe (tubes and fittings regardless of material) might be high on anyone else's list?

What say Ye, Family Woodworkers!?!
 
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