Here ya go, Don. Check out Rob Cameron's videos. That's the way I started. And it doesn't hurt to watch them several times, or pause the video and try what he is doing, then move on.
Good luck.
Mike
Good luck.
Mike
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Ha, gotcha beat. I've been on the internet for longer than that, and am older to boot. :grin:
I've been doing sketchup since I was a kid, and still do it just the same way today.
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My first computer experience was with the IBM 360 at our local college in 1968. UGH! I didn't like those punch cards.
I don't remember the year, but the first desktop PC was an XT model a vendor set up in our lab at work so we could enter sample results. No hard drive, just two floppy drive slots. If you wanted to print, you had to remove the bottom floppy and insert the floppy with the printer driver.
Yep, we have come a loong way.
I don't remember the year, but the first desktop PC was an XT model a vendor set up in our lab at work so we could enter sample results. No hard drive, just two floppy drive slots. If you wanted to print, you had to remove the bottom floppy and insert the floppy with the printer driver.
Yep, we have come a loong way.
I am building a lat pull down machine for my gym , and have found sketchup to be invaluable.
I had the idea in my head , but I really needed a 3D visualization to know where parts were going to land , and having the ability to tweak it and see what issues may arise.
I’m just learning it again , and still very rusty , but I get by . I keep on googling steps that give me trouble , and it brings up videos .
I’m one of these guys that needs those Books for Dummies off the start , as I’m a little slow .
Here’s a pic of my idea . I have clearance issues in my basement , so no machines fits, so I’m making my own .
The pulleys are on separate angle iron pieces that I have cut and welded up and bolt up between the ceiling joists .
I’m still having issues trying to rotate parts perfectly with the rotate tool . Like turning a circle from verticle to horizontal , but I get it eventually.
By rights , I can cut my parts from my rendering, as I did everything to scale
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I work like that when I make anything for the shop. Made a lathe stand from plywood, very stable, very strong, no vibration at all. Made a saw stand that way, very stable - and when I finished I had no idea of how I did it. Made a chair that way too. From looking on line I probably could have asked $2-300 for it. But I didn't like it when it was done, so cut the back off, and made a small, short, work bench out of it. Now I like it. Think I have a photo of it.
For anything else I google, a lot, and collect a lot of images for what ever catches my eye, then go thru them and discard a bunch, then repeat until I have just a few. Then sketch out my own version, which usually doesn't resemble any of them, just one or two things from each. Lay them out on graph paper, to actual size, cut them out, and that is the start of one of my masters, so I can make multiple copies. Right now I'm mainly concentrating on a coat tree. -Just when thru the images, and dumped most of them, that's for the hooks. I had a design for them worked out, but misplaced the notebook it is in apparently, so starting that over. Didn't see any base designs I like at all, so made up something I liked. Still needs some fine tuning, and to decide which I like best. The two I came up with are below. I don't deal with straight lines all the time, so what I do can't be done without sketching what I want out. It's not time wasted, it's essential, and really doesn't take that much time. And I can make copies, as many as I want, and they are all the same.
Durn, almost forgot. I want an owl on top of the coat tree. First, I thought I would make my own. Then found a set of 3, 10" tall, I can get for about $22, which is not bad compared to most prices. Right now still undecided if I will buy or make. If I make it will involve sketching one out. But that's part of the fun of woodworking, besides making something to set your coffee cup on, creating something different than anything anyone else has done. And each individual part will mean a separate master for each part. Creating, fun, fun, fun. The only problem with the owl on top is, when I first decided to make a coat tree, I was going to hang my had on it. Now I'll need to decide if I want to cover the owl with my hat, or make a hook specifically for my hat. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
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