Best practice for drilling multiple holes?

Jim · 23 Aug 2011, 08:32

With SketchUp Pro, you can also create a Dynamic Component of your product which allows changing the length of a beam much more quickly. You can use the DC even in the Free version.

beam.skp

Dave R · 23 Aug 2011, 10:32

Jim's got a good point. This could be a handy Dynamic Component.

As for reducing file size further, you could reduce the number of line segments in the arcs. My version of you tube is on the right. The tube segment you drew has 768 entities (edges and faces), while mine has 560. I used six segments on the exterior arcs and three on the inside arcs. You could reduce the number of segments used in the circles for the holes and further reduce the entity count. Of course the ends have similar reductions. You could probably even get away with 4 segments on the exterior arcs.

pilou · 23 Aug 2011, 10:40

And if by hasard you want make some randomly elements from a familly of components you can use this tricky plugin by Sdmitch
Replace Randomly components
Very cool to use!

Gaieus · 23 Aug 2011, 11:36

Guys, if you just make a one-hole-long piece a component and stick these components together to get a whole length piece, you do not gain anything compared to making a single piece as long as necessary and drill holes as components into them. In fact, poly count will increase this way even more significantly.

Dave R · 23 Aug 2011, 11:40

But file size won't.

Gridbeam Solutions · 23 Aug 2011, 14:43

Dave R: I did as you suggested. This version has 5-segment outer arcs, 3-segment inner arcs, and 16-segment holes, for a grand total of 446 faces. That reduced the file size from 176 to 104 KB for the 2-hole component (made of 2 instances of the 1-hole block, plus 1 each of 2 end caps).

The holes in the 1-hole block are 4 separate holes that I pushed through. Would using a hole component instead make a significant difference in file size?

Gaieus, the time savings of not having to manually punch 4800 holes to make this batch of punched tubes (not to mention 7200 holes in my next batch of tubes) makes the duplication-of-segments methods VERY much worth doing. So I'm VERY glad the guys suggested it.

Jim is right: a dynamic component for gridbeam sticks would be terrific! I don't have SketchUp Pro; would someone be willing to make this from the sub-components in the attached file?

The component, which is made from a duplicated tube body unit plus 2 end caps.

Dave R · 23 Aug 2011, 15:14

Joy, just for clarification, you could create a long section with multiple holes in it without punching them all by simply copying the single-hole element as needed without making it a component first. Then delete the coplanar edges. Or you could take your existing component copies and explode them to end up with a long piece of tube with all the holes.

Hopefully someone will make your DC for you but even if they don't, you've got something very simple to work with.

Jim · 23 Aug 2011, 21:57

@gridbeam solutions said:

I don't have SketchUp Pro; would someone be willing to make this from the sub-components in the attached file?

Here's the DC. I could not keep the quote marks in the Component names - I got an error when trying to edit Components that used them, so I had to remove them. Let me know if you'd like it modified in some way.

To use (in SketchUp Free) open the Component Options window from the menu Window > Components Options, type in a value, then press Apply (or Enter.)

You can always open the Component and explode everything inside it, then run TT's Cleanup script if you'd like to then disable the DC and reduce the poly count.

Beam.skp

Gridbeam Solutions · 23 Aug 2011, 23:36

@jim said:

@gridbeam solutions said:

I don't have SketchUp Pro; would someone be willing to make this from the sub-components in the attached file?

Here's the DC. I could not keep the quote marks in the Component names - I got an error when trying to edit Components that used them, so I had to remove them. Let me know if you'd like it modified in some way.

Thank you, Jim! This is GREAT! I just tried it out and it is SO EASY!

I have modified the component name to "1.5-inch aluminum gridbeam", as the beam width and hole spacing are important to users. (There are other sizes and materials of gridbeam.)

I notice that this component's "length" parameter operates in multiples of the base unit, rather than actual measurements. If I want to make a beam 1 foot long, I must specify a length of 8, rather than 12" or 1'. I don't know much about dynamic components -- is there a way to make the component so users can specify the length in feet an inches? Making the length specification more straightforward will make the component easier to build with, which will make it more accessible.

Again, thank you VERY much, Jim, for creating this gem!

Gridbeam Solutions · 24 Aug 2011, 18:14

Another newbie question: How do dynamic components work with parts list generators? I'd like to be able to generate a parts list for a project -- NOT a cutlist, as I want to list the component sizes -- something like this:

3 count 1.5-inch aluminum gridbeam 4 feet long
4 count 1.5-inch aluminum gridbeam 2.5 feet long
4 count 1.5-inch aluminum gridbeam 2 feet long

How might I do that using dynamic components? (I'm on a Mac, so not all parts list plugins work for me.)

Jim · 24 Aug 2011, 21:11

@gridbeam solutions said:

is there a way to make the component so users can specify the length in feet an inches?

Yes, but it becomes more difficult if there need to be partial units. For example, using the 1.5" base unit, would the DC need to work for a length of 5"? If so, then a fractional-unit component would need to be introduced.

Jim · 24 Aug 2011, 21:15

@gridbeam solutions said:

How do dynamic components work with parts list generators?

Several reporting scripts already exist, and it would be fairly trivial to write a script customized to your Components.

Dave R · 24 Aug 2011, 22:09

Jim, do you have a suggestion for how to make a DC made up of a number of smaller components show up in a report instead of reporting the lowest level components?

Jim · 24 Aug 2011, 22:58

One obvious solution would be to give the top-level Component some attribute. If the report script finds the attribute, the script would just skip iterating the sub-components.

Alternatively, sub-components could be named using a special characters (end_plate, for example) which the script could easily check and not count as it builds the report.

Gridbeam Solutions · 25 Aug 2011, 02:50

@jim said:

@gridbeam solutions said:

is there a way to make the component so users can specify the length in feet an inches?

Yes, but it becomes more difficult if there need to be partial units. For example, using the 1.5" base unit, would the DC need to work for a length of 5"? If so, then a fractional-unit component would need to be introduced.

Gridbeam doesn't need partial units. The beam lengths are always multiples of the beam width -- usually, but not always, even multiples.

Thus for 1.5" beam, lengths might be 1.5", 3", 4.5", 6", 4.5 feet, 8 feet, etc. For a beam 2" wide, lengths are always multiples of 2".

Same for metric: If a beam is 40 mm wide, the beam lengths will be multiples of 40 mm -- again, usually even multiples.

Gridbeam Solutions · 25 Aug 2011, 02:53

@jim said:

@gridbeam solutions said:

How do dynamic components work with parts list generators?

Several reporting scripts already exist, and it would be fairly trivial to write a script customized to your Components.

Thanks! I installed Cut List, tested it, and it did exactly what I wanted.

And thanks to the tips you gave Dave R, I now know how to get SketchUp to list only the parts I want counted.

Jim · 28 Aug 2011, 00:31

There is another option to size the Component - the Scale Tool.

In all, there are 3 possible ways to size the component. 1) Enter a value in an input field, 2) Select a length from a drop-down list, or 3) use the Scale Tool. Unfortunately, the 3 methods are mutually exclusive.

tibet · 9 Mar 2012, 09:03

hi guys,
i´ve a slightly different question, but it´s about the "holes" too ( i don´t want to make another new useless thread )
it´actually talking about perforated plates.
i´m newly owner of 1001bit pro plugin, but found it can do just square holes.
when i make them an old fashioned way like here, sketchup collapses many times
do you know why, because my laptop works like a charm?
your valuable tips are very appreciated.
cheers!

TIG · 9 Mar 2012, 09:29

Make the flat face.
Draw a circle the required size.
Select its face and 'delete'.
Select the circle and Move + Ctrl offsetting the copy the required amount to the side [X/red].
Immediately type 12x [or whatever number is needed to array the circular holes across the face]
Use a fence to Select all of these circles.
Use Move+Ctrl again to array these in the opposite axis [Y/green] the required number of times NNx.
If the original face in not rectangular now manually Erase unwanted circles or parts at edges etc/
PushPull the face to make a 3d perforated panel.
Make it into a Component so its geometry is kept separate and if it'll be used several times you only need to edit one of them...
Use a sensible number of segments for these circular holes, because geometry that's not needed will kill [or at least hamper] Sketchup. You can of course use any shapes holes you like, and also have varying X and Y offsets

Dave R · 9 Mar 2012, 11:08

George, here's an alternate way that might be useful.

Draw one hole and make an array. Use Delete Coplanar Edges to get rid of the unwanted edges. This means you need only delete the face inside one hole.