By the way Conrad, you may want to now go to the Edit tab to experiment with profile settings of 1, 2, or 3 to change the thickness of the outline lines.

Hi Conrad,

Try this. Open the Styles box. Make sure you are in the In Model library and your Straight Line 02pix style is selected. Click the icon just below the red x close icon in the upper right hand corner. The Styles box should expand to give you another library to select from. In the lower library box use the drop down box to select Default Styles but do not select any styles. Make sure your Straight Line 02pix style is still selected in the upper box. In the upper box choose the Mix tab. Move your cursor over the upper left style in the lower window (it is the usual default model with sky and ground). The cursor should turn to an eye dropper. Click it once. Move your cursor to the Edge Settings box above. The cursor turns to a paint bucket. Click it once. Notice the large style icon in the upper left hand corner indicates you need to update your your style. Do this by clicking the third icon below the red x close icon. It is two semi circles with arrows. This should solve your problem.

adrw2001,

Any time you enclose three points with a line(s) you will create a surface (one exception is if the surface dimension(s) are too small, SketchUp doesn't do well with very small objects). If the surface does not appear, and the object is large enough, it is because you points do not meet. I suggest opening Window/Model Info and under Units uncheck "Enable length snapping" and in the Precision box choose the highest precision you can. Unchecking "Enable length snapping" allows the inference engine to function better and you to draw more precise drawings.

If the surface you create by connection three points is on the same plane as other surrounding points it will also fill in that part of the surface. If it does not you can be sure those points are not on the same plane (previous exception excepted).

ridix,

Generally speaking the lighter color is an outside surface. The darker blue color is an inside surface. When you use the Push/Pull tool it may end up turning an object inside out. If, for example, you start with a cube, then draw a rectangle on the face and push it all the way through, what comes out the other side is the reversed "skin" forming the protruded rectangle. You can use the context menu (right click) to reverse color.

As for making surfaces, any time you enclose three points with a line you will create a surface (one exception is if the surface dimension(s) are too small, SketchUp doesn't do well with very small objects). If that surface is on the same plane as other surrounding points it will also fill in that part of the surface. If it does not you can be sure those points are not on the same plane (previous exception excepted).

Conrad,

What is the size of paper you are trying to print this on? If you are using 8 1/2" x 11" paper it will not fit in a scale of 1:1. You need paper that is approximately 26" x 36" to get all the dimensions on and a scale of 1:1.

Use Print Preview. If you want to fit it on 8 1/2" x 11" paper use a scale of 3.5 to 4.0 : 1. You can figure this out by changing the scale in the Scale boxes until the size of the paper in the Page Size boxes is less than 8 1/2" x 11". You can use the Use Model Extents to choose the minimum bounds to include all drawing elements including dimensions. Do not check Fit to page if you want a scaled drawing.

SketchUp has not done a very good job of presenting the print out options. It is quite difficult to understand, but it works. Play around with it and you will get it. Hopefully that will fix this in 7.0.

The missing corners can be fixed by going to Window/Styles, select your style and click the Edit tab. Under Level of Detail move the slider all the way to the right. Yo can also select a different style that doesn't have 2 pixel wide lines.

SchreiberBike,

Aahhhhh! I see you have read Chris' book. Sorry, I read that thread some time ago and didn't recall your comments on it.

I am designing a wall hanging tool cabinet for my cherished hand tools. If you know of any good books on that I would appreciate a tip.

SchreiberBike,

Did you happen across Christopher Schwarz's book Workbenches? It is the best book on workbenches I have seen, and I think I have most of them in my library. The book is complete with very detailed plans of two old European benches (English and French). He uses yellow pine and thinks it is a great choice. Chris warns against storage under a bench and has good reasons for his argument. I think the point about the legs being the only thing touching the floor is also a good point.

Good luck with it and be sure to show us the finished product.

Mateo,

Hmmmm!, Don't know why it didn't work, but it does now. Go to http://www.srww.com/blog and click on SketchUp in either the Category List or Tag Cloud in the right column towards the bottom. That will bring up all the SketchUp tutorials on one page, in newest to oldest order.

Thanks Gaieus,

I would be honored if you added my links to the "Getting Started" sticky.

Hi folks,

I just finished posting an 8 part tutorial for SketchUp beginners. Using a bedside table as the vehicle this tutorial takes the student all the way from setting up SketchUp, to creating shop drawings including photo realistic texturing. You can find it on my blog http://www.srww.com/blog .

Hi folks,

I just finished posting an 8 part tutorial for SketchUp beginners. Using a bedside table as the vehicle this tutorial takes the student all the way from setting up SketchUp, to creating shop drawings including photo realistic texturing. You can find it on my blog http://www.srww.com/blog .

Ever since I saw the previous pope's (sorry, I am not Catholic and do not remember his name)casket constructed using dovetails I have wanted to make my own in a similar design. This is a great twist, something to think about, though not for long at my age.

Brodie,

A rectangle that refuses to create a surface is a rectangle that is not flat, that is the four corner points are not in the same plane. Drawing a diagonal simply creates two planes which are not co-planar with each other. Remember any three random points will always form a plane, but not necessarily the one you want. The only solution is to figure out why the four points are not co-planar and fix that problem. Use the technique Remus provided to find the offending point.

Joe...
http://www.srww.com

Hi Gidon,

Yes, I have played with Wink. An I am also playing with SnagIt. I'll try out Camtasia tool. Thanks for the tip.

I only have two parts left to the tutorial series I am currently working on, so I will probably stick to the style I used for the first five. But I have another series planned and I will definitely use a format that includes the use of Wink or a tool just like it. It is amazing what these free or very inexpensive tools can do. I had been looking at two other tools before you put me on to Wink, one from Adobe for $590 and one other for $300. But the difference in capability is very little, at least for my purposes. Thanks again.

Hi Folks,

SchreiberBike, I like your idea of a moisture content analyzer. I use one all the time. It was written by a woodworker/programmer and sold for about $30. It is called MovementMaster by Kite Hill Software. Unfortunately he didn't make any money on it so he stopped support and any further development. But it took into account the specific moisture meter you used to get a current reading, where in the world the finished piece would reside, the species, how you intended to use the wood e.g. breadboard end, frame and panel door etc., how it was cut, how many pieces in the glue up and on and on.

Gidon, if you ever took it as a goal to do such a thing I could send you the program to study.

Hi Folks,

I have profiled some bits as I use them in a design. The bit manufacturers give sufficient detail in their catalogs to draw 2D profiles that can be save as a component in your own library. Of course, it makes little sense to do this for bits you use once every three years, so it is the common ogee, round overs and coves that I tend to save.

Gidon,

I would gladly help test them, and I think it is great someone is developing tools specifically for the woodworker. I would like a grid for drawing 2D curves with the aid of Bezier tools, that are used to make ogee feet, Queen Anne legs etc.

And a board feet (and the metric equivalent) calculator to go along with your cut list.

I don't know, but I am going to take a wild guess it was one of the Wright Bros., credited in the US with the first airplane flight.

Jean-Franco

A beautiful piece of modeling. Do you also craft all these pieces you are showing us? Do you have a website I can look at?

remus,

What looks rubbish about it? I think it is really great! The inside shows the grain pattern well.