Oh boy! That's a neat trick. Thank you.

I'm wondering if it would be possible to get a script to export the Outliner to a TXT file. I often end up with long lists of components that I would like to look at and I find the Outliner not so convenient for that.

In the case of the china cabinet I'm working on, I need to work out better naming practice for the components because eventually I'll generate a cutlist from the model.

So, is it possible to do?

@unknownuser said:

That is beautiful Dave!

Thank you.

That's a great tip. I frequently split components that are symmetrical along their centerlines. Then by copying that half or even quarter, mirroring the copy (copies) and hiding the seam lines I get the appearance of a whole without the file bloat. Getting ridd of those un-needed faces helps to hide the seam line. Here's an example

@schreiberbike said:

I'm moderately active over at SawmillCreek.org. A lot of excellent woodworkers there.

Dave Richards showed me a much better way to do dovetails in SU and when I get a chance, I'll post a new tutorial.

Woodworkers get very picky about their dovetails because they are hard to do well and because they are a very strong way of making a drawer or a case. They can be made with a router and a jig fairly easily, but handmade dovetails can be made to look very distinctive.

Here are some really nice ones.
[attachment=0:3asosxvb]<!-- ia0 -->IMG_2037.jpg<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment:3asosxvb]
The gentleman who made this particular joint is Mark Singer. He is architect and a woodworker and a bunch of other things. He made this piece for a very cool California-coast house which he designed, built furniture for and won an award for.

The rest of the house that those dovetails are in is quite nice as well. So is the house he lives in.

Glad to have helped you out John.

FWIW, here's the method I showed John. I was kind of tired when I did it and it shows in the video.
http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1184386602

Dave

Here's another I've been playing around with. It's not quite there but maybe someone might have a suggestion on how it can be improved. I'm trying to get a bit more contrast between the black and the white without having to edit in a photo editor.

Edit 19 April, 2008: With the change in uploadable file size, I've added the style file here. Thanks for the interest and encouragement.

Here's another one.

And an example.

Thank you gentlemen. I've been trying to find a better corrugated cardboard texture but haven't found it yet. If you come across a good one, please let me know.

I've been monkeying around again with style combinations. I kind of like this one although I think I'll see if I can find a better corrugated cardboard texture.

Example:

If it would help, you could buy my "brown" and "corrugated" styles.

Actually, I know what you mean. I'm not making any money doing SketchUp so it is hard for me to justify paying for a subscription sort of thing such as FF.

Not a very good name but here's what I used on the china cabinet I posted earlier. The images posted have had a little post work done in Picasa. Nothing fancy but it works for what I want.

Any idea how to convert either EPS or SVG to something useful in SU?

I'm far from knowledgeable about this stuff but does this help you at all? It is a plugin to call the windows calculator. The calculator can be minimized so you can return to SU. Just a stab in the dark.

Here's the script:

*require 'sketchup.rb'

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Add item "calculator" to the Draw menu.

First check for existing menu load

if( not file_loaded?("calc.rb") )

UI.menu("Plugins").add_item("Calculator") { UI.openURL("calc.exe") }

end

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

file_loaded("calc.rb")*

Hi John, I expect the the problem you are experiencing is a bottleneck at the video card. You might try updating the drivers for the card but I imagine you need to increase the card's RAM. Think of it this way, your CPU can send data faster than your video card can regurgitate it to the screen. Your video card needs a bigger stomach and...well...you get the idea.

Would a four holer work?

I just modified that model from the warehouse. I deleted the textures and background, too. The face orientation is all screwed up but I didn't spend any time fixing that. I should have modified the rowers but I didn't.
Scull.zip