Posts made by g_wilson

Thank you gentlemen.

Wish there was more activity in woodworking area. So .... Here's another thing I did some years ago - a semi-Victorian?? fence. I don't like digging post holes so this was done by digging a foot wide x ~8" dp. trench - fill with crusher dust - compact and level - lay in treated 6 x 6 with top about 1 - 1 1/2" above grade. Area where I built this was level enough to allow it. All the pieces can be pre-built / pre-cut this way. The posts are in 3/4" dp. 'pockets' routed in the 6x6. Three different 'styles' - LH has seat - center is planter - RH is plain. Posts are notched for top arched member and btm. picket rail. The planter sections have 'sleepers' across to allow soil weight to help fence from being blown about. The real fence is 5 sections @ 8ft each. I like building things like this but the maintenance can be a pain here in the rain forest. Fortunately I can get 'real' 4x4 treated posts not those spindly 3 1/2 sq things.

Select the sloped face and edges and use the move tool using arrow keys if desired to lock to XY or Z axes. If it is a single edge of a rectangle - select the edge and use move tool as above.

Looked for a plugin like this some time back but didn't find. This is really handy for me doing mechanical stuff - I can go straight to steel / brg. / cylinder / etc. mfg.'s or any reference material right from the drawing for instance. Using it to refer to other models or sub-assy. or whatever from my files. Thank you 8 yrs belatedly Didier and Chris Fullmer for the info. An oldie but a goodie. Only thing I have found is it won't open an avi file or an mp3 file - SU just ignores - not a large problem,who needs an mp3 really - just an observation.

Thanks - I have liking for anything arts and crafts. Thought I would add a couple photos of actual playhouse.

Here is a shed I built for grandkids about 11 yrs ago. Put old workshirts on the 3 of them - gave them rollers and brushes and a couple gals. of latex and turned them loose on the inside - could have sold tickets to the performance. There are easier ways to do it but I don't pay me anything - was fun to do.

Craftsman Playhouse_plain.skp

Being an old retired machine designer I have grown to love SU for it's intuitive "feel". But,it was made for Arch. mainly and does ,understandably,have it's shortcomings when it comes to machine design. So when I read here about SC I started delving deeper. SC has done a remarkable job with it's tutorials. The bugaboo of file import between software is always a nightmare to end up with something less of a task than untying the Gordian knot. I discovered on they're web site this video better explaining importing and cleanup steps after import of SU to SC. http://www.spaceclaim.com/en/Mkting/SingleVideoPlayer.aspx?v=Sketchup_Webinar_2012-04-04.mp4 I had to register to see this video,so if you can't access with preceding URL then go here and register: http://www.spaceclaim.com/en/Mkting/SpaceClaimforSketchUp.aspx At the least I found it very encouraging, exciting even. Hope the price isn't too scary,that I haven't checked into.
To think,when I started in 1964 tools consisted of table,parallel rule ,set squares,pencil,slide rule,log tables and a pad and pen. We thought we had died and gone to heaven when Bowmar came out with a 4 function calculator, interesting time to have lived thru.

Thank you for this. At last I can use 8.5 x 14 legal size paper in printer and get an aspect ratio that comes closer to filling that paper size. Just turn off 4 total control bars + scene bar + status bar.

Someone earlier in this thread mentioned Dassault as possible purchaser of SU. In today's Vancouver Sun An article in business section might explain why it didn't/won't happen:

"French 3- D software giant covets Vancouver mining program expertise
Vancouver’s Gemcom Software International expects a friendly $ 360- million US takeover by France’s Dassault Systemes will give it an even larger footprint in the global mining industry.

Gemcom, a privately held company founded in 1985, is already a world leader in geology and mine planning software that’s used by companies ranging from the Vancouver junior exploration sector to senior multinationals such as Teck Resources, Codelco, Vale and BHP Billiton.

Dassault announced Thursday that 360 employees and management at privately held Gemcom would remain in place following what is described as an all- cash acquisition. Gemcom has 4,000 mining sector customers operating in 130 countries. The deal, subject to regulatory approvals on the Euronext exchange where Dassault trades, is expected to close in July. Dassault has an array of three- dimensional modelling platforms for business and industry, from fashion design to auto design to deep sea oil rigs. Notable clients include Boeing, Airbus, BMW, Ford, Under Armour and Guess."

I forgot to mention - tripped across a little trick for Maxwell. In that chest render -it is sitting on a mirror. To get the mirror effect,in SU,change opacity of material from 100% down to 98%. In Maxwell just leave material character at auto & roughness high- it still gives mirror effect.

@mitcorb said:

Wow. That's mighty nice work. Very intricate and imaginative. Welcome in from the cold.

Why thank you - that chest took awhile but was fun to do. Started using end grain brick on a small oval table as a trial - then did the chest - then a 2' x 4' oval coffee table - same idea - mosaic but with running bond on the bricks. Still have hundreds of those "bricks" in a box. Trimmed good bits from firewood - then burned remainder. I have to confess,I gave up the sanding dust grout and used dark brown silicone after completely finishing,worked quite well,has stood the test of time. Still feel guilty - it's like cheating somehow. Made an apparatus? for drawing geometrically correct ellipse - pretty common old method - no stretchy strings involved.

Looked at Fine Woodworking article - neat idea - whereas I used "scrap" he glues boards up - clever way to do it. Multitasking with a saw - cute. Always nice to see other peoples tricks to get ideas.

Well - my first time here after lurking for ~5 yrs. Made this chest from "firewood" about 13 yrs. ago. I'm am in process of getting the stuff I made thru the years into sketchup. Dimns 27 x 47 x 16 high. Woods mostly scrounged from scrap bins at 2 local "resaw" mills - maple / alder / vertical grain hemlock / yellow cedar / pine. Unfortunately that source dried up some time back - they got chippers. Top is wood mosaic with "bricks" from end grain maple nom. 1 1/2 x 4 x 5/8. Sides are upholstered replaceable panels - fabric matched couches at the time. Purple wood is - surprise - called purpleheart. Experimental grout used was mixed oil-based urethane and fine sanding dust - sorta worked. No fancy joinery. Finished with oil-based urethane - most of the time I use tung oil. Something sensual about rubbing in that oil with bare hands. Would attach model but it grew to ~11mb with textures and whatever Maxwell adds to the file. Stripped away textures and file reduced to 2.7 mb !!! Besides - looks so pretty rendered- love that Maxwell plugin.

@sdmitch said:

g_wilson, Please download and try the new version. When I created the plugin, I tested it only to satisfy the criterior of the requestor. The new version corrects the problem caused by non-parallel faces. The only problem that I'm aware of at the moment is when the selected face only partially falls on the face projected to.
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?t=25362

Congratulations Sir. It works without fail.
All previous problems gone. Even tried - two faces at some compound angle two each other with one face "square" to the world and with edge at some compound angle - it works no matter which face you start from. Nastiest example I can manage - two faces both nonplanar to each other and the world and edge at some random angle in all planes- it still works. One little oddity cropped up - using a hexagon it works but tells you that it can't match opposite face,will draw to length given by edge - no problem. But with a circle it DOES cope into the finishing face as long as the edge is within some small angle to one plane (XYZ) - just bloody wonderful if working with pipe or similar!! Great job !! Thank you !!

@sdmitch said:

The edge should always be drawn from the selected face to the opposite end of the beam. The faces projected from and projected to are assummed to be parallel in the current version.

Yes,that's what I am doing. Forgetting non-parallel faces;as far as parallel faces are concerned - it still does the same - even with an enormous horizontal offset. Only works with two parallel faces,one above the other;shape on lower face draw edge up to higher face. Does not work doing the opposite way - shape on higher face,draw edge down to lower face - result here is still shape is drawn up not down. It obviously works,but for whatever mystery,not for me. I start with "clean sheet" BTW. Tried in existing model as well - same thing.

Double darn - case 2 doesn't work - tried several times again to be sure - doesn't work. Confuses me.

Oh Darn - only works in two cases for me. If two faces are parallel to each other and Z plane - one above the other and the "to be" projected shape is drawn on the lower face with line at any angle drawn to the higher face - then it works. Second case if lower face is parallel to Z plane but higher face is tilted at some angle;"to be" projected shape drawn on lower face;line drawn to higher tilted face - it works. Third case - two parallel faces one above the other - shape to be projected drawn on higher face - line drawn down to lower face - projected shape goes UP proper distance - not DOWN to lower face. Fourth case (actually two cases) - two vertical parallel faces - to be projected shape drawn on either vertical face - lines drawn between vertical faces - both of these draw projected shape (as face only but with shape at both ends as part of that face) perpendicular to vertical faces (same plane). SU 8 and XP SP3 if it matters - and all kinds of plugins - no sketchyphysics no driving dimensions plugin.

@tig said:

And a Contour model - useful for making a Kappa Board 3d real model.
Here Slice Spacing and Thickness = 1m...

This reminded me of this: http://www.challengermap.org/history.htm
There used to be school trips to see this map in the good ol' days. Lends meaning to the expression "Patience of a wooden god." It was neat to ride the gantry over top of the map - photos don't do justice to the size. Imagine now - Tig's slicer and cnc router.