thats pretty cool, you think its made in layers? like a topographic kinda thing?
Would be nice to have a ruby that split a model into layers so it could easily be machined on a cnc machine.. you just choose the thickness of the layers (thickness of the material your using)
I guess it would be easy to just draw a large square and move/copy it out the relevent number of times, then intersect with model.
Tom
Just found an old skp of a truss that I made last year, the big one was almost 7 meters wide!
Note the king post is short, this is intentional, when you bolt it together, when this is pulled tight, it puts tension onto the truss, this is what holds it all together and gives it strength!
There are 3 bolts, one on each of the sides, through the tie beam and the purlins, and one directly up through the king post.
These were made from Oak, and weighed a TON!
Tom.
Here is a large, grand staircase that was made for a customer out of solid oak,
It features Large newels and enormous handrail, which was made in house by ourselves.
The treads are thicker than usual, as are the balasturs, to give an overall impression of a grand staircase.
Hopefully I can get some real photos of the finished article soon!
oh and its in the 3d warehouse @ http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=6658980f6d24e762f04495c8942f82d7
Just put another staircase on there, a large, grand solid oak, and with 99% of the joinery modeled!
This staircase had to have steel laminated into the strings on the mid section of the g-1st section, so that the newel posts dont need to go down to the floor. (its held up with joist hangers)
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=6658980f6d24e762f04495c8942f82d7&result=12
its in the same collection.
I hope to get some photos of this when its all finished... the handrail was a big job!
Tom
that plugin looks to be just what I'm looking for to make some videos, to walk through how to fit a staircase!
Ill post a video when I get round to it!
Thanks,
Tom.
Hey,
Just thourght id mention, I've set a Staircase Collection up on the 3d warehouse, which I will be filling with different configurations of stairs (mostly staircases I've done, but some were done specifically for this collection)
I mention it in the woodworking section, because a couple of them have all/most of the joinery modeled.
Linky: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/cldetails?mid=8d484e224d1c974ef04495c8942f82d7
Tom
It will be used outside.
I needed some outside seating for my sisters 21st, so i made 8 of these.
its made from redwood,and ill probably just paint them.
Tom.
ah thanks Dave, I don't use cut list... maybe I will in future!
Hi,
I needed some picnic/pub style benches/tables, so looked through the 3d warehouse, found one in Hazza's collection (thanks btw!) a little editing to suit the sizes of timber and here we are:
I hate browserquirks.
I hate ie6.
the sooner everyone is using firefox/chrome the better!
(although ie8 isnt sooo bad)
It all depends what you are machining, if you look in the gallery at 2 of my posts (car audio one and newel cap)
they were both done by exporting STL, and then i used a bullnose cutter to machine it, but if you are machining items which are easily viewed in 2d (Stair stringers/treads etc for me) then its way faster to just apply a tool path, and give it a depth.
That being said, a lot of what i do is similar over and over again, so after a while you stop making errors etc, maybe if i was doing lots of different things i would have a different outlook. 
yea i use it all the time.
have a look at my posts in the gallery, they were all routed on a cnc from a sketchup model.
my workflow is generally as follows:
lay the components out flat export to dxf -> into qcad for cleanup (for 2d stuff) -> into cam software.
tom
a few pics of one of the previous staircases installed and finished:
thats cracking!
Thanks a lot, was having a bit of trouble with that part.
it pretty much works now! gotta just figure a bit more maths out to do with width/depth of the stringers, and im good to go
thanks,
Tom.
thanks alot for the help TIG, really well explained (even i can understand it hehe)
its working fine so far (in that it now creates the profile of the tread with rounded corners etc, )
so now i have:
tread_edge1 = entities.add_line([0, 0, radius], [0, 0, tt - radius]) #this is the short striaght edge at the front
tread_edge2 = entities.add_line([radius, 0, tt], [tread + nosing, 0, tt], [tread + nosing, 0, 0], [nosing + rt, 0, 0], [nosing + rt, 0, rd], [nosing, 0, rd], [nosing, 0, 0], [radius, 0, 0]) # rest of the tread
tread_bottrad = entities.add_arc(bottcenter,bottxaxis,bottnormal,radius,bottstart_angle,bottend_angle) #bott radius
tread_toprad = entities.add_arc(topcenter,topxaxis,topnormal,radius,topstart_angle,topend_angle) #top radius
then i did
tread_base = tread_edge1.find_faces
which creates the face just fine, but when i add the line:
tread_base.pushpull treadwidth
sketchup does nothing (not even draw the initial outline)
any suggestions?
thanks again,
Tom.
Hi guys,
I modified a stair.rb script ages ago, to better suit how i work, but i just wondered if any of you guys could help me out in this one area:
basically i use: entities.add_face(point1, point2, point3, point4) etc, but i would like to add an 8mm radius between some of the points. i am an absolute beginner in this (I have done some basic jscript/java/php etc, but nothing with ruby/sketchup), and i am having trouble finding an answer to this question.
thanks,
Tom.
regarding the taped housing, we always use a dovetail bit here, makes sure that the joint is perfect.
we manufacture our brackets to suit, never considered buying them.. (you'd have to mess around with them to get the right rise/go anyway right?) + cnc router takes care of tasks like that easily.
the guard rail needs to be 900mm (35-1/2") above the nosings on the staircase, and on the landing, except for commercial use, when it needs to be 1100mm (43-1/4") above (only on the landing - can be 900 on the staircase).
we have to space the spindles so that you cant put a 100mm (4") sphere through at any point, the same goes for open plan stairs (where there would usually be a riser), where we have to put a dummy riser in to close this gap down. (i have started to use round steel balusters turned horizontally for this - still looks open, but has a gap smaller than 100mm)
too many regs 
Tom.
cool i really like that model. (its quite similar to the one Ive just spent this morning doing)
thats pretty much how we do them (im a staircase manufacturer in the UK)
on a cut string staircase like that, I would usually tend to put a decorative bracket where the riser meets the string, mitering the riser into the bracket. (depending on what the customer etc wanted)
but I think i prefer it how you have drawn it, mitering the riser into the string.
Tom.
