Wow, just went through that whole thread.

some amazing ideas there, shame most wouldnt pass any regulations

cheers for the link

Hi, haven't posted much recently, but just managed to get some photos of a staircase we did in october last year, so i figured id post them here with the sketchup images too.

My previous car:






228bhp cooper S Schnizter fast car, i had the speedo off the clock once

current car:

yea its intentional, i made a few of these you see using a cnc router, and didnt want to have to hand finish those internal corners (those internal corners have a round the radius of the cutter i used).

Tom.

heres a model of some pigeon hole style shelves i made for a customer.
I used 4 sheets of 22mm mdf and 2 sheets of 9mm on these.

not exactly fine joinery, but might be some use to someone?

Tom.

pigeon holes.skp

Hmm, i guess its not for everyone. although id urge you to give it another go, i cant remember putting any complicated parameters in.

also, try VMWARE, it emulates an entire pc inside your linux os, (so you just allocate it a few gb of your HDD, and then install xp to that)

its pretty painless to try linux.

i suggest you go to ubuntu.com and download a live cd.

pop it in the drive and reboot,

lets you try linux, without any risk (albeit a little slower than a proper install). then when your done, just eject your cd, and reboot back into windows.
+if you do decide you want to install linux, theres an icon on the live cds desktop that does it for you!

give it a try!

i use qcad for this kinda thing, then save as dxf and import to sketchup

Hi, i also use ubuntu at home, i assume you have tried wine, and looked through wine forums? maybe you can run your required programs using that.

Look at VMware, i have also used that when using an ubuntu pc at work requiring windows programs.

did you hear about the magic tractor?

it turned into a field.

what software are you using to carve?

when i carve, i use vectors and vgroove carving in artcam.

id like to know what software you use to get that result from a grey scale image! impressed!

i recently carved a newel cap from a sketchup model with an 18mm bullnose bit, its on here in the gallery.

thanks,

tom.

Hey hazza, im liking your joinery models, looking forward to contributing/building some myself!

Tom.

Good work!
I really cant get the hang of rendering myself, ill have a few more trys before I post anything,
your work looks really good.

Hi, just posting some pics of a newelcap I had to copy for a customer.

I had a photo and a few sizes to work from.

Mine is actually scaled down slightly, but they are over 3m away from the originals, so it will look fine.

This isnt my normal kind of work, so it took a couple of test pieces to get it machined just right!

just off the top of my head, I would have done something like this.

Open riser carpeted treads (1).skp

Those stairs look really good, nice and clean.

I think that i would have made them in a slightly different way, (and perhaps not have the inlay the full width) but realy like the delicate/open look of the thin treads.

Gene, I attached a file with my components laid out, ready for export.

Tom.

14.skp

@gene davis said:

If you don't mind, Tom, I would like to see some snaps of whatever intermediate Sketchup images you use for the actual making of parts.

Or instead, do you export files to a CAD program for use in making part drawings?

I am an enthusiastic SU modeler, and use it to create and build houses, site-built staircases, and in many aspects of cabinet and furniture making.

Attached is a model I did to develop the method for doing an open-riser staircase, where the treads have upholstered carpet inlays at top and bottom, and finished hardwood nosing and back pieces. Because the desired look was for treads not too thick, a welded steel angle frame is buried inside. Stringers are visible, and are in the same species and finish as the tread edges.

Hi gene, ill try to send some pics tomorrow when im back at work, but basically I just lay out the components that I need to machine, and then goto top view in parallel projection mode, and output DXF, clean up a little in QCAD, then just use that in some CAM software.

Can i just ask why you used steel? Beacuse I would have used 35mm treads, and just relive them away to take the carpet inlays, this would be plenty strong enough, (i think you have over engineered it)

also in the uk that design wouldnt hit regulations because you cant have 100mm gap between the treads (or spindles or anything else) so you would have to put a dummy half riser in, or a steel bar to close the gap.

I bet it looks good how youve done it though, any pics of the finished article?

thanks for the comments,

tom.

@eeva said:

great to see the SU pictures AND the finished stairs!

to those ladder stairs: in germany they are also called "samba-stairs", because of the way your hips move, like dancing samba, when you go up.

there are a few cool ones built, i like these very much, because they are also used as a book shelf.

yea they are cool, although they look a little unsafe, would have to guard both sides, and lose the storage space on the smaller shelves (if that makes sense?)

Thats pretty cool, especially the render! really like that,

I think Im going to have to look at some renderers!