I had a theory as regards ACAD
90% of users used it "out of the box"
90% of the remaining 10% used bespoke keyboard short cuts and scripts they got from others
It was the remaining 1% that actually created the short cuts and scripts.

Why should SketchUp be any different

When I'm orbiting a model to try and get the best view, I frequently wish I could limit the orbit to just one axis at a time for final adjustments. Would this be possible with a Ruby??
Although I'm not very good programming Ruby, if someone could suggest some pointers as to how it might be done I might have a go myself (unless a Ruby exists that I haven't found).

So when the chips are down it can't be done.

@unknownuser said:

Just use Tool Axes
Insert it in the middle of your object as you want

???
Surely that just changes the position of the axis. How does that enable me to orbit about just one of them?

Sometimes I get quite frustrated trying to orbit around my model to get the view I want.

Is there a way to orbit around just one specified axis at a time???

'ow bist? (How are you)
I be, 'ow's you? (I'm OK, how are you)

@gaieus said:

Would it be something like this?

Yes it would, just stretched out more like a compression coil spring

@bobr said:

Luminova Conductor - iray for SketchUp

It's gone????

I'm sure I once knew how to do this.... but old age has taken it's toll.

What I want is to 'cut' a helical groove (semi-circular in section) in the OD of a shaft, like a long pitch thread.

Peter

Too true mate!

Well I've been tempted to part with $99.

@olishea said:

you need something like autocad for that. there are free versions like turbocad but im not sure how well they work.

DoubleCAD is a good free start.

1. something, however bad, that looks good in 2D on paper

2. someone who prepared (1)

3. people who in the 1960's designed all the high rise crap we're having to pull down and are currently designing houses with garages too small to get a car in and open the door to get out!!

(signed Victor Meldrew)

Well, I posted the problem on the ADSK Inventor help forum, but got no significant assistance. J D Mather asked me to post what I had got, but I got no reply. Using SU was so simple in comparison and the proof of the pudding is the "cock on" prototype

SU isn't just for designing buildings!

Of course you can.
The best Inventor advice I got was to start with the flat pattern and press it up!
I thought that rather defeats the object of creating a model and unfolding it.

@watkins said:

I imagine it was more the inexperience of the chap holding the mouse, as Inventor is pretty powerful.

Don't think so, nobody could assist on the IV help forum. General opinion is IV is a bit lacking in the sheet metal department.

Many thanks to Jim Foltz for this ruby.
Using this with SketchUp I have been able to create a flat pattern of a part and save it as a DXF for sending to a laser cutter. The prototype part was pressed up today and was spot on!
Embarrassingly for some, they weren't able to create a suitable unfoldable model in Autodesk's Inventor.
So it's not how much the software costs is it.

@al hart said:

Someone else mentioned this.
Any of you from the UK - Did your grandmother serve you Chicken Tikka Masala?

Of course not, we get it at the local Indian restaurant or take-away!
Most younger generation English females have lost the ability to cook anyway. Best they can do is warm something up in the microwave.

Some would say in the UK it's Chicken Tikka Masala .....

Chicken tikka masala - Wikipedia

(en.wikipedia.org)

@remus said:

Seems like a very strange idea either way. I cant imagine any significant proportion of 'chavs' have committed a crime major enough to be worth reporting.

Chav crimes that come to mind -
Speeding
Taking without consent (a car)
Driving while uninsured
Using a mobile while driving
Having a body but no brain
Assorted crimes against good taste
Not worth much.

Mind you some of the population have REAL bling, and BMW's (black and tinted windows), but strangely seem to lack a job?