Thanks Dave.

It must be my forgetful old age, but I forgot if there is a plug-in that will assist me in reproducing multiple spindles (components) along a curved line. Someone must have a better memory than I. Thanks for your help.

Hello Chris, I see that you’re from England so this desk should be perfect for you. This desk, and others similar to this one, was popular in Victorian England during the 3rd quarter of the 19th century. I don’t know who manufactured them but there was definitely a popular theme for this style desk. The original desk that I patterned this one from (selling for about $4,500) was built in quarter sawn Oak. Others were done in Mahogany. By the way, the original Dickens’ Desk was auctioned in June of 2008 for $850,000. The price of Oak has gone up in the last couple of years but you should still be able to build one for much, much less. Ron

In the interest of sharing with fellow SketchUp folks, I was recently looking for an interesting desk to draw and came upon an outstanding original desk from the 1880s styled after the famed Charles Dickens’ desk. This desk has the same characteristics of the original Dickens Desk including twin pedestals, double drawer handles and a sloped writing surface that opens to reveal additional storage space and drawers. The SketchUp model can be found in the 3D Warehouse or on my web site, Creeksidewoodshop.com. Ron

Thanks for your input and comments on the drawing. I'm not sure if I will actually build the desk or not. It was a project that I was interested in doing and thought I'd at least get going on the doing the drawing. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Ron Fritz

Recently I wanted to build a kneehole desk with bowed front drawers and was having a hard time determining the appropriate curvature of the drawer fronts as well as appropriate scale and placement of the drawer pedestals. What I came up with was to establish initial layout lines in Sketchup for the overall size (width and depth) of the desk "footprint" and draw in a rectangle. Then I began to add secondary layout lines for the pedestals and eventually begin to layout the arch of the drawer fronts. After 2 to 3 iterations of determining the appropriate shape of the bowed drawer fronts I deleted out the unused edges and made my base footprint a group. I then began to build/construct the sides of the desk on top of the footprint. Here are a couple of images of the footprint in use as well as the final Sketchup model. I hope you find this method usefull. The sketchup drawing can be found on my web site, Creeksidewoodshop.com
Ron Fritz

This project is on my short "to-do" list. I should have this one done soon. By the way, I neglected to mention that the SketchUp model is now in the 3D Warehouse here. http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/search?uq=06706272781836509090&styp=c

Here's a very simple tool chest to construct. The drawer bottoms are extended to slide in groves cut into the sides. The front door folds up and locks. It's 24"W, 11"D, 16"H.

I saw this interesting table design in FineWoodworking and decided it would be a good Sketchup project. The table is similar to a trestle table in construction, except that the cleats are hinged instead of joined to the legs, allowing the tabletop to flip down or be removed for storage and transportation. The harp-shaped structure pivots outward to support the tabletop when the tabletop is set up for use. The SketchUp model is uploaded into my "Creekside Woodshop" collection in the Google 3D warehouse. http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/cldetails?mid=80d21e7fd8e6c4cb43638dabe1eb5336&ct=mdcc

Brandy, I don't know if this is the best solution to your question but here's a simple one what I came up with. Draw your sheet of plywood, use lines (1/8") along the edges to simulate the plywood layers then use alternating color to highlight the alternating layers.

Oops, one of these times I'll have to look at the submitted dates to see when the thread started. Color me red!

I like them all but will cast my vote for bottom right with 2nd from left botton row as a close back up.

Hello Sawduster, I decided to make these clocks because I had a request from a family member to build a tall clock. I didn't know how to build one so I started to design and draw. I like the Shaker design and will most likely build the 1st clock (Cherry Shaker). I have just finished another clock drawing and loaded it into the 3D Warehouse as well. All of the models and renderings are on my web site as well. Here's a group rendering of the 5 clocks that I have drawn thus far.

Here are some new renderings of a second Shaker Style Tall Clock that was designed from one that is now in the Shaker Museum in Old Chatham Village, NY. The model is uploaded into the 3D Warehouse in the Creekside Woodshop Collection as well as my Creeksidewoodshop.com site.
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/search?uq=06706272781836509090&styp=c

Here are some renderings of a Shaker Tall Clock that I just finished and uploaded into the 3D Warehouse. It's in the Creekside Woodshop Collection. http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/search?uq=06706272781836509090&styp=c&scoring=m

Overall it's a good design that makes good use of available space. My only though is that the fold-up work surface is not strong enough. You should frame the top (I'm assuming you'll use 3/4" plywood) underneath with 2x4s and then add a couple of cross member 2x4 to add more strength. I don't know what your friend is going to use the work bench for but I don't believe it will be sturdy enough for anything heavy or any heavy pounding.

Here's a quick update on the status of my web site, http://www.Creeksidewoodshop.com. I have rewritten every page so that it conforms to standards and is now usable for web browsers other than MS-Explorer. Thanks for your comments and support.

Thanks for your comments. I've known for a short while now that my web site was not compatable with Firefox. I am in the process of re-writing the entire site now which should take me a while. Since spring is almost here and with it comes lawn and garden work and oh yes, I can't forget golf, it will take me several weeks to get the site back into compliance. Ron

Thanks Hazza, I don't mind. I put them in the 3D warehouse to share.

It was rendered in Kerkythea. I'm not a master at rendering, but I know just enought to make my drawings look a little better than a SketchUp 2D Jpg. Ron