@earl creel said:
I like this this idea, call it "Board Stretcher.rb" . . .
That would be handy in SU, but if you could make one which would work in my shop, it would be worth millions.
Gidon's idea is great too. If parts are not made into components, you can move sections around with no problem, but I find that woodworking really depends on components.
Here's my 2nd set of ideas.
Back the grain idea above, I once saw a program which showed end grain in a different color.
My work is very often symmetrical. I can make halves of a model in SU and combine them, but it's not as straightforward as it could be. Perhaps something which would create the same joinery on both ends of a board.
An automated dovetail tool would be cool. It should work on both pieces of wood at the same time.
Perhaps a selection of curves often used in wood working which can be scaled to fit. Bezier tools work, but I think there could be a more straight forward approach.
Easy access to some standard dimensions. I often go to http://www.woodbin.com/ref/furniture/index.htm for that. Need to make sure it will work for different standards around the world. On that same note, perhaps some scaled figures which could be posed to see how they fit into furniture. These could be components that could be added to a model.
How about a quick way of indicating where screws or nails go without actually modeling screws or nails.
Now that I'm thinking, I'm sure I'll come up with more.
Nice. Not every job demands "fine" woodworking. Another equipment saving step would be to make the vertical pieces double (plus kerf) wide and glue a bunch of doors all at once. Then come back and cut each door apart.
Do you edge band the door all at once?
How about a way of indicating the desired grain direction?
Extensions on that idea might be that when you apply a texture, it knows which way you want the grain to run. And, this is a wild one. How about if you could model wood movement due to moisture content. It should differentiating between long grain, face grain and quartersawn. Then it would show where wood movement would put strain on a design.
I'll keep thinking about what would be in a wish list.
A collection like that would be nice, but I suspect that if there were such a library, I'd always need one of the ones which isn't available.
I usually import a copy of the profile as a *.jpg, then trace over it in SU and apply it to the edge I'm concerned with. That way, it's the profile I want with the level of detail I need.
I just checked on the 3d warehouse and if you search for " wood profiles " or " molding " or " moulding ", there are quite a few available there. This one http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=7ba74e3e99d7ed7b3401db1f9405bd9e&prevstart=0 is nice.
Thanks,
mirjman - Thank you for the hack. I'll keep that handy in my bag of tricks.
@dave r said:
FWIW, here's a picture of the cradle taken when Ian was about 2 1/2 years old. He's definitely outgrown it. Now the boat is an ark for all the stuffed animals. Once in awhile he'll pull the animals out of it and climb in. The planks are only 1/8" thick pine and I'm always amazed when he climbs in it and it doesn't break.
Great and happy looking kid. He must not have an older brother. If he did, those cleats would come untied often while he is sleeping.
@dave r said:
Hey John, Have you looked at John White's New Fangled Bench referenced by Gidon? Unless you have in mind to build one of those benches that ought to be in a living room, the NF Bench seems like a good option.
I have and I admire it both because it is full of new ideas and it appears to be extremely practical. But it doesn't sing to me. I want something heavier - probably much heavier - and there is some value to a more traditional look for me. No plan to make a "show benche" that looks like it's never used, but aesthetics do matter to me for the place where I spend most of my shop time.
@dave r said:
I want to take a look at Chris Schwarz' book. He asked me to fix the three SU models of the benches so that they'd actually be usable models. I need to get that work done. Anyway, good luck on a designing your bench.
DO READ Chris's book. It's a different workbench book than any other and it changed quite a few of my thoughts based on its approach and its suggestions.
I've found Chris's plans quite easy to model just as they are simple to construct. I'm looking at a cross between a Ruobo and a Shaker with use of plywood where it makes the most sense.
Jim that's terrific. Can't wait to see the product.
I played with it a bit and couldn't figure it out until I noticed its size. Sometimes very small triangles won't fill. I don't know what the reason for this is, but it's a recognized issue with SU. I scaled it up by 100, traced a side like usual and it filled right in. Then I scaled it by .01 and it works fine. This trick solves the problem created by small faces in Follow Me operations too.
I also found that by selecting the sides and using the Create Face tool, it would create a face.
My relationship with wine . . . is one of relaxation. The designs with the bottles cantilevered by their necks bother me. Too much tension.
I think Ross's idea above is excellent. I'm sure the rest of the store is filled with quantity, this could be the place to emphasize quality. And I can just imagine the kind of person who would drop big money on a bottle of wine and a display case to memorialize it. (Probably not my friend, but perhaps my customer.)
The only ruby I use which I would say is especially applicable to woodworking is CutListAndMaterials.rb. Others which see a lot of use in woodworking are:
weld.rb,
centerpoint.rb,
deletecoplaneredges.rb and sometimes
projection_extension.rb and
bezierspline.rb
Always looking for more tricks.
It's great to have this forum available. I'll be referring people here often. I was reluctant to to do that before, because people often got the impression that SU was an architect's tool and it turned people off from the site.
I'm zeroing in on a workbench design which I plan to start on soon. Let me know if you have any suggestions. My first suggestion on the topic is to read Christopher Schwarz' new book. I learned lots from it and am now re-designing based on what I learned there.
Very nice. The middle drawer with the sloping sides is a nice improvement on the usual jumble underneath the plumbing.
I especially like the side with the shelves and the varying thicknesses of the top beam, bottom beam and shelves.
What kind of hardware on the drawers?
Bread and salt Urgen. (But I don't see any salt.) You keep on amazing me.
Gaieus, The only sketchup.rb I've got is in the /tools folder. It's 4K.
Todd, I'll live with it for now, unless it's making you curious, then I'll send it to you for you to play with.
TaffGoch, that is very impressive. Inspires me to go back to some of my rope ideas.
I don't do architectural work, and I could be going in the wrong direction, but check out the *.skp below. Hope that helps.
Still no luck. The only references to sketchup.rb are Require, except in the file sketchup.rb itself.
It's not bothering me much, but if I have time to spare, I'll uninstall SU and the rubys, then reinstall them and watch to see if and when the 2nd "ruby console" reappears.
Still not seeing single 
(closest I could find to an emoticon seeing double)
In SketchyPhysics, I found
@unknownuser said:
if( not file_loaded?("SketchyPhysics.rb") )
#result = Sketchup.send_action "showRubyPanel:"reload()
end
but deleting that file and other references to SketchyPhysics didn't make any change.
I did find it in sketchup.rb in the tools directory
@unknownuser said:
Add some Ruby specific menu items
if( not file_loaded? "sketchup.rb" )
Add a choice to the Window menu to display the Ruby console
add_separator_to_menu("Window")
UI.menu("Window").add_item($suStrings.GetString("Ruby Console")) do
Sketchup.send_action("showRubyPanel:")
end
Commenting that out got rid of both copies, but I do want one of them.