Back in 2012, I wrote a series of posts titled “10 Things I Wish I Had Known About SketchUp” The series grew out of a presentation I gave at a woodworking conference. It turned out to be a popular series, … Continue reading
Like a guy who remembers the first girl he kissed, I know exactly when and where my fascination with Byrdcliffe carving began. In the late 1980s I came across one of the best books about the Arts & Crafts period, … Continue reading
A few weeks ago I spent the weekend teaching a class on carving reproductions of the panels from the Byrdcliffe Iris Desk at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking deep in the corn maze of central Indiana. Carving is the … Continue reading
In the cabinet business, good planning and keeping track of everything is essential. That’s one of the main themes of my book “The Complete Kitchen Cabinetmaker”. There are common tools used that have been around for quite a while to … Continue reading
UPDATE MAY 28, 2022: “The Craftsman” Magazine online archive has changed. Here is the link to access all issues: The Craftsman Magazine I’ve never been to Madison, Wisconsin but it is one of my favorite places because it is the … Continue reading
Space is still available for this class August 1 & 2, 2015-Click Here to sign up at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking website. On the weekend of August 1 & 2 I’ll be teaching a weekend workshop at the … Continue reading
The Massachusetts Department of Education links to this page as a valuable resource for learning SketchUp. If you’re a teacher and looking for ways to integrate 3D modeling into your Science, Technology, Engineering, Art or Math program, visit our “SketchUp … Continue reading
One might think that digital publishing in the 21st century is an easy matter. It is if what you publish is mostly text or if all you want is a replica of a printed book. That’s like driving a horse … Continue reading
My SketchUp books are independently produced and published. That gives me an incredible amount of freedom as an author, but the flip side of that is there is no marketing department, broad-based distribution channel, or advertising budget. To succeed I … Continue reading
A few years ago my son talked me into playing a video game, one where we had to run around an imaginary world with people shooting at us. I sucked at it, big time. I got blasted before I could … Continue reading
The “New Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp” is entirely digital. If you want a paper and ink version, you can print out the pages, but then you’ll miss out on the embedded videos and links within the PDF. This post details … Continue reading
If you build furniture, there are a bunch of steps that have to take place, whether you like it or not. The parts need to go from rough lumber to finished size, and those parts have to connect with the … Continue reading
When I teach a class or talk to woodworkers about SketchUp, those two questions are almost always asked. As an unrepentant smart-Alec I usually reply “$590 – the current cost of a SketchUp Pro license, SketchUp Make is free”. There … Continue reading
I don’t teach classes very often; a few times a year at most. While I really enjoy teaching, I’m not crazy about travel, hotels or unknown sources of food. I don’t actively solicit teaching jobs, but when somebody calls or … Continue reading
About a week ago I stumbled across a Facebook post where people were offering up “Get Well” wishes and speculating on my possible demise, in response to a “Weekly Woodworking News” video from Stumpy Nubs. Stumpy was looking for an … Continue reading
This post is out of date! Click Here for up-to-date information about Upcoming SketchUp Classes. I will be teaching two, two-day SketchUp classes in the next few months, and there are just a few seats still available in each class. … Continue reading
Last evening, Chuck Bender, Glen Huey and I sat down with Dyami Plotke, Tom Iovino and Chris Atkinson and recorded a conversation about our new adventure 360 Woodworking. You can listen to the conversation by tuning in to the Modern … Continue reading
A completed piece of furniture provides a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment that people who don’t make furniture miss out on. I suppose it’s like most things in life that take dedicated effort and practice; those who have been there … Continue reading
In a few weeks I’ll be traveling to Maine to teach a week long SketchUp class for woodworkers at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship. The class will be held September 8-12, 2014. There are still a few spots open, so … Continue reading
I’ve written before about Dean Mattson and his work as a shop teacher at North Salem High School in Salem, Oregon. Shortly after meeting him online, I published “The Future of Woodshop, Win, Win, Win.” That inspired me to travel … Continue reading
Last week I was honored to be a guest at a chair building class at the Chidwick School of Fine Woodworking in Stevensville, Montana. Most classes at Chidwick’s are comprised of guys in their fifties whose lives are pretty well … Continue reading
This is the season for high school graduation, and after the parties are over it’s time to adjust to the real world. Kids fresh out of school don’t have a lot of good choices. It’s either off to college, the … Continue reading
When I was sitting in my high school geometry class I wouldn’t have believed you if you had told me that one day I would standing in front of the class, suggesting that geometry was not only useful, but interesting … Continue reading
“Bob Lang’s Complete Kitchen Cabinetmaker” has been one of my most successful books since it was published in 2006. It’s been reprinted several times (an unusual occurrence for a woodworking book in this day and age) and about a year … Continue reading
With the release of SketchUp 2014 come a couple of options for drawing arcs. In the past arcs were drawn by selecting a start point, an end point and then specifying a “bulge” distance. That’s a useful way to draw … Continue reading
One of the ways SketchUp resembles woodworking is that it’s easy to get caught up in messing around with the tools and never get any real work done. In my classes this year I only hinted at the ability to … Continue reading
The good folks at SketchUp recently released an updated version of my favorite 3D modeling program. As with previous versions of SketchUp there are two versions, the free for personal use “SketchUp Make” and the more advanced version “SketchUp Pro”. … Continue reading
A few years ago, Glen Huey and I traveled to Winston Salem, North Carolina to visit MESDA and do research for a book of measured drawings of early southern American furniture. MESDA is different from most museums and their collection … Continue reading
One of the fundamental skills of woodworking is sharpening, and the often seen recommendation to use a jig plays to one of the fundamental character traits of most woodworkers. If you can sell a beginning woodworker on the idea that … Continue reading
In my post on making a template for through mortises, I used a full-sized paper pattern that I printed from a SketchUp model. A reader posed the logical and obvious question “can you print a full-size pattern from the free … Continue reading
Jigs and templates are common in professional woodworking shops, as well as common topics in woodworking books, magazines and blogs. A good jig will do two things; make the work better and get the work done faster. If you … Continue reading
“Building Blocks of SketchUp” is a different sort of book. It’s designed to be read on your computer while you practice in SketchUp. Within the pages are embedded video lessons that reinforce the text and screen shot images. It’s independently … Continue reading
SketchUp is a great tool to quickly draw parts for furniture and cabinet projects. Even better is the fact that if you know how to organize all the bits and pieces of the model you hardly need to draw at … Continue reading
I think of a SketchUp model as a resource for building the real thing. Making the model is like a dress rehearsal, you go through all the steps of the process, and you can solve problems with the Undo command, … Continue reading
When you write and publish a book independently, you don’t need to worry about the bean counters or the salesmen. You can do what you want. In “Building Blocks of SketchUp” I tried to write the book I would have … Continue reading
Buying a book to learn how to use software is often a necessary evil. You can only get so far by poking around and seeing what happens when you push different buttons. A good book can save you a lot … Continue reading
Update, October 15, 2013: “Building Blocks of SketchUp” is now available as a digital download. CLICK HERE TO ORDER! SketchUp is a wonderful piece of software for designing, visualizing and planning just about anything. Some people catch on to SketchUp … Continue reading
With the release of SketchUp 2013, many of the tool icon images changed. What hasn’t changed is that for efficient work in SketchUp, you should be using keyboard shortcuts instead of clicking on the icons in the toolbars, at least … Continue reading
One of the most important lessons I have learned in teaching people how to make 3D models in SketchUp is that different people learn in different ways. It’s a huge mistake for anyone involved in teaching or writing about how … Continue reading
Last Wednesday evening I spent about an hour chatting with Dyami, Chris and Tom from the Modern Woodworkers Association. They recorded the conversation about SketchUp, my day job at Popular Woodworking Magazine, my books old an new, Arts & Crafts … Continue reading