I’ve written a lot about my new book the “Great Book of Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture”, and I’m admittedly biased. I wrote the original book in this series because I thought that the furniture of the American Arts & … Continue reading
Category Archives: Blogs
A Free Excerpt from the “Great Book of Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture” Step One: Cut all the pieces to the sizes listed in the cut list. Please don’t do that. Not if you’re building from the large format plans … Continue reading
End of An Era and Thank You About this time of year eleven years ago, I was waiting to see what would happen when my first book “Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture” was published. It had taken awhile to move … Continue reading
My friends at SketchUp were kind enough to ask me to contribute a post about how I use the software in designing and planning woodworking projects. You can read it on the Official SketchUp Blog (and find out just what … Continue reading
Quartersawn white oak isn’t the easiest wood to work, but with experience and an understanding of its character, it is steady and predictable. In gaining that experience, you’ll better understand your own character. The work becomes a partnership between man … Continue reading
One of my favorite features of SketchUp Pro is the solid tools. I do a lot of detailed models of furniture, and these tools make my life a lot easier and my work go much faster. I can take a … Continue reading
When I teach SketchUp classes, I try to spend at least half my time looking over the shoulders of students, answering questions and coaching them past the hard parts. The answer to almost every question (and the solution to the … Continue reading
Gustav Stickley, while an innovator in design, did not work single-handedly, and his work does show influences from designs that were seen in England prior to the introduction of his Craftsman furniture. Although Stickley’s daughter Barbara, maintained that Harvey Ellis … Continue reading
Before I start most projects, I kill half an hour or an hour making a full-size layout on a piece of scrap wood. This can be a simple stick, as shown in the photo, or it can be a full … Continue reading
One of the most common questions asked about building pieces from my Shop Drawings Books is “What do I do about the cushions? Your drawings don’t show any details.” There were several methods used in the original Stickley pieces, and … Continue reading
CLICK HERE FOR CURRENT CLASS LIST I will be teaching SketchUp classes in Cincinnati, beginning this summer. The date, price, and location will be announced soon, but in the meantime, here is the plan. Classes will consist of two, two-day … Continue reading
UPDATE: THESE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS ARE FOR SKETCHUP VERSIONS 8 AND EARLIER. THE ICONS CHANGED WITH THE RELEASE OF SKETCHUP 2013 & YOU CAN FIND AN UP-TO-DATE LIST OF KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS HERE One of the quirks of learning SketchUp is that … Continue reading
The Gustav Stickley No. 332 Morris chair is an iconic example of Arts & Crafts period furniture. It isn’t as flashy as the bow arm or bent arm chairs, but it’s a challenging project. In my never-ending hunt for details … Continue reading
This post is adapted from my book “Bob Lang’s Complete Kitchen Cabinetmaker”. You can buy a signed copy of the revised edition from our store. Few things are more terrifying to many woodworkers than hanging a door on butt hinges. … Continue reading
You don’t need to be an expert in using SketchUp to use it. In fact, you can do some amazing things without ever drawing a line. The key is Google SketchUp’s 3D Warehouse where you can find thousands of models … Continue reading
Almost every task in woodworking comes down to cutting to a line. If you can cut to a line consistently and accurately, you can build anything. There are any number of ways to do it, and the more methods you … Continue reading
Furniture from the American Arts & Crafts period is extremely popular, but it is also misunderstood. We’re not even sure what to call it. Is the correct name Mission or Craftsman or something else? Much of the confusion comes from … Continue reading
Although hand-hammered copper is often thought of as the definitive handle on a Stickley drawer, wood pulls were common on original pieces, often in a pyramid shape. I’ve seen people jump through all kinds of hoops to make these with … Continue reading
Components Can Be Redefined SketchUp is a powerful tool for designing furniture and other woodworking projects. In the design phase, you can quickly make objects, copy and compare variations, and see how things will look in three dimensions. But that’s … Continue reading
A reader had an interesting question; “How would you build or put leaves (mounting) in the 599 dining room table? ” The great thing about trestle tables, such as the L & JG Stickley No. 599 (sometimes referred to as … Continue reading
Here is a more accurate SketchUp model of the Thorsen House plant stand, one of the projects that students can build in my “Real Details of Arts & Crafts Furniture” class. The model in the Popular Woodworking 3D Warehouse collection … Continue reading
Paste in Place is My Best Friend My primary goal when modeling a project in SketchUp is to get away from the computer as soon as I possibly can. One of the main reasons SketchUp is the ultimate design/planning tool … Continue reading
The Power of Reusing Details Designing on the computer can be far more efficient than drawing with pencil and paper. The advantage isn’t so much in making the original drawing, that takes some time no matter how you do it. … Continue reading
Don’t Draw if You Can Copy & Copy is Part of the Move Command It’s easy to miss the obvious when you’re learning something new, and that was my experience when learning SketchUp. Once again, my AutoCAD experience was more … Continue reading
Components Are Crucial My abilities in SketchUp took a great leap forward when I gave up on drawing and began modelling, and I was able to take that step when I got a grip on using components rather than dealing … Continue reading
In January 1902, Gustav Stickley suggested to readers of The Craftsman that they should examine furniture in the same way they would examine prospective friends, to look for moral and agreeable qualities in both. That may seem like an odd … Continue reading
Just Type The Number I think this post is more about me and the way my brain works than it is about learning to use SketchUp. Now that I’ve become somewhat adept at modelling, I really admire the simple and … Continue reading
Click and Let Go, ClickClick, and ClickClickClick One thing I plan on emphasizing in this year’s SketchUp classes is using the mouse effectively. Modeling in SketchUp is a very efficient process if you click the right way at the right … Continue reading
Navigate With the Mouse At SketchUp Base Camp I was in a group of people who teach SketchUp, and someone suggested that saying the program is “intuitive and easy to learn” may not be such good advice. It can be … Continue reading
Those Colored Lines and Dots Mean Something Learning how to use software that’s new to you is like adapting to the way things are in a foreign country. The language is different, the customs are different, and behavior that is … Continue reading
I Can Get Rid of That Guy Standing in The Corner All of us had at least one teacher in junior high who liked to point out the negative consequences of making an assumption. For me it was Mr. Sawyer, … Continue reading
The L. & J.G. Stickley No. 220 Prairie Settle is one of the bestselling plans in our store. The most frequently asked question I get is about building it is “how do I attach the arms”, and my answer, “glue … Continue reading
I received an e-mail last week from a reader who feels that he is being “forced” to move from AutoCAD to SketchUp, and he isn’t a happy CADer. I can relate. I first learned to make design drawings with pencil … Continue reading
I’ve been selling plans online for 10 years through craftsmanplans.com, large format printed plans. They’re nicely done, but if you’ve never made any furniture or worked with measured drawings, they can be intimidating. Over the years, there have been requests … Continue reading
I never set out to be a writer. I’m a cabinetmaker first and foremost and have been since the early 1970s. In those days resources were few and I was continually on the prowl for new information about woodworking and … Continue reading
Update: A revised & updated Version of my book is now available! CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE “NEW WOODWORKER’S GUIDE TO SKETCHUP” Hi Bob, Any plans to update your SketchUp 7 ebook to SketchUp 8? Time frame? Thanks. Pete … Continue reading
With all of the interest in ancient texts, I’m surprised that no one else has mentioned this recently discovered missive from the Dead Sea scrolls. Dr. Heime Schmulevitz, an Aramaic scholar (and amateur woodworker) has kindly shared these excerpts from … Continue reading
Question: what can I do about the finish looking blotchy in cherry and maple? Answer: call it chatoyance … Continue reading
Bob Lang teaches a variety of classes on using Google SketchUp, and is available to teach classes tailored to the needs of your group or organization. Bob has studied the common things that new users to SketchUp struggle with, including … Continue reading
You can watch free SketchUp videos here, or on Bob’s YouTube Channel. Subscribe to our RSS Feed and you’ll be notified when new videos are added. … Continue reading