SketchUp is a wonderful tool for a multitude of purposes. When you harness the power of 3-D modeling you can accurately plan, engineer, design and problem solve. From the same model that gives you all the technical information you need … Continue reading →
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 →
I will be teaching a two-day SketchUp class on June 2 & 3, 2016, at the Golden Lamb Inn in Lebanon, Ohio. This two-day class (Thursday and Friday) will cover how to use SketchUp to design, plan and problem solve … Continue reading →
In a good SketchUp model anything that is a distinct piece of wood in real life is a component. (Click here to read about why components are so important). With components, you rarely need to draw anything more than once; … Continue reading →
If you’re learning how to use SketchUp you have a lot on your plate. As it is with any new software you need to remember what happens when you click on this or that, but SketchUp is more complex because … Continue reading →
Question from a reader: I’m trying to do a simple paneled door; 2 rails, 2 stiles, and a panel in a groove all the way around. I made stiles no problem, the rails have a groove and a little tenon, … Continue reading →
I spent a little time this morning making a SketchUp model of one of the pieces from Gustav Stickley’s “The Craftsman” magazine. This table has always intrigued me, it was designed by Ernest Gimson in the early 1900s. This was … Continue reading →
What do middle school students and amateur carpenters have in common? Neither group realizes how tricky and troublesome compound angles can be. Carpenters will have fits trying to run crown molding and one group of middle schoolers recently hit a … Continue reading →
One of the most popular posts on this blog is my “SketchUp Shortcuts Cheat Sheet”, a handy list of the shortcuts I use all the time. Those are all standard shortcuts that exist when you install SketchUp. A few years … Continue reading →
Since the first post on this site in August, 2011 I’ve written about woodworking, the American Arts & Crafts period and SketchUp. My interest in SketchUp began with my own use and that led to teaching other woodworkers how to … Continue reading →
SketchUp is a program that tries to make things easy. There are inferences at the ends and midpoints of every line. When you get close to one with the mouse cursor a colored dot appears along with a yellow tag. … Continue reading →
Last week I spent a most interesting day in the tech lab at a Michigan middle school, showing a group of five (a middle school technology teacher, an 8th grade science teacher, a high school technology teacher, a high school … Continue reading →
At the Alabama Woodworkers Guild – April 8-10, 2016 In a few months I will be traveling to Maylene (just south of Birmingham), Alabama to present not one, but two workshops for the Alabama Woodworkers Guild. The main event will … Continue reading →
A few people have asked about the SketchUp class scheduled for January 30-31 at the Rockler Woodworking & Hardware Store in Denver, Colorado. This class will be held as scheduled. If you’d like to join me for this class, there … Continue reading →
The new issue (January/February 2016) of Woodworker West Magazine includes an excerpt from my book “Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp”. My thanks to Ron Goldman for reaching out and including this. As a small, independent publisher it is an uphill battle … Continue reading →
One of the features of SketchUp that isn’t immediately obvious is the value of storing and retrieving complex objects. A case in point is a project I worked on this morning, building and organizing a library of moldings for a … Continue reading →
SketchUp 2016 was released a few weeks ago, with a few new features and under the hood improvements. You can find the full list of features (and download the latest version of SketchUp) at this link. If you use SketchUp … Continue reading →
UPDATE – JANUARY 12, 2016 – CLASS IS DEFINITELY ON! A FEW SEATS ARE STILL AVAILABLE! I will be teaching a two-day SketchUp class on January 30 & 31, 2016, and the Rockler Woodworking & Hardware store in Denver, Colorado. … Continue reading →
In the comments to a recent post about an upcoming SketchUp class in Cincinnati the suggestion was made that I hold a class in “Denver or thereabouts”. My response was that it only takes enough people to sign up to … Continue reading →
This post is from 2015 – this class is over! CLICK HERE FOR INFO ON UPCOMING CLASSES SketchUp is a versatile and powerful 3D modeling tool, and if designing, planning or making things is part of what you do, you … Continue reading →
Most good builders know and use the Pythagorean Theorem, even if they never heard of Pythagoras or slept through high school geometry. It’s easier to remember 3-4-5 than an ancient Greek and it’s a reliable way to make something at … Continue reading →
In between an idea and an object is the process of design. You may not like the process, but it can’t be avoided. You need to decide how big, what shape, what material, what color and what level of craftsmanship … Continue reading →
I will be teaching an introduction to SketchUp Class on Saturday, October 10, and Sunday, October 11, 2015 at The Manufactory, here in Cincinnati. The class will follow the “Building Blocks of SketchUp” format, where you will learn how to … 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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
“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 →
