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 →
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 →
I only have a few classes scheduled (at the moment) for the coming year. Space is limited and my classes often fill early. Here are dates, places and information about signing up: SketchUp Weekend at Rockler Denver, January 30-31, 2016 … Continue reading →
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 →
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 →
It’s just starting to look like fall here in Cincinnati, but I’m working on my teaching schedule for 2016. I’ll be announcing some classes soon, but in the meantime you can help me out in a couple of ways. Here … 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 →
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 →
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 →
Which SketchUp book should I buy? That’s a question I get a lot, and if you have no experience with SketchUp, I recommend that you start with “Building Blocks of SketchUp”. That book starts with downloading and installing SketchUp and … Continue reading →
The “New Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp” isn’t like most books. It’s a digital publication in enhanced, interactive PDF format. One of the big advantages to this is the addition of video content, embedded in the pages of the book. The … Continue reading →
CLICK HERE FOR A VIDEO PREVIEW OF THIS INNOVATIVE DIGITAL BOOK In 2010 I wrote and published “Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp” in enhanced PDF format. Staying digital let me put videos in along with the text and images. A lot … 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 →
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 →
My teaching schedule for 2014 is beginning to be established, and I’m happy to announce that next September 8-12 I will be teaching a week-long SketchUp class at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, Maine. Registration opens December 16 … 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 →
New SketchUp Book, “Building Blocks of SketchUp” Now Available for Download “Building Blocks of SketchUp” is the best way to learn the basics of 3D Modeling with SketchUp. With 260 pages of illustrated text, with 50 embedded video lessons this … Continue reading →
New SketchUp Book in Enhanced PDF format now available on disc. 260 pages with 50 embedded videos. SketchUp is quickly becoming the “go to” software for 3D modeling. If you want to learn how to use this program quickly and … Continue reading →
Our costs for shipping outside the United States have risen dramatically in the past year. We are now paying three times what we paid a year ago in postage, and can no longer ship internationally for free. (Note: that paragraph … 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 →
Taking a week-long class in SketchUp is the best way I know to really make progress in using this program to design your woodworking projects. If you’re ready to take that step, there are still a few spots available in … Continue reading →
Here is one of my favorite moves in SketchUp, exploding and redefining components to move geometry from one component to another. If you don’t speak SketchUp fluently, that means I can take an existing tenon from a table apron and … Continue reading →
PLEASE NOTE: A NEW, REVISED EDITION OF “WOODWORKER’S GUIDE TO SKETCHUP” IS NOW AVAILABLE. CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE “NEW WOODWORKER’S GUIDE TO SKETCHUP” SketchUp Book Now Available As a Download Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp is a unique … Continue reading →
Last fall we spent four days teaching SketchUp to a group of woodworkers from the Gwinnet Woodworkers Association in Atlanta, Georgia. The group was enthusiastic enough to establish a SketchUp special interest group within the club. They meet regularly, and … Continue reading →
