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
Tag Archives: Learn SketchUp
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
UPDATE, MAY 11, 2022: VIDEO CONTENT FROM THIS BOOK IS NOW AVAILABLE TO PURCHASERS ONLINE AND THE PDF FILE NOW INCLUDES DIRECT LINKS TO THE ONLINE VIDEOS. IF YOU ALREADY OWN “WOODWORKER’S GUIDE TO SKETCHUP, WE’RE HAPPY TO SEND YOU … 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This post is out of date!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
Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp is approaching its third birthday. It’s a unique work; it really isn’t a book although there are almost 200 pages to it. It comes on a disc in PDF format and what makes it different is … Continue reading
Many people learn SketchUp from free videos or other online resources. If you have the time to sort through all of that, and manage to pick up the right things, you might be one of them. A lot of people … Continue reading
I will be teaching a four day class on Woodworking With SketchUp as a special guest of the Gwinnet Woodworkers Association in Atlanta, Georgia, November 27-30, 2013. After the four-day, Tuesday through Friday class, I’ll be speaking to the entire … Continue reading
Join us in Cincinnati for SketchUp Classes this November 16-19, 2012 from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. This four day class will be held in two sessions: Friday and Saturday: “Building Blocks of SketchUp” . You will start with program … Continue reading
Building Blocks of SketchUp is a two-day class is for those with little or no experience in SketchUp, and for those who have tried SketchUp without success. In this class students will develop a thorough understanding of how the program … Continue reading
The “Woodworking With SketchUp” class follows and builds on the foundation skills developed in “Building Blocks of SketchUp” using those skills to effectively design and plan any furniture or cabinetmaking project. Students in this class will learn how to use … Continue reading
I spent the week before Labor Day teaching a group of woodworkers the fine points of SketchUp at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Franklin, Indiana. It’s the fourth year that I’ve taught this class, and it’s a real … 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
I finally had a chance today to try out Google+ Hangouts, and I think I have found an exciting and effective way to share techniques for using SketchUp to design, plan and understand woodworking projects. Hangouts are a way that … 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
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
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