Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp, 3rd Edition This comprehensive course provides simple and efficient techniques and shortcuts to design and create detailed 3D models of any type of furniture, cabinet or woodworking project. ▶ SketchUp is a versatile design and engineering … Continue reading
Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp, 3rd Edition is now available in PDF format This comprehensive course provides simple and efficient techniques and shortcuts to design and create detailed 3D models of any type of furniture, cabinet or woodworking project. ▶ SketchUp … Continue reading
Print Editions of New SketchUp Book Are Now In Stock! My printer pleasantly surprised me with an early delivery. If you filled out the form to reserve your signed copy we’ll be happy to get one on its way to … Continue reading
Yesterday the hard proofs for Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp, 3rd Edition arrived from the printer. As I went through it I took out the camera and took some photos of the inside pages. When I’m thinking about buying I book … Continue reading
Reserve Your Copy of the new Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp, 3rd Edition Today! The latest version of Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp will soon be available, both as a PDF download and as a spiral-bound printed book. You can reserve either … Continue reading
History of a good idea In 2010 I went out on a limb and self-published the first iteration of Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp. It was intended to show woodworkers how to use this 3D modeling software to design, plan and … Continue reading
There are still a few seats available for my live, weekend SketchUp class to be held November 18-19, 2023 at the Sam Beauford Woodworking Institute in Adrian, Michigan. More details are available on this earlier post, or from the school. … Continue reading
The weekend of November 18 & 19, 2023 I will be returning to the Sam Beauford Woodworking Institute in Adrian, Michigan to teach a “SketchUp for Woodworkers” class. If you’ve been wanting to learn how to make 3D models of … Continue reading
The most important skill in woodworking isn’t what you might think it is. It isn’t the ability to master a specific tool or technique. The things that look impossible become approachable, and picking up new tools and methods isn’t a … Continue reading
The weekend of March 18 & 19 I will be returning to the Sam Beauford Woodworking Institute in Adrian, Michigan to teach a “SketchUp for Woodworkers” class. If you’ve been wanting to learn how to make 3D models of your … Continue reading
SketchUp Class November 5-6, 2022 at Sam Beauford Woodworking Institute, Adrian, Michigan Like everyone else I’ve made some adjustments to what I do in the last few years. One of the things I’ve missed is teaching SketchUp, but that is … Continue reading
In the past few weeks I’ve received several emails from folks looking for SketchUp models of my woodworking projects. My response has been to point to the SketchUp 3D Warehouse. When I received a thank you that included: “I followed … Continue reading
This August 10 & 11 I will be returning to the Marc Adams School of Woodworking to teach a class called “Supercharge SketchUp”. Unlike most of my SketchUp classes this is intended for folks who already have some experience in … Continue reading
I don’t mind answering questions from readers, because good questions often become useful blog posts. In this instance, the question wasn’t quite clear so I’m showing two solutions. One way to solve problems in SketchUp is to consider how it … Continue reading
Sometimes the best things appear in the most unexpected places. You wouldn’t expect to find a woodworking school smack dab in the middle of central Indiana, but that’s the location of the Marc Adams School of Woodworking. MASW has been … Continue reading
There are still seats available in my upcoming SketchUp class at the Philadelphia Furniture Workshop, November 11 & 12, 2017. This is the last live class I have scheduled for this year, and a rare appearance for me in the … Continue reading
One of the ways to improve your woodworking skills has more to do with your mindset than your skill set. If you aren’t willing to do things you’ve never done before you won’t improve. That’s a simple concept, but it … Continue reading
I’ve been making stuff from wood for more than 40 years and I do better work now than I used to. (If you’re curious about my woodworking, you can find photos going way back at this link.) I’m not one … Continue reading
I’m delighted to announce a SketchUp Class to be held the weekend of November 11-12, 2017 at the Philadelphia Furniture Workshop in Philadelphia, PA. You can get detailed information and register for this class at the PFW website. While this … Continue reading
Space Available MASW July 22-23 SketchUp Class There are still a few seats available in the two-day SketchUp class I will be teaching on the weekend of July 22-23, 2017 at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Franklin, Indiana. … Continue reading
One of my favorite weekends of the year is teaching SketchUp at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana. There are still a few spots available in this years class on the weekend of July 22 & 23. Complete … Continue reading
The good folks at SketchUp recently tweaked the features of the 3D Warehouse and it is now possible to “borrow” materials or components from a warehouse model without downloading the entire model. In this example I have a model of a … Continue reading
It’s now official! The class scheduled for May 6 & 7 in Pittsburgh, PA is set to go. There are still a limited number of spaces available, so if you’re ready to learn how to make 3D models with SketchUp, … Continue reading
How far do you go with details in a SketchUp model? That’s a common question and the answer depends on what you’re making the model for versus how much time it will take to add the details. In my work, … Continue reading
Thanks to the organizing efforts of one of my readers I will be teaching a two-day SketchUp Woodworking class this May 6-7, 2017 in the Pittsburgh, PA area. This class will focus on woodworking, but the 3D modeling techniques you … Continue reading
I realize that this website is a mixed bag, but it is a reflection of what I do. I’m interested in many different things and old enough to be pretty good at several of them. As it’s time to get … Continue reading
I readily admit to being lazy, and that’s one of the reasons SketchUp is my favorite design software. I never have to model something a second time if I’m careful about where I put it. The Components window has some … Continue reading
Of course I’m going to tell you that the “New Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp” is the best resource available for woodworkers to get up to speed in 3D modeling – I wrote it and published it. An opinion from someone … 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
Next weekend I will be in Birmingham, Alabama as a guest of the Alabama Woodworkers Guild. On Friday evening, April 8, 2016 from 6-9pm I will be conducting a Woodworking With SketchUp workshop. This special event is open to the … 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 think my books are pretty good; they mix text and video in a digital format (PDF). These different methods reinforce each other so no matter what your learning style is you “get it” faster than you would with just … Continue reading
Knowing a traditional way of doing something is certainly valuable, but it’s easy to get trapped in thinking that the traditional way is the only way, or the best way to achieve a goal. Technical drawings and project plans are … 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
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
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
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
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