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A Sheraton Leg in SketchUp
3 commentsWatching Philip C. Lowe's current video series showing how to make a Sheraton-style leg got me to thinking about drawing it in SketchUp. The turned portions at the top and bottom are fairly...
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Why Can't I Get a Face?
2 commentsI suspect it's already happened to you - you've drawn a nice shape and the face will not close. Don't worry, this will continue to happen, especially as you build more complex shapes. I'm in my fifth...
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Components & Make Unique -- A Simple Piano Hinge
1 commentA reader made a request via the Knots forum to see a tutorial on making a piano hinge. Here's an approach to doing that which leverages components to make for a quick job and results in a hardware...
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The Importance of the Mouse and Scroll Wheel
6 commentsOccasionally I hear of SketchUp users making use of a trackpad, touchpad, or mouse without a scroll wheel and left/right buttons. I don't know if there are many users adopting these hardware options...
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Drawing Dovetails With a New Plugin
8 commentsI'm always on the look out for SketchUp plugins that will save me time and make drawing easier. This weekend a new commercial plugin called WUDWORX was released and it really speeds up the drawing of...
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Printing to Scale
3 commentsA reader asked me to show how to print a scaled drawing of components in SketchUp on a paper size of 8 1/2 x 11. Except for full-size templates, I must admit not printing scaled drawings. For shop...
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Creating a Pummel, the Square-to-Round Section in Turnings
8 commentsOften furniture with turned legs and stretchers have pummels or square sections of the turning. Both Dave and I have previously shown methods for handling this complexity. A reader recently asked to...
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Jefferson's Bookstand - Another Workflow Example
11 commentsThere are a lot of ways to approach drawing a model in SketchUp. I think most users develop a work flow that works for them. Recently I've spoken with several woodworkers who have told me...
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Guide Lines, Guide Points, and Linear Guides
8 commentsSketchUp has a rich set of construction lines (temporary layout dotted lines) called Guides. I find these features extremely powerful in furniture design. Guides are created by the Tape Measure Tool...
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Clock Numbers, Again
3 commentsAs Chuck Miller over at Fine HomeBuilding is wont to say, "There's a better way." In SketchUp there's nearly always more than one way to do something and sometimes one way is better than the...
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Monticello's Universal Table
6 commentsIn the recent Williamsburg Conference - Working Wood in the 18th Century - Mack Headley gave an interesting talk on various furniture examples from Monticello. One of the pieces he described and...
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Numbers on a Clock Face -- Preparing 3D Text for Use
4 commentsRecently I've been doodling out a mission style hall clock based on one shown in an old book titled "Mission Furniture: How To Make It. After hunting around for a suitable clock face image, I decided...
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Adding Materials to Your Model
17 commentsA few weeks ago I demonstrated my process for drawing a piece of furniture using this fern stand based on a drawing in a book called Mission furniture: How To Make It. Now I'd like to show you how I...
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Thomas Jefferson's Campeche Chair
18 commentsThis past week I attended the "Working Wood in the 18th Century" conference in Williamsburg, VA, as I have done for the past five years. Each year the conference has a special theme, and this year it...
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Would You Like a Front, Side, and Top View?
2 commentsIt seems a paradox, while producing a complete detailed 3D model, there still is a benefit to having the old standby top, end, and front orthographic view. In the beginning with SketchUp, I abandoned...
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Modifying a Model
3 commentsSo after you've drawn up your model and shown it to your client, they come back and ask if you could change the dimensions. "Sure," you say, "I'll just start from scratch and make a new...
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Moldings By Follow Me
8 commentsRecently there have been some questions regarding the use of Follow Me to add a molding around a cabinet. I did a quick little video demo that will hopefully clarify and perhaps even expand your...
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"Components" in SketchUp
14 commentsA reader recently sent a note saying: I started learning Sketchup today for a bookcase I am going to build. I created the box of the bookcase, used the push/pull toolnbsp...
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Replicating a Maloof Design from Pictures
4 commentsOften I'm faced with replicating an existing piece of furniture, but without detailed information or access to the original piece. In fact, the only information available, may be a couple pictures...
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A Fern Stand: Demonstrating My Drawing Process
29 commentsThere are a lot of ways to draw things in SketchUp. Some folks like to draw the parts for a project in...
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About Design. Click. Build.
Learn the art and science of designing furniture in SketchUp with Fine Woodworking's design blog. Moderated by a devoted community of woodworkers, we feature step-by-step tutorials for designing components in Sketchup, downloads of pre-built 3D models of furniture parts, and news and information about the evolving world of digital furniture design.
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Digital Project Plans
Download and modify SketchUp files for select projects from Fine Woodworking. View all. Top Sellers: Matt's Moster Workbench New England Pine Cupboard Garden Bench
Meet the Authors
DaveRichardsI am a Biomedical Equipment Technician. I maintain anesthesia and respiratory equipment for the largest medical facility in southeast Minnesota. I...
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Tim KillenI am retired from Bechtel Corporation after 36 years in Engineering and IT management. I grew up among woodworking machinery in...
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