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Folding the Deck Chair
3 commentsAn important consideration for the design of the Titanic Deck Chair is its ability to fold into a flat assembly for storage. I've prepared a video below that shows how I checked the folding in...
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The Back Rest on a Corner Chair
I built one of these corner chairs in 1982 - it would have been nice to have access to SketchUp at that time. Recently, I modeled the chair - it is based on a sketch by Wallace Nutting in his book...
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Printing Patterns for Templates
17 commentsEvery so often I field questions about how to print full size patterns from SketchUp models. If the user is using the pro version, I suggest that the create a scene in SketchUp and send it to LayOut...
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Rearranging the Back Slats on the Deck Chair
Handling curved back slats on a chair, bench, Adirondack, or settee can be a challenge in SketchUp. Getting them properly positioned, spaced, and angled between the lower rail and the crest rail can...
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Drawing a Joggling Board
4 commentsThe other day I received an e-mail from a reader who is learning SketchUp. He was having some difficulty with a few details on the model of a joggling board he was trying to draw. He asked me how I...
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SketchUp Has a New Home
7 commentsThis morning an announcement was made of SketchUp leaving Google and moving to Trimble. There's a blog post on the SketchUpDate blog here. It'll be interesting to see what new stuff comes out of...
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Designing for Young Woodworkers
Our woodworking group will have a special challenge this summer - working a wood project with a group of 7-10 year olds. We will not have much time, less than one hour. What can you teach and build...
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Personalize Projects for Clients
2 commentsWhen I am designing projects for clients I often try to find things I can add to the images that make the piece a little more personal to the client. A while back I designed this combination wash...
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Mac Tool Bars
1 commentThere was a question in the Comments section of my blog post announcing Google SketchUp Guide for Woodworkers -- The Basics about setting up the toolbars on Mac. Here's the answer. First, toolbars on...
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Leveraging the Power of Components
2 commentsThe other day I was working on a little table that has legs that splay outward from the corners. I had the table nearly completed when I discovered I needed to add pegs to the the legs to retain the...
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Announcing Fine Woodworking's Google SketchUp Guide for Woodworkers--The Basics
57 commentsFirst there was Tim Killen's ebook "SketchUp Guide For Woodworkers" and now there's Fine Woodworking's Google SketchUp Guide for Woodworkers -- The Basics the video. This DVD, running over an hour...
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Set-up for Cornice Cove Cut on Table Saw
3 commentsOccasionally, I'm faced with creating a cove cut on a Cornice Molding. Sometimes, I will use a table saw to cut out the cove shape and waste. Although there are formula for determining the fence...
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Converting to an Arts & Crafts Dining Table
Inspired by a Sidney Barnsley piece, I designed and built an Arts & Crafts Fireplace (or Coffee) Table for a family with many young grandchildren. It provided space for sitting, eating, reading...
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A Turned, Octagonal Pedestal
2 commentsThe other day I got an e-mail from a reader asking about how I would make a turned octagonal pedestal for a round table. Here’s how I did it. The pedestal could be made in one piece but I...
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Materials From a Photo
One of our regular readers sent me a SketchUp file he had been working on. It looked like this when I got it. His question related to painting his model to match the photo. He had imported the image...
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Making a Full-size Template in Layout
5 commentsYou can print full-size templates in SketchUp - we've already covered that process in this blog. But it can be more advantageous to create full-size templates using Layout, the companion program to...
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Graduated Dovetails and Curves
3 commentsA friend and reader of the blog sent me an e-mail the other day asking me how I would go about drawing dovetails similar to the ones I've got here. The pins and spacing between them are graduated...
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A SketchUp Woodworking Exercise
9 commentsChapter Five of my eBook on SketchUp illustrates the steps in "building" a Workbench End. I used this example as an exercise in drawing precisely using guidelines and the keyboard for entry of length...
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Learning the Fundamentals
8 commentsA group of friends are learning to use SketchUp. Each of them are at different points along the learning curve. They asked me to give them some sort of SketchUp homework to kind of force them to...
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An Elliptical Window
2 commentsI again attended the Colonial Williamsburg conference, Working Wood in the 18th Century. This year the theme was Furniture of George and Martha Washington, therefore presentations and demonstrations...
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About Design. Click. Build.
Learn the art and science of designing furniture in SketchUp with Fine Woodworking's official blog. Moderated by a devoted community of woodworkers, we feature step-by-step SketchUp tutorials on designing components, downloads of pre-built 3D models of furniture parts, and news and information about the evolving world of digital furniture design.
Buy the Video
Don't miss Dave Richard's brand-new DVD/video download, The Basics.
Buy the Book
Get Tim Killen's popular eBook, the Google SketchUp Guide for Woodworkers.
Basic SketchUp Tutorials
Learn the basics of building furniture in SketchUp with these classic posts from the Design. Click. Build. blog.
Creating a Project Plan in SketchUp
How I Draw in SketchUp
Axes in SketchUp
The SketchUp Move Tool
The SketchUp Rotate Tool
The SketchUp Scale Tool
Materials, Colors, and Textures
Applying Wood Grain Skins in SketchUp
Easy Dovetail Joints in SketchUp
Digital Project Plans
Download and modify SketchUp files for select projects from Fine Woodworking. View all. Top Sellers: Matt's Monster Workbench New England Pine Cupboard Garden BenchMeet the Authors
I am a Biomedical Equipment Technician. I maintain anesthesia and respiratory equipment for the largest medical facility in southeast Minnesota. I...
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I am retired from Bechtel Corporation after 36 years in Engineering and IT management. I grew up among woodworking machinery in...
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