Google Sketchup/Router Fence

[todd1814]

Has anyone experimented with Sketchup? It's a free 3d modeling tool from google. I've been using it to refine designs before I try to build them. The only bad things I can say about it are that it's hard to scale your design correctly and it can be hard to figure out how to accomplish a task. Otherwise it seems like a great tool for visualizing a project. I could probably do better if I took the time to read some tutorials. This is a design for my router table fence.

[joedog90045]

good. In regards to scaling I think the most important thing I've learned to use are construction lines. They allow you to lay out lines exactly where you want them.

[alexy]

familiar with using components. I'm building my first project right now that was designed from the ground up in sketchup. Started with block diagrams for rough size in room, and progressed to appearance items (number of doors, shelving units, arched versus straight top, etc.) and then on to construction details from which I got all my measurements. Found myself making some of my "stupid mistakes" in sketchup rather than in wood (Although that didn't sop my from cutting my stile stock to length, with one end stile and two middle stiles :-( )

The Sketchup tutorials are very much worth following. However, they tend to be oriented toward architecture. Dave Richards has written tutorials that are woodworking-related. I found VERY helpful his dovetail tutorial at

's worth taking the time to step through the tutorial--for me the "learn by doing" experience solidified many of the things I had read or viewed in tutorials or demos.

He also has a more advanced tutorial at

I suspect it might be a little overwhelming for me at my level--might try it some night soon, though.

[Gordon Airporte]

Thanks for those tutorial links - I kind of put down Sketchup because I couldn't find anything like that. I'll give it another shot now.

[todd1814]

Thanks a lot for the links. I haven't tried drawing the joints because I didn't know how. Maybe now I can do some of that. It's just good to see that other woodworkers are using sketchup. Hopefully we'll see a lot more projects show up in the 3d warehouse. For now I'll just keep drawing mine and putting them up there.

[Bill]

just downloaded Sketchup (Free) ... the pay version is nearly $500 and well beyond my humble needs.

In the same sort of vein, some may wish to consider Alibre ... also a freebie / pay product.

may be better suited for my purposes but, for those who have greater needs / aspirations, Alibre appears to be the fuller-featured of the two.

I would be happy to just make a sketch that I could pass along in an email to my son, the CAD expert, for prettyfying. :-)))

Bill