SketchUp7 users -"Dynamic" Kitchen Cabinet Face Frame components

[Swingman]

Been playing around with creating "dynamic components", using that new feature now available in SketchUp7-Pro.

Below is a file that contains two .skp files, one for Base Cabinet FF's, and one for Wall Cabinet FF's. (Be sure to open any folder if it downloads that way):

you're a SketchUp7 user, you might want to give these a try and let me know how they work for you.

(Note: you will want to "import" into an open file. On some systems you also to may have to "explode" the component itself _once_ after its loaded into SU to the get the "component" to by dynamic ... but try it first.)

~The Base Cabinet face frame "component" should respond to a user selected "Cabinet Width" list box, in industry standard 3" increments, or you can "scale" the component to any desired WIDTH using the "scale tool".

~ The Wall Cabinet "component" should respond to both user selected "Cabinet Width" and "Cabinet Height" list box, in industry standard 3" increments, or you can "scale" the component to any desired WIDTH and HEIGHT using the "scale tool".

Since I always build my face frames first, then assemble the sides, top and bottom onto them, this is a useful tool for determining cabinet WIDTHS when designing a kitchen, and to see what will fit where, or resizing and/or scaling/snapping into unoccupied wall or floor spaces you need to fill with cabinet.

But either way you build your cabinets, you may find the ability to dimension, or scale, cabinet face frames handy.

This is now especially true if you want to generate a face frame cutlist from your model and you also own CutList Plus.

The "Cutlist 4" Sketchup plug-in linked below, is specifically designed to work with CutList Plus ... damn nifty!

is my first try with DC's, so let me know if something doesn't work, and any comments welcome.

Thanks,

[SonomaProducts.com]

Welcome to the world of paramentric design.

In my real job I am in the 3D CAD business. Parametric design was a revolution for this industry 20 years ago. With complete parametrics you can embed an amazing amount of intelligence into one base design. They can be linked to spreadsheets, can hide and multiple parts and features, matain ratios or more complex rules, nest one design inside anothjer and drive changes up through the design; very cool stuff.

This was initially only available in the $20-$50k type software. The second revolution was the "desktop" or "mid-range" solid modelers in the $2-$8k proce range. Now I guess R3 is in Sketchup. Too cool.

I think pretty soon the $2-$8k guys are going to have a hard time seeling their stuff when their only real differentiation is being harder to use. ;^)

[Morris Dovey]

Methinks SketchUp may have a ways to go yet. :)

I discovered an interesting "feature" this morning and will post to abpw. It doesn't like to make a hole through material that already has a hole in it.

[Robatoy]

At the risk of sounding a bit snobbish, Sketch-Up is a fun entry-level product which hopefully will entice the curious into trying real CAD software. That is especially true when you're trying to make the link between CAD and CAM. Having said that, for the price (even for the Pro version) SketchUp appears to be an excellent value.

[Mark & Juanita]

Ah, that explains it. I saw the posting and was wondering how you got those pipes drawn in the center there. I'll have to try that with VariCAD, I don't think that would be an issue.

[Swingman]

"Robatoy" wrote

Don't look now, Rob, but your lack familiarity with the program is showing ... SketchUp has always been upfront about NOT being "CAD software". :)

All the Pro version does is add advanced printing, exporting, importing, and presentation capabilities. Other than the ability to create dynamic components, and the above mentioned, there is no functional difference between the free and Pro versions.

Any tool is only as good as the craftsman who wields it ... it is always a mistake to sell something short on the basis of cursory knowledge.

[Swingman]

And methinks the operator may have a ways to go to understand how to operate the program. :)

Like I said on apbw, this is elementary ... send me the file and I'll be glad to show you how to do it. :)

[Robatoy]

I am the first to agree that I have yet to delve into all of the host of features that SketchUp offers. I , frankly, haven't had the need. So your assesment of my lack of familiarity is sound. Somewhat. And yet, my grandmother's wisdom haunts me: "I don't know how to lay eggs, but I sure know when one shouldn't be eaten." I am still somewhat curious how someone, like yourself, who has shown a solid working knowledge of other software has bolted onto the SketchUp product. This is not a critique, but a question. You were a TurboCAD user at one time, were'nt you? Why the change? I have never been one to stay with a system/software 'just because'. If that were true, wtf am I married 3 times? I am willing to change and learn. I just don't see SketchUp as a path to growth, unlike TurboCAD which ate least teaches CAD-style conventions.

Am I way off here?

I agree, but why change a horse in the middle of a stream? There must be real advantage to adopting SketchUp over Turbo. If there is, I don't see it. And when it comes to wielding tools in the CAD and 3D modelling world, I hold my own quite well. SketchUp leaves me wanting more. Like NURBs. Like extrusions along rails. Like sweeps along bezier paths. Skinning and a full set of Bolean functions and a full set of rendering tools. And after all that, a true export ability that all programs can understand and parse. And don't get me started on infinite lighting sources and radiosity. Textures in all their photo-realistic glory.

SketchUp has never made claims to fit my bill. They don't. But if you're going to learn conventions, they should be cross-platform, and adhere to some standard which is transportable.

Honestly, dude... nothing personal.

r

[Swingman]

"Morris Dovey" wrote

Here you go, Bro ... make a cylinder "component" with diameter of the hole you want, poke it though the curved surfaces where you want the hole(s), then use the "intersect with model" function, then erase the parts you don't want.

When you know how, it takes longer to draw the box and cylinder than to get holes in the curved surfaces ... about a three minute job. :)

[MikeWhy]

much of the time. It's great for what it is, but much of the time, sooner or later it bogs down and I'm fighting it to do what I want rather than what it wants. That's more a compliment than a detraction or dismissal. Sketchup

*almost* allows me to do useful work. A few more versions and a bit more development will get it there.

[Morris Dovey]

Good stuff - thank you! My knowledge /is/ cursory, and I /did/ take 'em at their word when they described the "push-pull" tool as being a good way to make holes.

I don't really mind having to create three extra objects I don't want in order to make one that I do, but this is like having a stack of fencepost holes so you can pop 'em into the ground to build a fence...

It all went /really/ weird when I tried to delete the "pipes".

Umm - next up, I'm going to need a threaded hole/cylinder (1/4-20 please) for an Allen setscrew. :)

[Morris Dovey]

Tried that (several times) and took screen shots at each stage. Pix on abpw.

Obviously I'm doing something horribly wrong, but it isn't a three minute job yet...

[Swingman]

"Morris Dovey" wrote\

That's because you do it in woodworking all the time. :)

Besides, the only additional object necessary was the cylinder, which took less that five seconds to draw ... think of it as a jig. :)

What folks, in their initial exposure to the program, can't seem to grasp is that Sketchup is not a CAD program in the traditional sense, and it indeed requires a different mindset to those stuck in the CAD gear. Sadly, and as you see in this thread, it's all to to easy to dismiss the program based on ignorance and misconceptions about "CAD" ... and probably also, because the first things you learn to do when playing around with it do look "cartoonish". :)

There is one guiding principle behind SketchUp's concept that makes it an absolute PERFECT (astounding actually) fit with woodworking endeavors:

~ Sketchup deals with the manipulation of "surfaces" and "edges". ~ Woodworking deals with the manipulation of "surfaces" and "edges"*

A woodworker couldn't ask for more ...

Once this is grasped by an open mind, the program morphs into an astounding tool for the woodworker interested in designing his own projects, from simple tables, to complex joinery, constructing them, and, for the professional woodworker, presenting them to clients ... all with a lot less effort, and less lost shop time, than with most similar programs.

Simply speaking, build a SketchUp model precisely like you would a woodworking project, by starting with the individual components, then join the individual parts into the whole. Once you're done, you have both a model (plan), for your own use or for presentation, and, most importantly, you have solved most of the construction problems and gained an intimate knowledge of what you need to do to build the model when you hit the shop.

The price is right, the program is much more intuitive than most CAD software, doesn't require all that much time to become reasonably proficient, and at that point the payback becomes way out of proportion to the effort expended.

AAMOF, there are few tools more advantageous to a smart, serious woodworker! It appears that more and more of same are beginning to realize that. :)

Great time to be alive ... this digital age!

[Swingman]

Draw your cylinder; make it into a "component"; poke it through your curved surface; "interface with model"; "explode" the cylinder; erase the parts of the cylinder you don't want (three parts, plus the ends);, lastly, erase the remnants (a circle on either side) of the cylinder on the face of the curved surface.

It takes less time to do than tell ... if you're really interested, and I can find the time today, I'll make you an animated "tutorial" of the steps above ... using the "scenes" function, a tutorial is easy to do in SketchUp.

[Hoosierpopi]

"Any tool is only as good as the craftsman who wields it"

Here here, good addition to my Grandpa's favorite "Its a poor workman what blames his tools."

[Han]

"Swingman" wrote in news:_e-dnQ12yPvOYNHUnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

I'm looking forward to that. I have tried a couple of times to use Sketchup, but I'm too atherosclerosed to understand what I am supposed to do.

[Hoosierpopi]

[Swingman]

"SonomaProducts.com" wrote

Things I've designed in the past looked great in 2D software, and on the shop bench, but put them on the floor, or a wall, and view them from different perspectives, and I've often been disappointed in many respects.

For the first time ever I've been able to get my ideas down in 3D and view them from those perspectives which my lousy design skills can't foresee, at a reasonable cost, and without spending money and time on a steep learning curve.

I'm also making money using the program, a good deal of money, and it amazes me how little effort it took to garner that type of reward. :)

[Swingman]

"MikeWhy" wrote

That's too bad ... In a nutshell, I've made woodworking pay a lot more since wielding SU than any other software design program to date. I can't wait for "a few more versions and a bit more development" to make even more $.

:)

[Swingman]

OK, here's your "tutorial":

As I said on apbw, this is just one method to drill holes in curved surfaces. There are other ways to do this in SketchUp.

I'm still a newbie!