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How to Use SketchUp to Get the Most from a Digital Woodworking Plan
2 commentsHave you purchased a Digital Plan from FineWoodworking.com? Here's how can you take advantage of the digital file to zoom in, print, x-ray, and review every detail and measurement in SketchUp
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Replicating Drawers in a Highboy
I'm continually building drawers and never are two the same. In starting a new piece of furniture I will "rob" one of my drawer designs in a previous piece. But then they need to be adapted to the...
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Wrapping Beadboard Around a Curved Surface
2 commentsMy friend Dermot emailed me today with a little puzzle. He's working on an island design for a kitchen and he'll end up rendering this image to show the client. His client wants to see bead board on...
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Creating Orthographic View Drawings
Often it is useful to have the standard orthographic views of your model. There are several ways you can do this in SketchUp. You could create separate scenes using the standard ortho views and...
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Dimensioning Multiple Views of a Component
2 commentsDave Richards and I have covered multiple ways of handling dimensioning in several previous blog entries. One difference is my low frequency use of layers while dimensioning, and Dave's more liberal...
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Making the Bonnet for a Highboy
3 commentsHow do you go about creating the bonnet on a highboy which includes that curved molding? The following are steps I used recently. Nothing too unusual for SketchUp, however it requires a few Follow Me...
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Adding a Bullnose
2 commentsIn a recent blog entry I used a little bow front cabinet designed by Matt Kenney to show how to create a curved edge by picking off an existing curved edge in the model. Well, Matt's been working on...
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Adding the Stretching Rails to the Breakfast Table
There is a nicely shaped stretching rail connecting the lower part of the legs in the Thomas Elfe breakfast table. One complication in making this stretching assembly is the fact that the table is...
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A Look at the Rotate Tool
6 commentsLike the Move tool, the Rotate tool is fundamental in SketchUp. Being able to use it easily and correctly will help make your experience with SketchUp more enjoyable. Here's a little video demo I...
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Making the Wooden Hinged Table Leaf Support
4 commentsSo far in this series on the Breakfast Table, we've done the rule joint, legs, and pierced carved skirt. In this post, I will show how to make the wooden hinge for the leaf support. The final wooden...
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Make It Fit
3 commentsWhen you are working in the shop on a project, there comes a point where you need to shift from working off the plans to working off what you've already built. Doing so helps to avoid making parts...
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Create a Carved, Pierced Table Apron
Continuing my series on the Thomas Elfe Breakfast Table, this post covers the creation of the fancy carved and pierced apron. I don't even try to model actual carved surfaces, rather "brand" the...
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New-Fangled Workbench: An Exercise in Control
4 commentsI've been thinking it is time to have a real workbench in my shop. Choosing the right bench design seems to be more difficult than picking the right tablesaw or handplane though. In an effort to help...
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Creating the Legs for the Breakfast Table
As mentioned before, I will do a series on the Thomas Elfe Breakfast Table including the legs, pierced skirts, stretching rails, and wooden hinged leaf supports. I'll be doing this series in a...
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New SketchUp Version Released
1 commentToday SketchUp version 7.1 was released to the public. For users of version 7.0, this would be a free upgrade. There are some new capabilities in 7.1 along with a new render engine which should help...
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Challenging Features in Thomas Elfe Breakfast Table
1 commentIn my last entry I showed the making of a rule joint using one of Thomas Elfe's famous breakfast tables. The table has so many more interesting features that I decided to run a series of entries on...
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Rounded Corners and Edges--Manually & Automatically
1 commentA demonstration of how to created radiused edges.
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A Rule Joint on a Thomas Elfe Table
I started out thinking a tutorial on making a rule joint would be quite straightforward. My mistake was underestimating what it would take to do on a fancy Thomas Elfe Breakfast Table. I'm interested...
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A Look at the Move Tool
4 commentsIn SketchUp, the Move tool is fundamental. Knowing how to use it is will make drawing easier and more enjoyable. I've done a bit of video to demonstrate the use of the tool. Hopefully it'll give you...
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A Listing of Windsor Chair Entries
A reader remembered reading specific blog posts on Windsor Chairs, but was unable to locate them in Design. Click. Build. I can understand the difficulty of retrieving and locating specific...
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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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