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Creating a Hinge in SketchUp
10 commentsA reader asked how to make a hinge in SketchUp, specifically a Brusso Stop Hinge (used for small boxes). I've created many different types of hinges for my furniture designs, but typically I rough...
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Upholstering Your Furniture
4 commentsThe other day I was asked about how to draw an upholstered surface with buttons. The application was for a headboard but this could be used for a bench seat or any number of other upholstered pieces...
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Making a Windsor Settee Arm/Crest Rail
3 commentsI'm continuing my repertoire of Windsor chairs by adding a two-seat, low-back Settee. This one from Connecticut, circa 1820. As usual I start with the design in SketchUp and found a unique situation...
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Adding Details
2 commentsIn the previous blog post, Tim shows how he added some amazing detail to a SketchUp model of a cornice for a bookcase he built. Adding these sorts of details in a SketchUp model can be very useful in...
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Some Turnings are Just More Difficult
I was working with an 18th Century Mahogany Bookcase that includes this complex cornice. There are a number of components in this cornice assembly including the small turned pendants. The pendants...
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Placing Components
13 commentsRecently I've fielded several questions about how to accurately place components in a model. There's a lot of value in making and saving components of things you'll reuse such as drawer pulls...
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What are the Special Strengths of SketchUp?
8 commentsThe other day I was looking for a list of the best things about SketchUp - things that are unique and special and make it an effective tool for woodworking. I couldn't find one so decided to create...
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SectionCutFace v2.2 Another Handy Plugin
1 commentTim's post about using sections to show details reminded me of another handy plugin called SectionCutFace. This plugin takes sections a step further by quickly creating faces at the location of the...
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Flexibility with Cross Sections
I don't use a lot of cross-sections in my design documents, but occasionally I find them extremely effective. They are particularly useful where it is difficult, with normal visualizations, to see...
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Plugins - An Updated List
7 commentsAnother look at some SketchUp plugins that woodworkers might find useful.
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My Strategy with SketchUp
2 commentsThere are a number of ways SketchUp is used in woodworking including:1. The development of a conceptual design2. Creating views and images for client review3. Working out a complex joint4. Estimating...
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Making a Recorder Instrument
2 commentsAfter hearing news recently of the discovery of world's oldest musical instrument - a 35,000 year old flute made from a wing bone - I wondered how it would be to create a "modern" recorder. Using...
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Roy Underhill's Scribed Window Sash
Roy Underhill was a recent guest speaker at Mt. Diablo Woodworker's in Pleasant Hill, CA. It was a fantastic and entertaining day of demonstrations and discussion. One of Roy's subjects during the...
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Difficult Dimension Placement
4 commentsOccasionally I'm faced with components which are hard to dimension; for example, when the component has a fully shaped edge and I can't easily find the endpoints to place a dimension. The Dimension...
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Dilemma with Maloof Rocker Arm
I was not satisfied with my first attempt at the Maloof Rocker Arm as shown in last week's blog entry. So I re-read the FWW # 42 article, "How to Make a Rocker". Each time I read Maloof's text, I...
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Dovetail Joints in SketchUp Made Easy
7 commentsA new plugin for SketchUp makes it dead simple to add dovetails to your model
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Another Look at Creating Plans From a SketchUp Model
10 commentsI just finished up a new set of plans and thought it would be nice to use it as another example of how I create plans from a SketchUp model. This plan is my interpretation of L. Francis...
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Maloof Rocker - Roughing into SketchUp
27 commentsReaders who know me will recognize my shift into contemporary with this blog entry. I admit being stuck in the 18th C with my furniture interests, but this excursion was too tempting. Some of my...
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Modifying a Component - Adding Details
The other day I got an e-mail from a reader about the pull I wrote about in my previous blog entry. He asked me how I would go about adding steps to the top surface of the pull to give it a sort of...
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Seven Beginning Steps in SketchUp
5 commentsI've been teaching SketchUp to woodworkers for about two years. Most of my teaching has occurred at the adult education center in Pleasant Hill, CA. However, there have been several sessions...
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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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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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