Sketchup vs. ??

[sjeff70]

On 7/28/2021 at 9:45 PM, Mark J said:

Just gonna mention that using Sketchup for some things doesn't mean you can't use one of the other programs for other things.

True.  Is the full scale drawing aspect with all of its benefits, how does that work with the programs?    

[sjeff70]

On 7/29/2021 at 7:00 AM, sjeff70 said:

True.  Is the full scale drawing aspect with all of its benefits, how does that work with the programs?    

Well, I mean you get to see if your design meets your expectations but beyond that, to start with, many measurements are taken from a full scale drawing to put on your work piece. I'm still working through the book so I'm sure there's more to story poles and relative dimensioning.  

How do you get a full scale drawing from those programs or do people do without?

I don't want to derail your thread, I apologize if this isn't the place for these comments and concerns. 

[Mark J]

Oh, I understand you now.  You can print any particular view of your design, but unless you're making doll house furniture, Sketchup won't deliver a full size drawing.  I doubt the other programs would, either.  You'd need a pretty big printer .

In fact if you draw a 3 dimensional object in one of these programs, every view, whether face on, 90* or oblique, will be a 3D image, not the 2D you would have from a full size or scale line drawing. 

But what you can do is check your design from every angle.  If you draw in your joinery you can check to see if it works.  And you can annotate the image with actual dimensions.  You could then use these to create a full size drawing, if that's how you want to work.

3 hours ago, sjeff70 said:

I don't want to derail your thread

You aren't at all.

[sjeff70]

On 7/29/2021 at 4:31 PM, Mark J said:

Oh, I understand you now.  You can print any particular view of your design, but unless you're making doll house furniture, Sketchup won't deliver a full size drawing.  I doubt the other programs would, either.  You'd need a pretty big printer .

In fact if you draw a 3 dimensional object in one of these programs, every view, whether face on, 90* or oblique, will be a 3D image, not the 2D you would have from a full size or scale line drawing. 

But what you can do is check your design from every angle.  If you draw in your joinery you can check to see if it works.  And you can annotate the image with actual dimensions.  You could then use these to create a full size drawing, if that's how you want to work.

You aren't at all.

Not sure if that's how I want to work or not but that's the way I'm headed.  I was curious how woodworkers were approaching relative dimensioning which is what lead me to that book.  I will have to find out how others are doing it without full scale drawings in comparison. The Guild will help, I'm just not there yet.   

[Mark J]

You might want to post that question in the "general" section where it may get more views.

[wtnhighlander]

Full scale drawings can be produced from a desktop printer by printing the image in "tiles" that fit the paper, then taping the tiles together into a big sheet. Many, if not all, CAD programs offer some way to do this, even if it requires multiple steps. There are also external programs, such as Matthias Wandel's 'Big Print' program (find it woodgears.ca), that make it a simple process.

[sjeff70]

Thanks guys for your experience and input  

[NSBrad]

Thanks for the recommendations guys.  I'm still annoyed that SketchUp went the way it did for hobbyist.  I'm going to check out FreeCAD as a replacement now.  Maybe we can get a cut list plugin going for it.  

[wtnhighlander]

@NSBrad, maybe this will get you started on the cutlist:

https://wayofwood.com/woodworking-cutlist-in-freecad/