jbair Posted March 7, 2012 Report Share Posted March 7, 2012 So I was wondering if anybody else is impressed everytime they see one of those big honkin' dogs that pop up through the bench tops in many of the pictures around the 'net? I realize the Split Top Strip replaces the need for this dog, but don't they look cool? I'm seriously considering including one just left of the leg vise a bit beyond the doghole strip. After all, I'll be showing this thing off to anyone that comes over for a year or so after completion, and they'll not realize that bad boy's for show only. OK, beat me up for being showy, but it's my bench and I'll dog it if I want to!!! Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMarshall Posted March 7, 2012 Report Share Posted March 7, 2012 I say go for it, it's your bench. There are a lot of "belt and suspenders" features to most workbench designs. Anyway, there could be some added benefit to the large planing stop also. You could use it along with the center flip stop to really immobilize a board. Think of putting a long board on the bench for planing. The central flip stop will let you plane across the grain but you still need something to keep the board in place if you want to go along the length of the board. You could use one of the regular dogs in the front for this, but only if the board is really wide - at least 8 1/2" wide. With a 2x2 planing stop centered in the width of the front slab (not including the dog hole strip and laminate) it would be effective for boards as narrow as 3" wide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allencrane Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 I think those 2x2x12 planing stops that are friction fit are awesome. I am waiting until I have the skills to make one though. Friction fit? I'm certainly not there yet! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbair Posted March 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2012 Aaron, that's exactly where I envisioned planting the Plane Stop. I'm guessing the "Dog" could be shaped pretty much the same as the regular dogs for the strip included in the design, except the width and thickness adjusted for a larger dog. I'm figuring @ 1 7/8 x 2 1/4 should look pretty awesome popping through the top. As I write this response I went into the sketchup plan and copied the front slab and tried to edit a through hole to see the results, but can only manage to draw on the top surface, when I try to "push/pull" the opening through the slab it won't allow it. I tried to highlight the entire slab and looked for a command to "edit component" or something like that and couldn't find it in any of the pull down menus. Is something "locked" that I need to release? I acutally copied the entire part, opened another iteration of sketchup and pasted it in there so I wouldn't chance screwing up my saved version 10, but evidently I'm not savvy enough to keep up with Aaron-son's blackbelt sketchup! Anyway, I'd like to consider incorporating the doghole for this larger plane dog in my initial glue up for the front slab rather than having to chop it in after the fact. I think just "oversizing" the same shape doghole as we're using in the doghole strip should work great, and I don't really see any need in changing the overall length of the plane dog from what the plans call for on the regular dogs. I'd plant it a couple inches to the left of the leg vise leg so that it should be easily accessable poking out under the overhang there. Any notion as to how I can edit the front slab to accomodate the change I'm considering? Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmac Posted March 9, 2012 Report Share Posted March 9, 2012 I tried to highlight the entire slab and looked for a command to "edit component" or something like that and couldn't find it in any of the pull down menus. You were real close. Select the component and then right click on it. The menu that pops up will have "Edit Component" on it, just like you were looking for. Click that and then you can edit the component all day long. When you're done, right click outside the component and then click "Close Component". -- Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMarshall Posted March 9, 2012 Report Share Posted March 9, 2012 Any notion as to how I can edit the front slab to accomodate the change I'm considering? You were real close. Select the component and then right click on it. The menu that pops up will have "Edit Component" on it, just like you were looking for. Click that and then you can edit the component all day long. When you're done, right click outside the component and then click "Close Component". Russ has nailed it, but the bench model has an additional quirk that may throw you off. It has nested components, so you will need to open up the components twice. The whole front slab assembly is one component (including the laminate strip, dog block, etc.). Inside of that is another component for the slab portion. You need to get inside of this slab sub-component to be able to edit it. There is an easy shortcut for getting "into" a component. Just double click on the component and it should open up. You'll know you're in there when the rest of the model goes gray and dotted lines show up defining the component boundaries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbair Posted March 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 Russ, I guess I knew it should have been included in the right click menu to edit component, but it wasn't there. Aaron's explanation was the "quirk" I wasn't familiar with in Sketchup. So I double clicked on the front slab that comes up on the 1st "B front slab" tab and managed to extrude the apropriate 2 degree sloped and dogeared hole through centered on this part of the slab and starting 8" in from the left and finishing 10 1/4" from the left and made it 2" thick from the front to back. I did all this editing to the component but when I click outside the component, it's only in that view of the component that the hole exists. I expected since I was editing it as a componenet, it would change it throughout the sketchup model. Is there something I didn't do to effect the change throughout the rest of the model? I decided to make the change here and just resave the hole file under another name in case I don't want that change later. In looking back into the sketchup model, I just can't guess which iteration of the front slab I need to "edit" in order for the change to take effect after being embedded, I guess? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbair Posted March 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 Ok, Aaron, I tried editing the component in a tab further along down the line called "front slab", and as I do the editing, I can actually see it affecting other areas throughout, but in this component I can't manage to push/pull through the component for some reason. HELP! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmac Posted March 10, 2012 Report Share Posted March 10, 2012 jbair, I'm not a guildie and so don't have a copy of the actual model. So I guess Aaron's your man! -- Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMarshall Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 Sorry for the slow reply, hope you haven't been going crazy with this. Which component to edit: There are several different components in the model for the front slab. Each one represents a single step in the construction process, as new grooves and tenons are added. Sounds like you edited one of the "work in process" components, and not the final version. The "final" version of the top slab is named "B - Top - Main Front Piece - Option 1". There are 9 different places where this component appears throughout all the different views, so changing one of them will affect the rest. The easiest place to find it is on the "Top Exploded" tab. Most other places where this component appears, it will be bundled as a sub-component with all the other parts of the front slab. Typing this, it doesn't sound very clear - sorry. How to edit the component: Sounds like you are trying to replicate the small dog holes, in larger scale. This is a fairly complex piece of modeling, so several things could be going wrong. Here is roughly how I would do it. I'd make a separate chunk off in space that represents the shape of the hole you want in the top slab. It will be a lot easier to make this separately because you won't be working on the inside of the slab. Once you get this the way you want it, copy it - just put it into the clipboard. Then open up the slab component and paste it where you want it. Once you get it where you want you can erase the extra parts and you should be left with a nice hole in the slab. Let us know how this works for you, and I'll be happy to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbair Posted March 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2012 Thanks, Aaron. I only went crazy a couple minutes with this, realizing a montra I obtained from Clint Eastwood-"A man's got to know his limitations". Then life got busy and I haven't gotten back to it. I clearly understand your explanation on how to get to the correct rendition of the component, and also how to edit it the easiest way. Sounds like a workable solution, and will post when I get a chance to play again. You know, Aaron, your almost as inspiring to my Sketchup prowess as Marc is to my Woodhacking. Thanks for the time and consideration. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMarshall Posted March 14, 2012 Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 Happy to help, Jim. Now, if only my woodworking was as good as my SketchUp, I'd be very happy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbair Posted March 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2012 On re-reading my post thanking Aaron for his help, I laughingly thought about his "Sketchup Guild Site". You know, imagining him starting his own site dedicated to helping newbies and experienced people in sketchup. So I need to warn you off copying Marc's approach too closely, Aaron. No "Sketchup Whisperer", perhaps "Sketchup Screamer" would be more appropriate anyway. Just thought it a funny passing thought to share with everyone. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMarshall Posted March 18, 2012 Report Share Posted March 18, 2012 Ha, it would probably be more like the SketchUp Whimperer! Marc puts in a lot of hours and effort to keep the clubhouse running. I'm not sure I could do the same. That said, I'm always happy to help if I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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