Push/Pull Help

[sschlac@gmail.com]

I am trying to design a leaning book shlef. I'm not sure what the best way to attach the shlelves to the side is, but I have been leaning towards a sliding dovetail. I was trying to get an idea of what it would look like in Sketchup, but it has been trickier than I thought. When i draw the sliding dovetail onto the side support, it follows the angle of the face which is 10 degrees from the angle of the floor. See attached picture for visual. This might be a relatively easy thing to fix, but this is the first time that I have used Sketchup and I cannot figure out how to get the sliding dovetail to follow a path parralel with the floor. I have attached the sketchup file too for your convenience. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for everything.

Leaning Shelves.skp

[Bombarde16]

Unless you're planning to produce an animation or exploded view, this falls under the category of overmodelling.

I don't have an exact fix in mind; but it looks like the follow-me tool would be the better choice.

[Bombarde16]

Ahah, got it. Never mind using the follow-me tool. You can sink a straight-walled dado into the face of the side piece. Then select and move the internal edge of the dado to produce the desired angle. You may need to rotate the side (temporarily) such that the dado is parallel to one of the axes just to make it easier to grab and move.

[jHop]

Following up on Rob's advice, you could also start with a vertical piece of "stock," deliberately oversized, so that the angles you are trying to do (for the dovetail/dadoes) remain parallel to the floor, then draw additional lines across the board you are modelling to remove the excess and end up with that angled design you want.

(Haven't opened up the file, as the school computers won't allow it.)

If I haven't been clear, let me know.

[gregpalmer]

I have created a video for you Stephen, that demonstrates a way to subtract geometry from an object. Check it out at my website. Let me know if this helps.