Fabrication Archives | SketchUp for Design

Printing To-Scale in SketchUp (My 2024 Update)

April 11, 2024April 10, 2024 by Alex SchreyerNo Comments

In this tutorial video I describe various ways how you can print scaled, parallel-projection views from SketchUp for Web as well as SketchUp Pro/Desktop (where I will be using the LayOut software). I cover all the relevant aspects and then show how you can use the PDF file format as an intermediate print file format. This video is an update to my older one on this topic. Since that video was posted, SketchUp for Web has been introduced and printing in SketchUp Pro/Desktop has changed. Hence the need for an update. As I describe in Chapter 6 of my book, printing to scale is very useful for a variety of fabrication tasks, including paper-folding or sheet metal fabrication. You can even combine this very well with my Unwrap and Flatten Faces extension. Tutorial Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxPzmSw_tlg ...

Making SketchUp Objects 3D Printable

November 15, 2023February 23, 2024 by Alex SchreyerNo Comments

In this video tutorial I show my basic approach for making SketchUp objects (like the revolved vase from my last tutorial) 3D printable. In essence, the process involves checking whether a SketchUp model is considered a "solid" by the software and then fixing any issues that may prevent it from becoming a solid. Interested in more detail? This video covers only some of the basic techniques - I explain the process in much more detail in Chapter 6 of my book "Architectural Design with SketchUp." Tutorial Video https://youtu.be/UXFUrHTZ-k8 Links ThomThom's Solid Inspector - The main extension/tool for fixing solid-ness of an object. I hope you find this technique useful and create some cool items. Feel free to post those in the discussion area below. ...

Turn yourself (or a loved one) into a vase (Video)

November 6, 2023February 23, 2024 by Alex SchreyerNo Comments

In this video tutorial I show how you can take a portrait of a loved one (or yourself) and - using SketchUp - turn it into a revolved object that you can then use as a vase, cup, candle holder etc. This technique is simple and makes for a great gift (e.g. by 3D printing). As a bonus, I show how you can create a face-morphing shape with two portraits. Keen readers of this blog may know that I covered this technique in a step-by-step tutorial in one of my earliest posts. I had never done a video tutorial on this technique, however, which is hereby remedied. Tutorial Video https://youtu.be/d5y5f965YAs Links While the basic technique uses only SketchUp's built-in tools, I also demonstrate some of Fredo6's extensions here: Joint PushPull - An extension that lets you thicken any surface. FredoSpline - This is useful for creating smooth curves and converting between different curve types. Curviloft - This lets you "morph" between two outlines. I hope you find this useful...

Designing a T-Shirt with SketchUp

October 16, 2023February 23, 2024 by Alex SchreyerNo Comments

This post is adapted from an exercise that appeared in the first edition of Architectural Design with SketchUp (Chapter 5) but that I have since removed from the book. I hope you find it useful. For this (clearly non-architectural) example, let's assume you want to preview a T-shirt design that you created in SketchUp using an image of a T-shirt model. This example uses SketchUp's styles and especially the watermarking feature and can be adapted for many other (non-clothing) uses, too. It even works with the web version of the program. So, without further ado, here are the steps you can take to create and preview a T-shirt design in SketchUp: Tutorial Steps Let’s start with a simple SketchUp model—a sphere within a rectangular box. Of course, you may pick whatever design you like. Let’s just assume that we wanted to make a sketchy-looking T-shirt with this design, and that we needed to preview how it will look. The original design idea Open the Styles...

Getting the Calculations Correct for a Perfectly-Balanced Mobile

September 19, 2023February 23, 2024 by Alex SchreyerNo Comments

As I discuss in Chapter 6, you can create a mobile in SketchUp and design it in the software so that - when 3D printed or otherwise fabricated - this mobile hangs perfectly in the balance. This process works for all planar designs, independent of how many levels such a mobile may have. In this post, I'll show you how to run the calculations for the mobile so that its equilibrium is assured. Example mobile with highlighted free-body diagram levels Tutorial Steps Step 1: Break the mobile down into individual Free-Body Diagrams (FBDs) The previous image shows one of my recent students' mobiles. It has a great theme and while it doesn't push this method enough (it is very symmetrical), it helps me explain this step nicely. From a structural perspective, you need to break down the entire mobile into its sub-structures and their respective free-body diagrams (FBDs). You basically need to separate each of its individual levels in this step. The four sketched outlines...