SketchUp help

I'm no expert on Sketchup either so I tend to just do it the easy way. Rather than take a whole lotta individual parts and try to fit them all together I tend to take files of completed systems and assemblies and then manipulate them into what I need. Go to the files tab on any of Mark Carew's builds and download full models and then manipulate the files from there. It's a lot easier to start with assemblies that already have wheels in the holes, track in alignment, etc. Read up on editing components and you'll be able fairly quickly to pull things like gantry plates/wheel assemblies out of a completed system and move them as a unit to where you want them. Also look up the "make unique" function as editing a component affects all instances in a drawing and in many cases you probably don't want to do that.

 

First off, Welcome. That is awesome you are 14 and already interested in cad design, cnc, and building. And thank you dad for being supportive.

I will second Rick, when you are first learning a cad package ( any package ) begin by reviewing and modifying known examples. It will not only help you learn the software but how the person went about making the model.

To help with snapping and aligning of parts. Make sure you have your guides turned on. ( In the menu click View - guides make sure it is checked. ) Then when you are going to move parts around Hit your M key to bring up the move tool and click a center guide point "say a center of a nut" you can now drag that part and snap it to another guide point; such as a center point of a bolt. Holding shift left mouse click on both the nut and bolt and right click make group. You now have a assembly you can copy and paste for as many as you need. Components and groups are very very handy tools.

There are a lot of cool plugins you can use with sketchup most things for designing a cnc do not need a plugin but make one task or another easier and then you have plugins that will expanded what sketchup can do. Each user will slowly build a list of plugins they need and use as they progress with their designs.

Best thing I find is to start with a detailed pencil and paper drawing (they dont have to be good, only you have to understand them) all my designs begin this way with a fully dimensioned sketch, It is a lot quicker to go through many idea revisions when all you have to do is scribble something out and redraw it.

Once the idea has been flushed. You can begin to model it in your cad package. in sketchup I start with a 3d basic ( box, cube, ball, ect ) and combine and remove to get where I want. In Fusion I start with a 2d sketch and extrude the 3d shape from it.

 

This is what Kyo is referring to. The black dots are center marks.



The purple dots shown are snap to points and show up when you hover over the area you are trying to snap to.



The next step is optional but you'll find moves of this type easier when you draw a line between the two points.



Once you have the screw centered in the hole, simply move it up to where it needs to be. I generally grip the inside face of the screw head and slide it up to the mating face.

 

Exactly, Thanks for adding the example photos.

 

I was halfway through creating them when you posted.

 

Now, if you want to draw something a bit more precise, use circles that are made out of 96 segments and not 24. Also draw all at a 100x scale (100:1) as you will find that Sketchup hates to use anything smaller than 1.

Note that SketchUp is vertex/polygon based and not polylines (splines) so drawings might look a bit square. Still it's a great program if you take the time to draw. I've been doing complex meshes like the DeWalt 611 router in 3 weeks and a few days, 8 hours a day (just the shell, +/- 0.3mm):



And it's my fault that not all object in the warehouse have the center point. but, you can show hidden geometry and use the 12 o clock vertex on the circle of the screw and snap that to the 12 o clock vertex on the circle as an example. This is how I do it . Future releases of the SketchUp files might have the center point but a date is not set.

-Ronald

 

That is a beautiful drawing! In your spare time, you should do the Makita.

 

Thank you .

SketchUp can be a pain, especially if you want the objects to be a good mesh. And that's the thing, there is no spare time . I also said to myself: "Never again!". The Makita looks easier, the Bosch is hell too. I thought about doing the DeWalt 661 but naa, I'll better build a machine and make a picture of it . Drawing stuff like this compares to reverse engineering as it is all curved surface, in other words it's trail en error till you get it right and it's never right the first time...

-Ronald