Google Sketchup - Come Along for the Ride #14: Hall table progress with questions at end

I see the problem you’re having but without seeing the model, I can’t be sure of what is happening. It looks like the rectangle for the opening was not drawn on the face of the front apron piece. Is it possible that your guidelines for that rectangle are not lying on the surface of the part?

Perhaps you could send me the model? I could probably tell you better with it in front of me.

Dave

-- Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can walk.

You two are awesome! Where else could you get this kind of help!

Lew

I think the rectangle is drawn correctly but will try again. I sent you my model via e-mail.

-- You can't get a hug from Facebook.

Would I have avoided this whole problem by making my front apron separately as a component and moving it into the model??

-- You can't get a hug from Facebook.

I think Dave might have hit it right on the head…I bet your guidelines aren’t coplanar, or on the same plane as the front face of the apron. All it would take is a slight discrepancy , say the apron is on a very slight angle and the guidelines are perfectly straight. That might explain why one worked and the other didn’t. This is a pretty common thing…SU will let you make mistakes…it will let you draw trapezoids when you think you are drawing squares or rectangles. Even with all the guides, tools, and inferences you still have to be careful and make sure things are the way you want them…ACCURATE! I can’t tell you how many times 1/32” inaccuracy has bit me in the butt…you don’t even realize it till you are waist deep in a complex model, and then things start to unravel and it’s because something is short, or long, or skewed ever so slightly. Go back and look at things real close..get out the tape and verify your dimensions. Just a suggestion….if I was making this model I would make all the parts seperatly like they are in the real world then assemble them just like you would if you were making it out of wood. That to me is the beauty of SU and any 3D software..the ability to work things out exaclty like the real world!

-- David, South Windsor, CT "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning"

No. It shouldn’t matter if the front apron is drawn in the same model or not.

If even one edge of the rectangle is not on the surface of the front apron the rectangle will be pushed through to form a box rather than an opening. One thing you might try is changing the line color to By Axis to see that all four edges of the rectangle are aligned with the global axes.

Send the SKP if you would.

Dave

-- Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can walk.

It looks like I have things on the plane correctly.

I’ve checked my measurements and they are correct. I’ve taken the guide lines out and deleted the rectangles to try again and came up with the same result.

I think you are right Brad, things should be built piece by piece and put together!

Dave——I’m not sure how to send a SKP file. I can attach something as an attachment to an email but it is a jpeg file.

I’m showing my electronic illiteracy but how do I get the file to a SKP file (which I’m guessing stands for Sketchup) and where do I find it to send it?

You guys have the patience of saints to teach me this stuff!

I’m going to have to take a break from this for a few hours—- my neck needs a break!

Will check back later.

Thanks again.

-- You can't get a hug from Facebook.

Betsy,

I expect the SKP files which are your SketchUp models are being saved in My documents. that’s the default location anyway. You should be able to attach the SKP file just like you would a JPG.

-- Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can walk.

beautiful work C is a very beautiful design

-- jeanmarc manosque france

I had a look at your model and sent you an e-mail. I hope it gets through. I’ll try to post something here later after I fix some stuff.

Dave

-- Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can walk.

This is a remarkable series Betsy. And for all oyu that are able to help her out makes this truly a great place to learn and pickup skills beyond woodworking.
Thanks

-- Jerry, Set in the foothills of the Smokey's

Thanks Sac. I’m certainly not afraid to let people know I’m not electronically gifted. :-)

-- You can't get a hug from Facebook.

Alright, I made an example of what appears to be the problem with the way your drawer openings got punched. Or didn’t get punched. Your file didn’t include the geometry that caused the trouble so I induced it myself. See the included image and the description below.

This is a link to a larger version of this image.

On the left we have the table with the holes cut through the apron. On the right is the example with the problem. From the top we have:

The apron board with the rectangles drawn “on” it. The rectangle on the right is the same color as the board. this is the Face Front color. The salmon-colored rectangle on the left shows the Face Back color. The rectangle doesn’t actually lie on the face of the apron board. Instead, the left end is 1/64” out from the face while the right edge does lie on the face of the board.

Next, I’ve pushed the right rectangle through the board with Push/Pull. The opening is cut as expected.

In the third part, the left side has been pushed through. Notice after Push/Pull the face color has switched to the front color. Also notice there’s no opeing cut and you can see behind the board, the opposite end of the box that resulted from the Push/Pull operation.

At the bottom, I’ve mirrored the part from above so you can see the opposite side. Notice that there is no edge where the box passes through the back face of the apron board. There’s no intersection at this stage. Someone is going to be thinking something like, “Well then, just select the geometry and run Intersect which you could do. then you could erase the unwanted bits leaving an opening. It would probably even look alright. It wouldn’t be technically correct because the vertical edges of the opening wouldn’t be square to the face and the opening wouldn’t be quite the right size.

SO the way to deal with this correctly is to start over and watch for the indicators that you are drawing the rectangle on the face instead of just near it. One thing that you may find helpful is to turn off Profiles in the Edge settings of the Style Edit tab.

No worries though. You will get this. Just keep plugging away.

Dave

-- Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can walk.

That’s amazing how you did that. I’m going to get this yet.

-- You can't get a hug from Facebook.

Amazing? Is that good?

Yes, I know you’re going to get it.

-- Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can walk.

Dude…what are all those cool looking icons? Rubys? Hook me up wit dat!

-- David, South Windsor, CT "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning"

“Dude…what are all those cool looking icons? Rubys? Hook me up wit dat!”

Och, they’re just for show. They don’t really do anything. :D

If you’d really like to know what they are, take a look at this.

-- Until you spread your wings, you'll have no idea how far you can walk.