All Replies on Make a list... check it twice!

Yeah, hjt, it’s just you. Everyone else here NEVER makes a mistake. NEVER…. NEVER…. oh well, maybe a few.(dozen)

-- Gary, DeKalb Texas only 4 miles from the mill

i thought i made a mistake once, turned out i was wrong.

-- There is nothing like the sound of a well tuned hand plane. - http://timetestedtools.wordpress.com (timetestedtools at hotmail dot c0m)

I need a list just to keep track of my lists and then still forget something!

-- Lew- Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

On the few projects I have done this on I really like the organization of it; when I draw a project in SU it is very much like doing a dry run of building the project. You have to think about joints, components, what goes together when, what setups you should run all at once…stuff like that. Once I’ve drawn it in SU it feels like I’ve build it once already, and have probably identified several ‘design modifications’ that would have cost me time and wood if’d I had just started building.

-- "Checking for square? what madness is this! The cabinet is square because I will it to be so!" Jeremy Greiner LJ Topic#20953 2011 Feb 2

Ok, so not just me. Funny stuff there Don. Mark, I’ve downloaded Sketch Up but have not figured out how to use it. Even though I’m rather puter literate – this program baffles me. I can see where it would be a huge help and need to take more time to learn it.

-- Harold

I found out it pays to take the time to go through their tutorials, they are pretty good. Trying to just ‘figure it out’ (my preferred style of learning new stuff) will be an exercise in frustration, as many here can attest to. If you have previous CAD experience you will find SU frustrating, just accept that it is different from a CAD and the learning will go much easier. I used to do a lot of AutoCAD work (even taught it for a while) and once I accepted that SU was NOT LIKE CAD I made much faster progress ;-)

I wish you success on learning it!

-- "Checking for square? what madness is this! The cabinet is square because I will it to be so!" Jeremy Greiner LJ Topic#20953 2011 Feb 2

Brother MArk – I feel better now about my chance of get this SU thingy. I actually do not know CAD – never used it) but honestly had the sence that not knowing CAD WAS my down fall in not understanding Sketch Up.

I’ve seen what people do with it and am blown away. I know once I get itI will use it A LOT!

-- Harold

Harold, I use Autocad© to plan all my projects. I find that I can see potential problems before they become reality. I have been using the CAD program at work and it has become 2nd nature with me. Laying out the geometry is one of the big features of a CAD program. It also makes for a refreshing break from shop work. My woodworking mostly involves building large scale locomotives that have many small intricate parts. Designing them with a CAD program, makes it easy, especially on a hot and humid day when I can sit in an air conditioned room at my keyboard. No! you are not an analytical fuzzball; just a person with an analytical mind and that is a good thing.

Personally, I’m great at figuring out all the different parts and dimensions, cutting them out and making sure all the holes align. However at that point I get excited, and so I’m the worst at not thinking about what order things go together, thus realizing that the extra piece laying on the workbench is the support that I should have added at the same time I glued on the top. D’oh!

Harold, I used to be the same way. It was like I devoloped woodworking OCD. It really started to take a lot of the fun out of woodworking for me!!! Not I just design and built projects “on the fly” by making small sketched here and there and using the “trial and error method”. It has helped me relax and enjoy my craft much more!!!!

-- I have metal in my neck but wood in my blood!!

OK – just upgraded from Sketch Up 7.1 to SU 8. NOw I’m off to the tutorials

-- Harold

i’m another AutoCAD guy. everything gets built in CAD before i cut the first piece. If the project has multiple components i hit the shop with basically a set of exploded construction drawings.

I’m an old time pencil and paper guy. I also have a nice set of french curves, and a fair amount of erasers. List out all the raw lumber blanks, have a sketch of what I’m building, or a picture where I can pencil in measurements, and start. I’ve always been able to visualize what I want in my mind, so it just becomes a matter of measurement. That’s not to say my first paneled cabinet door came out exactly right…just that I knew what I wanted, and paying attention to my own notes gets me home so far, and I’m 39 years into this “hobby”.

-- Paul, Tennessee, http://www.tsunamiguitars.com

So Tennessee says the he visualizes, draws it out and measures…. hmm those are three talents I lack. No wonder a weekend project takes 3 months.

-- Harold

I hear ya Harold. I can visualize and I can draw, just can’t draw what I visualize.

-- There is nothing like the sound of a well tuned hand plane. - http://timetestedtools.wordpress.com (timetestedtools at hotmail dot c0m)

Don W. You are one up on me. I can’t draw flies.

-- Rule # 1 - Don't mix yer blood and sawdust!

I just lay awake at night pondering. Over and over. On our last Ukulele build I went into sleep deprivation figuring the next steps.

-- Made in America, with American made tools....Shopsmith

Jumbo – like your slogan. I’ll have to check out your stuff soon.

Don – are you telling me that what you visualize, draw and build are suppose to resemble each other?? Darn another issue I have. This topic has been therapeutic for me!

As I remember, Sketch UP 7.1 offered turtorials within the application. SU 8 takes you to their web site. They offer downloads, but for whatever reason, I only get audio – no visual from the downloads. Going to their help section, confirms I’m not the only one with that issue. Off to got a book.

-- Harold