Need Help Creating Curved Surfaces In SketchUp

Hey Jack
Here’s the guy that can help you.

http://lumberjocks.com/DaveR

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop, custom furniture maker, woodworking school, heirloomwoodshop.com

Jack, send me the SKP of what you posted. I’ll see what I can do to show you how.

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

Jack, is this close enough?

Here’s an improved one done with a slightly better method.

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

Great job, Dave. They both look great. I like the second better. I can’t put my finger on it but it somehow looks cleaner. What methods did you use? I need to learn how to fish.

Jack

-- Best regards, Jack, www.PixelsandSawdust.com

Jack, I’ll do something up to show how it’s done.

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

Dave – After several more hours, I finally was able to create the pulls and completed the BTDP cabinet model.

The method I used was very time consuming and there are a couple of small artifacts in the pulls. If you have the time, I would still be interested in your method. I’m sure it would be quicker and cleaner. Thanks again for your help.

-- Best regards, Jack, www.PixelsandSawdust.com

Jack, take a look at this link. Let me know if that makes it easier.

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

Thanks, Dave. That is similar to what I ended up doing but your use of the guide lines made the model cleaner. I used end points and not everything lined up correctly so it created a lot more work cleaning things up.

A couple more general questions.

How do you adjust the number of segments in an arc? I thought I saw it one time and now I can’t find it again.

What do you consider the best source of SU self-training?

Thanks,
Jack

-- Best regards, Jack, www.PixelsandSawdust.com

Jack,

Did you use the Skin plugin?

You can change the number of segments for an arc or a circle by selecting the tool and immediately enter the desired number followed by the letter s and Enter.

The best source of self-training is probably just practice. Learn the basics very well and work to make your drawing efficient. Try to draw anything and everything. I’ve not really seen many good resources for anything beyond the basics. I think it is very difficult to make a resource that can answer every need. The best thing is probably to look at what folks who use the program frequently are doing.

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

That’s where I saw it at. I won’t forget it again.

No, I didn’t use the Skin plugin. I played with it a little bit but, couldn’t get it to do what I wanted. More practice needed there too.

Jack

-- Best regards, Jack, www.PixelsandSawdust.com

The skinning can be done manually but it requires you to draw in all of those little triangles. The plugin is much faster.

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

Yep. That’s why it took me so long to draw. I redraw the pull using your method and see if I can get rid of the small errors in mine.

-- Best regards, Jack, www.PixelsandSawdust.com