Or is it?
Well, yes and no. I promise you that this will not be your typical Sketch up post...trust me.
Over the last 2-3 years I have begun lumping woodworkers into 3 categories...the techno weenies, the set in my ways and gonzo's.
The techno weenies have absolutely fallen head over heals for Sketchup. For them this is the greatest thing since the invention of the internet. Nothing strokes their ego like being able to pop the program open and whip out a dimensioned 3D drawing (that has appropriate wood grain, working components, cut lists etc) in the same time it takes me to open a carton of ice cream...and for those of you that know me...that's not very long.
The set in my ways group, have been eyeing the program suspiciously ever since it was released. Peeking periodically over the top of their drafting tables to chuck a drafting triangle at it all covert ninja style to make sure it knows just how they feel about it.
The gonzo's looked up from the slab of wood they've been beating with a hammer for the last hour in an attempt to make it resemble the obscure image they've had in their head for the last 6 months, gave it a cursory glance and have gone back to beating that slab of wood.
True, for some woodworkers I'm sure my 3 groups are a bit prosaic but the fact of the matter is that most of us easily fall into one group or the other fairly easily. More to the point though is the fact that all woodworkers fall into one of these categories at least once during their career. I myself, fell squarely into the, set in my ways group very early on. I chalk this up to the fact that my history is very much rooted in the guild style of training thanks to my grandfather and then my time in the family cabinet shop. Everything was drawn out to the nth degree with measurements galore and each joint was thought through, time and time again before actually putting blade to wood. But every now and again I would find my grandfather tossing this style of work out the window and flying by the seat of his pants. I think this is where I get my underlying eye to perfection and details; of which I'm more than happy to toss out the window and gleefully travel down some tangent path with my hair of fire style of woodworking...It's complicated...
But as my skills progressed and technology changed, I began looking for ways to speed up and add efficiency into my work while incorporating and using as much tech as possible to ease the process. This is when I began my trip down the techno weenie road. I admit that I jumped on Sketchup like a greasy teenager jumps at Funyuns and Mtn Dew...but I quickly learned that the program was, in my opinion, bloated and cumbersome. For someone that didn't have a computer engineering degree, the system was anything but intuitive. I have scraped more designs and killed more electrons using this program than I care to admit...I can count on 1 hand the number of projects/designs that I have brought to anything resembling a design/mock up in Sketchup over the last 4-5 years....Most decidedly not techo weenie...
It was during this frantic push to join the cool crowd in the woodworking world (I so wanted to be a part of that scene) that I stumbled across Bill McDowell's website. I was drawn in instantly and read his blog posts, tips, galleries etc over and over. The one piece that has always stuck with me was his attitude that sometimes you just have to go "gonzo" and see where it leads. Put the pencils/styluses/computer mouse etc down and just pick up the tool and let the wood take you where it wanted to go. It was like being 12 again and seeing that first R rated movie...I was certain I had just seen my first woodworking boob and it was AWESOME! From this moment on I have fallen heavily into the gonzo group. I may sketch out a joint or a rough idea of a piece, but most definitely have not made a formal drawing or sketchup model. If I wasn't flying by the seat of my pants, I wasn't woodworking.
Working gonzo is great as long as you're a hobbyist woodworker or the new "it" artisan, but for the rest of the world we eventually have that moment when we realize that we're going to have to interact with a potential client/customer who wants to see the piece before plopping down a fat wad of cash. So this is where I've been yanked back into the other 2 groups. I've generally fallen into the set in my ways and have often preferred using pencil and paper for my designs. This is an awesome and flexible medium that every woodworker should know, but it's difficult to translate a pencil drawing into an electronic medium to send to a client that is in another state or country. So what do you do when all of your communications with a client have been electronic? They found you on the internet, they emailed you, like the pictures they've seen of your work and want to commission something but need a drawing for approval...sketchup...oi...and so this is where I've come full circle.
The commission piece isn't anything spectacular...in fact it's a very strait forward dovetailed open top box. But I needed to produce a clean 3d sketch as soon as possible because this client was BIG and to lose the job due my incompatibility with sketchup would be insane!
So I took a few minutes to plan/sketch out my dovetails on a scrap piece of wood and then opened up sketchup. I do admit that the few tutorials I had watched a number of months ago really helped with the process. The number one piece of advice I can give is that for me, remembering to start with my final dimensions and then working my way into the piece made the process that much easier. For whatever reason I always seem to start at the middle of a piece and work out when I'm drawing it out, but in sketchup this causes problems and will result in the mass pulling out of hair. So after some kerputzing and more than a few cntrl-z's I had the sketch
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3D Sketchup Box[/caption]
I have to admit that the process was not as painful as I remember and honestly believe it is what sold the job. So before you chuck another drafting triangle at the computer in the corner or smack that piece of wood again, take a few minutes, with an open mind and give sketchup another go. You might surprise yourself and add a new tool to your marketing/design arsenal. This doesn't mean I'm giving up my gonzo ways...but when a customer comes calling, I just might be able to produce a mock up that seals the deal now.
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3d Box End Details[/caption]