Sketchup rocks!

[6530]

I recently picked up a benchtop drill press & a Grizzly mini mill, and I want to mount them both to a mobile table so I can roll around and store easily. I had some thoughts and decided to use Sketchup to see what it would look like to scale. I also plan on picking up a metal cold saw (chop-saw style) so I wanted to see how it would fit also.

The results, after some time learning how to use the program and then doing the design:

It's designed to fit in the space I've set aside for it (approx. 32Wx24Dx30H). It's got two vertical hitch mounts on the front, one for a vise & the other for a grinder.

A few details that I still have to add are a shelf on the bottom where the saw sits and a folding surface extension in the back supported with brackets like these.

The big empty box on the right approximates the envelope I'll need to operate & maintain the mini mill - it'll mount 90 degrees compared to the drill press (the back of the mill will face the side of the drill press). Since I'll be able to roll the table around the mill table can hang over either end.

This took a few hours to do, but even for something this simple it's been a huge help in visualizing and figuring out what will work.

 

[gorilla]

Nice work on the sketch. I would reconsider mounting a grinder that close to your mill. The abrasives from the grinder will damage the ways on the mill in short order.

 

[TOOL MASTER]

and free...google rocks

 

[fatboyf150]

and free...google rocks

Link for the lazy?

 

[dirttracker18]

http://sketchup.google.com/

 

[6530]

Updated with shelf & power strip.

 

[6530]

I would reconsider mounting a grinder that close to your mill. The abrasives from the grinder will damage the ways on the mill in short order.

The more I think about it the more you're right. I'll still put the hitch mounts, but will use them for non-grinding items only.

 

[onelochevy]

That looks really good. I downloaded sketchup the other day on my PC at home. Just gotta figure out how to use it.

 

[knucklehead]

how long did it take you to learn how to draw that up with sketchup?

 

[red92s]

Did you model the tools themselves or get them from the 3D warehouse?

 

[6530]

how long did it take you to learn how to draw that up with sketchup?

It took a couple of hours, starting from scratch. The hardest part for me is getting the parts sized correctly & intersecting at the right spots.

Did you model the tools themselves or get them from the 3D warehouse?

I wish I were good enough to model the tools. I pulled them down from the 3D warehouse.

 

[6530]

I updated the design.

I moved the hitch tube to the center of the table, to be welded to the middle top support, and made it deeper to fit a 26" toolbox to keep tooling handy.

You can round the measurements - I'm having a tough time getting them just right. Table will be 36" high.

Spending some time thinking about this & hopefully getting it right the first time is a whole lot easier than building it and figuring out every mistake the hard way...

 

[Jeff_R]

I like what you have in SketchUp... but a small suggestion. You might want to turn the drill press 90 degrees, so you can easily reach the handle and have full access to the table. As it is drawn, you will run into the mill with large stock.

 

[Morrisman]

I discovered Sketchup a couple months ago, just in time to design our own garage, and house with it.

The they are currently being built, as we speak, and things were made one hell of a lot easier by using Sketchup, instead of scratting about with sheets of paper or some complicated cad program.

Here's a rear view, with the roof garden:

These realistic effects are done in Sketchup too.

Even a transparent full scale house:

 

[CarterKraft]

Sketchup does rock, nice table design aswell.

A suggestion for the dimensions is to change the model info units format. You can set the precision of the drawing in decimal or fraction units.

Window>Model Info>Units>Length Units

 

[VWandDodge]

I downloaded Sketchup to my Mac a few months ago but had trouble figuring it out. My goal was to design a new kitchen for my house as mine needs to be remodeled/improved. Looks like I need to go back and review Sketchup to see what I'm not understanding.

 

[CarterKraft]

VW Dodge, Get one Youtube and watch the many tutorials on the subject you are trying to learn, then pause the vid and perform the same task, you will pick it up pretty quick.

 

[VWandDodge]

VW Dodge, Get one Youtube and watch the many tutorials on the subject you are trying to learn, then pause the vid and perform the same task, you will pick it up pretty quick.

Awesome. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Stuey]

Looks like a nice design. I also <3 sketchup. It's not as featured or powerful as other programs, but hey, it's free.

I've been learning to use DraftSight for my 2D Cad needs. It's also free. (DraftSight Preview via TG)

 

[Morrisman]

Learn the keyboard commands too, far far quicker than having to click on the screen menu.

And I second the suggestion to carefully watch the tutorial videos. You can learn a hell of a lot from them.

 

[daveroy]

Learn the keyboard commands too, far far quicker than having to click on the screen menu.

And I second the suggestion to carefully watch the tutorial videos. You can learn a hell of a lot from them.

Print out the quick reference card!

 

[Zeke]

I used to have SketchUp on another computer with considerable more memory. Haven't used it for couple or years. My question: can I create 2 dimensional shapes to scale like circles and scrolls then drag them into a basic design?

Like an iron fence. It would have lots of repeats within a repeatable section. Also being able to rotate and reverse would give me a lot of variables to consider.

I looked at some tutorials, but creating the file to drop in was not explained or I missed it.

 

[porphyre]

Yeah. You've got a number of options.

1) There's a thing called 3d Warehouse built into Sketchup. It's on one of the menus. It is an Internet site that thousands of people have uploaded millions (?) of things into. You just search it, it shows you what it looks like, and you download it. Cars, houses, tables, vises, nuts and bolts, spaceships, wooden millwork...

2) Roll your own. Build something. Save it to a file. Load it into later drawings.

If you're talkin' about a wrought iron fence, yeah, you can do that very easily. Scale, rotate, flip, etc. The keyword you're looking for is "component".

You would design your iron scroll piece, save it as a component, then use a couple keystrokes to copy and paste it as many times as you want. If you decide you want it a little different, you can edit the component. The change you make would then replicate to all the other copies you'd already made.

Just search the docs a little and learn the difference between "Group" and "Component".

One thing I'll warn you, though, specifically talking about wrought iron... that kind of ironwork uses lots of twists and spirals (like flame tips). Twists and spirals are two things that are very hard to do in Sketchup. Circles, curves, whatever... easy. 3D twists... HARD!



And re-reading your post... specifically, after you have a file open, you can "drop in" stuff by going to the File menu, then choosing Import. Get the drop in files from either point 1 or 2 above.

 

[Zeke]

Thanks. I don't know if my bargain computer has the memory to run SketchUp, but I guess I'll not know until I try.

 

[Cryptic1911]

I always forget about sketchup, I'll have to load it later tonight and play around with it some