[Lab] Google Sketchup

Mon Mar 3 20:01:15 EST 2014

Great googly moogly that is a thing of beauty!!!

Thanks to all for the great tips and to Autodesk for making one part of my
artistic life a few thousand times simpler.

Must now debate whether to laser cut 28 sheets of 8.5x11 for the initial
scale model prototype or print / glue to cardboard and cut.

Oh - and start hunting for enough freecycle'd wood to build a 20 foot
version :)

Is spring here yet :)

On Mon, Mar 3, 2014 at 9:35 AM, Paul & Andrea Mumby <themumbys at gmail.com>wrote:

> Yeah I can echo 123D Make as a layer stacking tool, it's designed to have
> that feature, so it's much more robust and automated. Sketchup could do it,
> you would need to create the layer planes, and then use an SVG Export
> plugin (there is a free one, I've got it installed at home, but at the
> office right now) to export the planes as 2D SVG files. Then bring them
> into something like inkscape to prepare for cutting...
>
> 123D Make is probably much preferable way to go.
>
> Darcy: The STL plugin supports both import and export of STL. It does do
> some wierd things on import though for scaling. But otherwise it imports
> STL quite nicely.
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 3, 2014 at 8:11 AM, Darcy Whyte <darcy at inventorartist.com>wrote:
>
>> It makes features for joining the layers too! :)
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Darcy Whyte
>>
>> Art+ inventorArtist.com <http://inventorartist.com/> | Aviation
>> rubber-power.com
>> Contact: darcy at inventorArtist.com | 613-563-3634 by appointment (no text)
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 3, 2014 at 8:09 AM, Dave Hunt <dave at huntgang.com> wrote:
>>
>>> There is a pretty neat tool I have seen to do the stacking from autodesk
>>> called 123D Make. It sounds like exactly what you are trying to do but
>>> fully automated.
>>>
>>> You provide it your 3d model and dimensions of your material and it
>>> slices it up for you. Then it can spot out pdf files as its output.
>>>
>>> Although I have not actually cut out anything from it yet I did play a
>>> little and it looks pretty awesome. The best part is that it is free!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -------- Original message --------
>>> From: Jamie <jamie at steppinofftheedge.com>
>>> Date: 03-02-2014 10:46 PM (GMT-05:00)
>>> To: Paul & Andrea Mumby <themumbys at gmail.com>
>>> Cc: lab <lab at artengine.ca>
>>> Subject: Re: [Lab] Google Sketchup
>>>
>>>
>>> Hey Paul and other Sketchup gurus....
>>>
>>> A question about STL / Slicers and working with Sketchup for laser
>>> cutting instead of 3D Printing....
>>>
>>> I've imported a wunnerful complex .3ds model into Sketchup. Using the
>>> Section Plane tool and adjusting it by increments I can get layer outlines
>>> to "build by stack" but as yet cannot find a fantastic way to output those.
>>> Some googling leads me to believe that Sketchup pro is needed to do export
>>> of section planes. Before I do that, was wondering if a pro such as
>>> yourself or others might know a better way to go about it.
>>>
>>> If you had a model, approx 20", in sketchup that you wanted to output
>>> with 1 layer every 1" or so, how might you go about it?
>>>
>>> Thx,
>>> Jamie
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Feb 28, 2014 at 4:22 PM, Paul & Andrea Mumby <
>>> themumbys at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Sketchup is very capable for 3D Printing. Though not out of the box.
>>>> You need a plugin.
>>>>
>>>> I pretty much use Sketchup, or OpenSCAD as my 2 primary design tools
>>>> for all my printing.
>>>>
>>>> Most 3D Printers require a file in either a specific format for the
>>>> machine, or some variance of GCODE (typically still fairly specific to the
>>>> tunings of the machine). Which is where a "Slicer" app comes in. There are
>>>> dozens of these for free. Cura is a good one (but primarily for ultimaker).
>>>> These almost all take an STL format 3D Model, and slice it up into the
>>>> layers needed for 3D Printing, and output a GCODE (or other format) file.
>>>>
>>>> To output an STL in Sketchup is easy, you just need is this plugin
>>>> http://extensions.sketchup.com/en/content/sketchup-stl
>>>>
>>>> Check the comments if you have trouble installing it. It's a bit
>>>> different in the new version of sketchup, in V8 it was a bit simpler. But
>>>> still fairly easy to do once you get the right paths and such.
>>>>
>>>> Once the plugin is installed you just select the model parts you want
>>>> to export, (I prefer to group them, and check they are a complete object,
>>>> by checking for volume by right clicking on it once it's grouped, and
>>>> choosing "Entity Info". If it shows a "volume" in there, then it's "water
>>>> tight" (no holes, and therefore a solid object). That is one thing to check
>>>> to ensure it's printable.
>>>>
>>>> Then export to STL.
>>>>
>>>> Hope that helps!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Feb 28, 2014 at 4:11 PM, Aurelius R <maxrowsell at gmail.com>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I have just stumbled onto the amazing thing that is Sketchup. In
>>>>> school, we learned the beginnings of Blender and also another one whose
>>>>> name I can't remember, and I always wanted to get back into it.
>>>>>
>>>>> I think because I have experience working with 3D models, I only had
>>>>> to watch the very basic tutorial videos and I was off and running, though I
>>>>> suspect the average person wouldn't need much more than that either.
>>>>>
>>>>> I've designed the shelf I've always wanted, which is freestanding and
>>>>> sits on my desk to give me shelf space above my monitors. Hard to explain
>>>>> without seeing it. I also prototyped a project case with a speaker hole in
>>>>> the bottom and standoffs etc.
>>>>>
>>>>> My question for all you 3D printer experts out there is, what format
>>>>> do most 3D printers take? I've noticed that this program can export the 3D
>>>>> models in quite a few different formats.
>>>>>
>>>>> My other question was, if I wanted to print a small case for one of my
>>>>> boards, am I allowed to do it at the lab?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks!
>>>>> ____________________
>>>>> Peace, Love, Empathy
>>>>>
>>>>> Alexander Max Rowsell
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Lab mailing list
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>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
>
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