Learning Sketchup
Welcome to the Popular Woodworking Magazine SketchUp Learning Page. Here you will find links and information on learning and using this exciting (and free) 3-D Modeling program.
What is SketchUp?
SketchUp is a free three-dimensional modeling software application available from Google by clicking here. It enables you to plan and visualize projects on your computer, not as static drawings, but as models you can take apart, put back together, and view from any angle. SketchUp will make you a better woodworker because you can build a project onscreen before you head to the shop.
Here is a photo of one of our projects, and here is the same project as it appears in SketchUp
Click Here for More Ways You Can Use SketchUp
SketchUp is an intuitive program with a short learning curve, once you understand the basics of 3D modeling. The tutorials with the program are helpful, and there are more resources online. Robert W. Lang, Popular Woodworking Magazine’s executive editor has created references aimed at using SketchUp for woodworking design and planning. He skips over how to layout landscapes, staircases and roofs in favor of showing you how to make mortise-and-tenon and dovetail joints.
Click Here for Resources to Learn About Woodworking with SketchUp
Popular Woodworking Magazine SketchUp Community
Our new format allows our readers to comment on posts we make, and that’s a great way for you to interact with us. We have a SketchUp Q and A post where we will answer questions from our readers. Leave your question as a comment, or send an e-mail and browse through the responses to find a quick answer or pick up a useful tip. We also post tips for using SketchUp on our editor’s blog and you can leave comments on our models.
Browse this and following pages to view posts about using SketchUp.
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Popular Woodworking Magazine Collection of Free SketchUp Models
When you download and install SketchUp on your computer you will be able to view any of the more than 200 models available in our online collection. We add models of projects with each new issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. Check back often, or sign up for the RSS feed and you’ll be first to know when new projects are added.
More than 200 SketchUp models are on this site; click here to access.
You will need to be a registered member of the site to view our Sketchup Models.
Classes With Bob Lang in 2012
Next year I’ll be teaching two classes on using Google SketchUp for designing woodworking projects, and a new class about making authentic Arts & Crafts period details. In April, I’ll be teaching for the first time at Annapolis Woodworks, in Annapolis, Maryland, with a weekend workshop on SketchUp, April 21-22. In August, I’ll be returning Continue reading»
SketchUp Classes at Woodworking in America
The Woodworking in America conference is an opportunity to indulge in sensory overload, and for the third year in a row, I’ll be doing my part to keep your head spinning by teaching two different sessions on using our favorite design and planning tool, Google SketchUp. On Friday morning at 9:30 and Sunday morning at Continue reading»
Nesting Components in SketchUp, It Works Both Ways
One of the secrets of working effectively in SketchUp is keeping control of all the bits and pieces in your model. The more they look (and act) like individual hunks of wood, the closer modeling is to playing around in the shop. My thinking is that every object that would be an individual piece in Continue reading»
SketchUp Class in Atlanta, July 15-17
I will be at the Atlanta Woodcraft store teaching a three-day weekend class on using SketchUp, Friday July 15 through Sunday July 18. There are a couple of seats available if you want to join me in learning how to use the software that we use here at Popular Woodworking Magazine for planning our projects. Continue reading»
Popular Woodworking SketchUp Pages-New and Improved
Since the recent upgrade to our website, we’ve been working away at improving the section of our site devoted to using Google SketchUp. It has been a big job, and the reason for that is the depth and breadth of what we have online-more than 200 SketchUp models that are available for free, and many Continue reading»
Add Dimensions to a SketchUp Model
We use SketchUp models as the basis for planning the projects you see in the pages of Popular Woodworking Magazine, and they are the source for our printed illustrations. We add scenes and layers to basic models to get snapshots of different points of view. We copy pieces and parts to add dimensions, and sometimes Continue reading»
Ogee Bracket Feet in SketchUp
This post in response to a question from reader Doug Smith about making bracket feet, as seen in the model of the American Cabinet in our 3D Warehouse Collection. SketchUp is extremely fast when you’re making rectangular shapes, but curves can slow you down. Objects that curve in two directions are even more complex, and Continue reading»
