Comments on: Free Download: Deluxe Plans for 'The Schoolbox'

By: bennyk

bennyk — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 01:19:49 +0000

I use Vectorworks professionally, so it seemed natural to plan my woodworking projects using the same package. More expensive than Sketchup but cheaper than AutoCAD. I always draw in 3d because I think that way. 2d pencil drafting used to drive me nuts! I’ve got great respect for all the blueliners who came before me. That is truly a lost art form.

By: Bruce Powers

Bruce Powers — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:55:17 +0000

Silly said; SU was cumbersome.
Helpful said; SU was limited for 2D plans, found CAD/Viso better.
Perhaps my contention was not comprehended.

Was offered a gold mine once; it was inaccessible.

Bruce Powers
Thanks to those who offered solutions.

By: D Grant

D Grant — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:33:25 +0000

Great model… Sketchup is great for 3D modelling, but it’s been my experience trying to produce 2D plans from them that when projects start getting slightly more complicated, the limitations of SU’s dimensioning capabilities shine through, and I don’t find that Layout is much better. Exporting views to CAD drawings and opening them up in Visio was my solution to these limitations – it has many more dimensioning capabilities.

The complaints here regarding this download are a little silly – a Sketchup model was posted and a link was given to the Sketchup website if it wasn’t already installed – seems pretty straightforward. Leave it to someone to complain about the manner in which free content was offered to them.

By: Randall Wilkins

Randall Wilkins — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 05:21:31 +0000

I’m not sure what the link is that’s attached to my previous post but below is a link to get the 2-D plans that were generated from the model. You don’t need Sketchup to download or view the file but it is in PDF form which means you’ll need Adobe’s PDF viewer if it doesn’t open immediately for you. This is a free viewer if it’s not already on your hard drive. These drawings are formatted for 36" x 24" paper so you’ll need to go to a large format printing service like Kinko’s to get full-size copies.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3211675/1839%20School%20Box.pdf

Hope you’ll find this useful.

Randall Wilkins

By: Bruce Powers

Bruce Powers — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:55:03 +0000

My frustration is not SketchUp,but the unsuccessful download, which prevents me from seeing the plan. I don’t now why it occurs, but it seems a common problem and source of complaint.

If reaching your audience is the goal, then the medium chosen should accomplish it without difficulty.

I used SketchUp, initially fascinated by its potential, but was disappointed by its demand for computer capacity, learning curve, time drain; eventually deleting it. Perhaps when I am 90, I will reinvestigate.

By: www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawknvBmd81hcy0k2GsFRkcOzAjuMS4p9RBc

www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawknvBmd81hcy0k2GsFRkcOzAjuMS4p9RBc — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:21:06 +0000

Cliff,

I, too, have been a 2-D draftsman for over 20 years and fought the change to digital as long as I could. The film industry is the last hold-out for pencil draftspersons as quite a few of us draw with pencil whenever we can. Unfortunately not only has our design time been cut to the bone, we now work mainly for people who have zero visualization skills and spending a lot of time making physical models is usually out of the question.

By working in a 3-D program like Sketchup allows me to get an approved design quickly which is then easy to slice up and dimension. Even better, with the numerous changes that inevitably come, a change to the model automatically updates the 2-D drawings which are attached to it. This feature alone is worth its weight in gold and saves me endless hours of redrawing. It’s a feature found only on the pro version but makes it worth getting. I’ll be happy to forward a sample of the 2-D drawings which are generated from the model to anyone who is interested. These aren’t the flat, lifeless CAD drawings you are used to seeing, but fully shaded orthographic drawings like those I’ve always done in pencil. In fact, as you’ll see, I incorporate full-size scale hand drawings into the documents.

I’m never giving up my pencils!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all,

Randall Wilkins

By: Cliff

Cliff — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:05:18 +0000

I guess I am old school. Worked as mechanical
designer for years. 2D manual drawings then
Autocad until later versions with 3D.
I had to think in 3D and found 3D packages overkill,
took longer to create and for me no gain.

Give me a simple 2D drawing in pdf format anytime,
and I can figure it out.

I guess younger folk are used to 3D like sketchup,
but very little benefit for me.

Just my 2 cents, Cliff

By: Roger Nixon

Roger Nixon — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:57:17 +0000

It is an excellent download. Thanks, Chris. You are most generous in providing quality free stuff, no need to apologize to anyone.

By: Christopher Schwarz

Christopher Schwarz — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:48:19 +0000

Like it or not, Google SketchUp has become the standard way to communicate drawings such as this. All other electronic drawing formats of note cost money, which is why we use SketchUp. It’s free, powerful and becoming darn-near universal.

No matter what format we chose, it would disappoint some people.

So I’m sorry to disappoint.

Chris

By: Christopher Schwarz

Christopher Schwarz — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:44:13 +0000

Mike,

It appears that some of the e-mails we sent out for people to complete their orders were never received. Spam filters got them, most likely.

Feel free to order it from the site. We didn’t ask for any credit card info on the pre-order so you cannot be charged twice.

Sorry for the trouble.

Chris