Saturday, December 15, 2007

Round Over Edges for the Tensioner


I learned the basics of using Follow Me in Sketchup, and it solves the problem of creating round overs on the tensioner plan I've been struggling with. Now that I know how to use this tool, it's fairly easy. This task that has occupied at least 5 hours of my time can now be completed from scratch in under 5 minutes (with several mistakes). Here's how I do it:
  1. Draw a rectangle 1.5 x 6 inches.
  2. Using the line tool draw a section 1/2 inch long at the tip.
  3. Using the line tool draw a section 1 inch long on the right side.
  4. Draw a line connecting the two sections.
  5. Delete the resulting triangle.
  6. Using the Push tool, extrude the shape to 1.5 inches.
  7. Orient the object so I'm looking right at the square end.
  8. Using the tape tool, drop a reference line 12.25 inches from each side.
  9. In the top left corner, use the arc tool to draw an arc that runs between two intersections and tangent to the sides.
  10. Do the same in the bottom left corner.
  11. Select Camera, Standard Views, Iso.
  12. Orbit slightly if necessary to get a good view of the arc and the area it defines.
  13. Select Tools, Follow Me.
  14. Click on the small section formed by the arc and the corner.
  15. Move the cursor to follow the four edges that want a round over and click when they are all defined.
  16. Select Camera, Standard Views, Bottom.
  17. Select Camera, Standard Views, Iso.
  18. Repeat steps 13 – 15 for the bottom.
  19. Select Tools, Dimensions.
  20. Add dimensions as needed.
Having learned to do it so quickly and easily, I'm almost embarrassed at the amount of time I spent trying to do this with Intersect Selected and other means. But I'm super excited about the Follow Me tool, which will allow the creation of custom moldings and other details that I couldn't do before.

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