Recently for my weekend SketchUp practice I drew a room divider screen based on photos of an antique screen I found while looking at a used furniture clearinghouse site. The top section is made in the Kumiko style while the bottom consists of some thin slats woven between a couple of spindles. I was asked by several people how I made the woven slats. This video shows the process. It’s pretty fast with the right tools.

I used two extensions for this one, both of which can be found in the Sketchucation Plugin Store. The first is Bezier Spline extension and the second, TIG-Weld.

Just a note about drawing the curve for the slat. I used the Catmull Spline tool because the curve passes through the control points. The curve could be drawn with the Bezier Curve tool but since that type of curve doesn’t pass through the contrl points, it would take some playing around to get the curve just right.

And just a note about the slats. I drew them so they end at the posts. They really should fit into grooves in the posts. They could be laid out with the ends extended a bit or you could use Push/Pull on the ends to add the required length. I didn’t bother because it wouldn’t show in the model and I didn’t draw this piece to make detailed plans.

–Dave