There’s a thing that seems to come up frequently in many of the models that I’ve been creating in SketchUp. That is figuring out angles for parts that have to pivot around others and especially when different parts have to be joined at points out in space. This came up recently in an online session with a student. He is designing a panel saw frame to mount on the wall in his shop and was trying to sort out the supports that would set the thing at an angle while using it. This really isn’t too difficult to do in SketchUp with the help of an extension.

In this video I’m using the model I did of Amanda Russell’s Artful Easel for plans. For the video, I’ve simplified the geometry to 2D shapes for clarity. I also use this same sort of method for many of the machine models that I create.

The extension I use here is called True Tangents. It’s available at no charge from Sketchucation.

–Dave