When sketching out a design, it is very convenient to draw a frame and panel door, all at once, using the box tool, offset tool, and finally the push-pull tool. Of course, unless you want to extrude it from plastic, you can’t build it as drawn as it’s a pure shape with no internal parts.
So, once I’m satisfied with the proportions, I currently have to re-draw the door from scratch in order to define component rails, stiles, and panel. There has to be a better way.
Has anyone worked out a practical (ie, faster than just doing it over from scratch) way to later break the “simple” door down into component parts of stile, rail, and panel?
Mike D
Edited 10/1/2007 10:38 pm ET by Mike_D
Replies
Mike, I assume you're talking about drawing the door in SKetchUp?
As to an easier way, it really depends on a number of factors about how you draw the door in the first place and how much detail you need in the construction drawing.
You can copy faces off the "sketched" door and use Push/Pull to extrude them into rails, stiles and panel. Then make each of the parts into a component and move them together. Of course you only need to draw one stile and one rail because once they are components, you can copy and mirror the copies.
Another thing to consider if you use a fairly limited set of profiles for the rails, stiles and raisings is to create a door component made up of the five parts with all the detail you need. Make one for each of the profiles and save them into a door library. After you've worked out door sizes on your current project, replace the sketched doors with the detailed door component and resize as needed.
As far as resizing goes, take a look at my Design. Click. Build. post here: http://blogs.taunton.com/n/blogs/blog.aspx?nav=main&webtag=fw-designforum&entry=17
Hope that helps,
Dave Richards
Dave,
Thanks, that's exactly what I needed. I'm going to print out your response and bookmarked the blog entry so that when I get home tonight I can play with the concepts. I especially like the idea of creating a library of components like doors for my kitchen project - that'll be a big time saver.Being an engineer, and therefore just a tiny bit obsessive/compulsive, I tend to get way deeper into a new subject than I really need to in order to get the job done. At this point, SWMBO is saying "Honey, that's a really COOL design....so can you just BUILD it for me now? Please? Waste a little wood if you haven't got it perfect - it's o.k.!"Mike D :-)
Ah ha! Another question.Can you batch replace (several instances of) an outline component with another, more complex one (i.e., one with stiles and rails) from your library? Annnnd, is the library door, with it's stiles, rails and panel saved as a "component" with nested components, or is it a "group" made up of it's various components???Mike
Aha back at ya! ;)
I know where you're coming from. I have a PHD in over-engineering. It's just part of the job. ;) Give me anything and I'll find a way to complicate it.
Yes, you can replace several components with a component from the library. Select them all before making the replacement. Of course if the original doors are different sizes, you might not want to replace them with a single component.
The 5-piece door (rails, stiles and panel) would be a component made of nested components. You would certainly want to make it that way to help keep entity (line and face) counts along with file size low.
If you have, for example, doors of three different widths in the model, replace one of them with the door component from the library. Edit the door as needed to match the size of the replaced component. Then replace the next size of doors with the component from the library. Edit that one as needed. Repeat the operation on the third size of doors.
Clear as mud?
Dave
Edited 10/2/2007 10:47 am ET by DaveRichards
Edited 10/2/2007 10:48 am ET by DaveRichards
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