Replies

1. 
   daverichards | Oct 28, 2019 02:23pm | #1

   Probably the most popular software from drawing woodworking projects is SketchUp. There are two versions, SketchUp 2017 Make and SketchUp Free which are both free for non-commercial use. If you are just a hobbyist, either of these will likely do what you need. If woodworking is your business, you would want to look at SketchUp Shop and SketchUp Pro. Both include more options that the free versions and SketchUp Pro includes LayOut which is used for creating things like plans, presentation packages and full size patterns from the SketchUp model. SketchUp Shop is a browser-based offering similar to SketchUp Free except with additional features and the commercial use license. There are two different licensing packages for SketchUp Pro. One of them has a perpetual license for SketchUp Pro and LayOut, the other is a subscription license which includes SketchUp Pro, LayOut, and SketchUp Shop.

   There are other software options out there but of all of them, you're most likely to get help learning to use SketchUp more readily than the others because there are so many woodworkers using it.

   You might take a look at the Design. Click. Build. blog here on Fine Woodworking.
   https://www.finewoodworking.com/blog/design-click-build

   If you're interested in seeing some woodworking projects I've modeled in SketchUp, see this link: https://flic.kr/s/aHsjpUPdd6

2. 
   digitallimit | Oct 28, 2019 04:36pm | #2

   @DaveRichards
   Wow... those links and your work are epic!!! It will take me many moons to get that good with a piece of software and in wood working in general.

   I am still a little confused, I am just a hobbyist; however, when you say blueprints - I do not need anything to scale, but I do need something that will give me flat plans, with measurements so I can draw it up and then head to the shop. Does SketchUp provide that feature? I will research more into SketchUp.

   Thank you

3. 
   daverichards | Oct 28, 2019 06:25pm | #3

   You can make "blueprints" or plan documents with SketchUp. The easiest and best looking would be to use SketchUp Pro and LayOut. If you want to see the sort of thing that can be done in that vein, download one of the digital plans from the Taunton Store like Michael Robbins' Contemporary Desk. (Not free but only 12.95)

   From the free versions of SketchUp you can make views of the model and add dimensions. Then print those views out. Again, not as convenient as doing it with LayOut but it can be done. It also depends on what you think you need in the way of a plan for your woodworking projects. It might be that once you've modeled it up and you have a few dimensions, you'll have the rest of it in your head enough that you don't need full blown plans. Often by the time I get to the shop to start cutting, I know the project well enough that it's like I'm building it for the second or third time.

   And thank you very much for the kind words.

4. 
   forrestb | Dec 02, 2019 09:32pm | #4

   Taunton sells Dave’s SketchUp Basics for $15 or so and also Advanced. He can’t tout them but, believe me, I can. There are worth every penny when trying to learn SketchUp.