Hello everybody. I’m not real experienced with posting. I hope I’ve put this in the right spot.
I’m wondering if I can get some help on how to bend objects/panels to a radius. The current drawing in the attached file is a panel that I’d like to bend around the front of a desk. I would also like to learn this skill to be able to draw a raised panel cabinet door and then bend it to be a radius door. I did download Shape Bender and follow a video I found but it wasn’t working for me. I may not be able to respond right away but I’ll check in after work tomorrow. Thanks a bunch for any info…
Shape bender will do it for you.
Your arc is ‘exploded’ so either weld it or draw it again as a single arc.
Add a straight edge along the red axis. then away you go.
You can see the green preview changes as I tap various arrow keys, then enter to finish.
Another option is Truebend.
You must have rotated your group at some stage so, as truebend needs t work on the red axis I explode then regroup your panel.
You can type in specific deg and number of segments.
If you’re using SketchUp as the basis for actual construction, you may want to model the curved raised-and-panel a different way, without using Shape Bender or True Bend. That’s because the frame will most likely be built with mortise-and-tenon joints. If you use the bending plugins, there’s a risk that the tenons will come out curved. They might not fit the mortises. If it were me, I’d lay out the curve for the frame using the 2-point arc tool. In planning the design of the rails, I’d make sure the tenons were straight and that the ends of the rails met the stiles at a right angle. In the shop, you can make the curved rails by steam-bending the wood, by laminating thin layers of wood, or by bandsawing them. Whatever method you choose, you’ll want the rails and stiles to join at 90 degrees. The door panel can be laminated from thin pieces or coopered and smoothed.
You mentioned that you can type in the number of segments when using Truebend. I can’t seem to get this working; I can only enter the angle. Is there something I’m missing?
