I use SketchUp for furniture design and manufacturing, and I need a better way to resize dynamic components without distorting their geometry.
For example, when I resize a wooden panel with solid-wood edging and 45-degree miter joints, I want the component to extend from its center, adding or removing material along its length while keeping both mitered ends perfectly intact.
Current workarounds, such as splitting each part into multiple subcomponents, complicate manufacturing workflows because they can cause a single physical part to appear as multiple entries in a cut list.
Ideally :
Extends or shortens geometry along a chosen axis without scaling its cross-section.
Preserves end geometry, including angled cuts, miters and joinery.
Keeps each physical part as a single component for cut-list extensions such as OpenCutList.
Updates the actual geometry and dimensions, rather than merely stretching the component.
Is this something that could be considered for Dynamic Components ?
Maybe out of the DC scope of your question, but current LAB version of OpenCutList allows you to explore the Stretch Tool. And this tool solve a lot need around resizing furnitures. Even, of course, it works only on Non-DC components
Another existing option that will allow you to resize without changing component dimensions incorrectly and leave miter angles alone is Box Stretching from FredoScale.
Can either the OpenCutList Stretch Tool or Fredo Box Stretching be used with Dynamic Components? Or a similar workflow where variables are set up and can be updated by entering the desired numbers?
No, because OpenCutList’s stretch tool moves the vertices of the geometry, whereas Dynamic Components (DCs) operate solely through scaling transformations. The two operations are not compatible.
OpenCutList can be installed even if you only use the “Stretch” tool
However, since this tool performs a significant amount of calculation—determining which definitions should be made unique or not and moving each vertex one by one, all while displaying a preview—it is not recommended to apply it to the entire model (…even though it remains technically possible.)
And OpenCutList offers many other interesting drawing tools… In my view, the best way to distribute them is by integrating them into a complete and coherent package.
No form to set the size or compute inner copies of subcomponent if it’s what you think.
But of course the stretch tool can be used with numeric values from VCB.
Furthermore, whenever you move or add a section plane using the “Stretch” tool, its position is saved within the component definition’s attributes. As a result, these values ​​are preserved during export or import operations.
Nothing to do with Dynamic Components, but I think it’s worth mentioning just how much can be achieved with a simple left-to-right selection and the Move tool. Nothing is stretched or scaled in the example below.
I keep a number of fully exploded models of my glass extensions, and I can rearrange them into different configurations in seconds simply by selecting the geometry I want to move, without affecting anything else.
Yes, but the Stretch tool is buried among other features, which isn’t very convenient if that’s all you need.
Fredo6’s Stretch tool is more straightforward, but it’s not free and requires additional plugins to work.
I personally prefer specialized tools over jack-of-all-trades plugins. A tool that does one thing really well has a clearer purpose and broader appeal.
