Making an end grain cutting board that will have a groove and chamfered edges.
I was able to make the groove along one edge, but realized the individual block sizes needed to be smaller to achieve the overall dimensions for the completed board.
This meant the groove would now have to span two components. You see this in the 4 blocks at Origin. I have been at it for hours and can get close, but no cigar. I’ve gotten the arc to “follow me” around the corner, but it stays solid instead of cutting a groove into the surface.
Is it possible in SU free? If it is, what am I missing?
No. It’s not possible in the paid versions either. You need to edit each component individually. If you were using SketchUp Shop or SketchUp Pro this could be made easier by create a “cutter” as a solid group or component and then using the Trim tool from Solid Tools or better, Trim from Eneroth Solid Tools in the Pro version to cut the chamfers, radii, or even a juice groove.
Look at Jean’s tutorial. If you don’t need to show the parts of the cutting board as individual pieces, it makes good sense to follow that process. It’s a bit of a faff but you could separate his final cutting board into individual pieces. Probably not any less work, just a different kind.
Thank you. I can tell you, I’ve made a few of these “Illusion” boards in my shop and they are every bit as complicated out there as trying to draw (build) them here is.
One thing I am seeing, whatever operation one performs in SU is pretty darn close to the shop experience.
Jean, conceptually, it appears you worked from the inside out. Kind of the reverse of how a board would be built.
For now, I’m getting there by working on individual parts. It’s tedious but I’m getting a good idea of the fundamentals. i.e. properly finishing a part, making components, KISS, etc. I’m sure the shortcuts will come. I’ve already seen some of that when working with copies, rotating, flipping, etc.
Dave, for now I want to stick with free even with the limitations. I’m looking at upgrading but want to have the basics down so that I can use the 30 day free trial. So far the biggest advantage would be the ability to generate material and cut lists. I know there are many others, but those are the most important ones I see for now.
You guys are great! I really appreciate your input.
Well, I did it one way or another. I would rather have been able to place the groove better, but I understand the limitations of free.
I missed some inferences when copying some components, so if you look deep, you will see missing edges. But the appearance is good when not in x-ray view.
This is where I would need the cut and materials lists. But first I have to clean up the table, which is my next actual build. The cutting board was just for fun (and headaches). Illusion.skp (806.4 KB)
If this is for personal and non-commercial use only, try SU Make 2017 which is free, runs natively on your computer, and can use extensions. It starts as a 30-day trial of 2017 Pro, but reverts to Make after that.
Make is missing Layout, solid tools, dynamic component creation, and some import/export file formats. But you might still find it better than the Free Web version.
