sketchUcation

Purpose

This tool speeds up the process of drawing any structure composed of rectangular blocks chosen from an editable list of rectangular profiles. Any length can be drawn, using either SketchUp inferencing to existing objects, or by typing in a length in the measurement box as usual.

It is intended primarily for drawing wooden frames using standard softwood 'Planed All Round (PAR)', 'Planed on 4 Edges (P4E)', 'Dressed All Round (DAR)' or equivalent terminology, where the size is specified as the nominal size before planing/thicknessing.

The different planing allowances for UK and US/Canadian softwood are built in (hard coded).

Customization

The user can also add any number of nominal sizes, or custom actual sizes, and select the nominal or custom size to be drawn by a right click. Default options can be saved, and will be automatically loaded on restarting SketchUp, or recalled at any time from the file in which they are saved in .json format in the plugin's sub-folder in the SU Plugins folder.

Units can be either US customary/Imperial (feet, inches and fractions) or metric (mm, cm or metres), and are rounded to the nearest 1/8" or 1mm depending on units selected in Model Info.

Component naming

The tool draws components, and names them with nominal (showing UK or US/Can) or Actual profile size, and length: e.g., US/Can 1" x 2" x 1', UK 25 mm x 50 mm x 305 mm, Actual 3/4" x 1/2" x 1', Actual 1.9 cm x 1.2 cm x 30.0 cm depending on country and units settings.

If you draw other components with the same profile and length, the same component definition will be re-used regardless of the component orientation, and whether or not the profile dimensions are listed in the same order: e.g., a nominal 2" x 4" x 2' piece is regarded as being the same as a 4" x 2" x 2' piece. Internally the name is created with the smaller profile dimension first, the way most timber merchants list them.

Installation

Install the plugin from the RBZ file as usual, or use the SketchUcation Plugin to manage installation direct from the Plugin Store.

After installation

Find the Draw menu, and Wood Framing should appear as a submenu of Draw.

Use View/Toolbars (or View/Tool palettes on Mac) to show or hide the Wood Framing toolbar.

Configuration

Choose Draw/Wood Framing/Configure Profiles or click on the second icon in the toolbar to edit the list of nominal and/or custom actual sizes from which to choose the size of wood to draw. You must have at least one size defined, which can be either a nominal or a custom size, and you can have any number of either kind of size.

Nominal dimensions for UK or US/Canadian softwood commonly available in their respective countries are hard coded, and any combination of thickness and width can be selected for use.

Add further nominal sizes by selecting the Action 'Add nominal user size', or add a Custom size by selecting the Action 'Add custom user size', then click OK .

Remove an existing size by selecting the Action 'Delete a user size', then click OK and select which sizes to keep or delete in the subsequent dialogue.

Use the Action 'Save as defaults' to save current settings to a file, or 'Load defaults' to retrieve previously saved defaults for use in the current session.

Saved defaults are automatically reloaded as SketchUp starts. Existing user sizes are preserved for reuse during the current SketchUp session.

Start the tool

Choose from menu Draw/Wood Framing/Draw Framing or click on the first icon in the toolbar to start drawing with the default size of wood.

Select the size to draw Change the size to draw using a right click anywhere in the SU modelling window, and/or to choose between US/Canadian and UK nominal sizes with their different planing allowances; the size drawn will be the actual size after planing allowances are deducted from the nominal size.

Set the plane of the profile to draw

The profile will be drawn by default in the plane of the face over which the mouse is hovering when your first click is made, unless you have set an axis, face or parallel-to-face lock (see below).

If you have difficulty positioning the mouse over a face without losing a corner or edge inference, press and hold the Shift key with the mouse anywhere over the face, to lock the plane to the face. Check that the status bar shows ' - locked to face plane'.

You can use an Arrow key to lock the plane normal to any axis (in the current drawing context) - whether in the main model space, or inside a component opened for editing - in the same way as locking a native tool.

Tap Right arrow to lock the plane normal to the red (X) axis, Left arrow to lock normal to the green (Y) axis, or Up arrow to lock the plane normal to the blue (Z) axis.

Tap the Down arrow to toggle a lock to the plane of a face over which the mouse is hovering (and showing an 'on face' inference) when you tap the key, or hold the Shift key down to do the same but only while the key is held down.

If there is no face under the mouse, but it is in 'free space,' one of the default model planes will be chosen, depending on the angle of view and the drawing context, and the profile will be drawn parallel to an axis.

If the view is predominantly from the top, the profile will be drawn (in the current context and axis directions) in the red/green plane normal to the blue (Z) axis; if predominantly from the front or back, in the red/blue plane normal to the green (Y) axis; or if from the side, in the green/blue plane normal to the red (X) axis.

To lock the profile onto a face parallel to the current face, tap the Alt (Option/Alt on Mac) key to toggle 'locked to parallel plane' on or off.

The selected direction lock (if any) is shown in the status bar.

To release a lock, either tap the same key as you used to set the lock to toggle it off, release the Shift key if you held it down to get the lock, or tap any other locking key to set a new lock.

Position the starting point

Use normal inferencing to pick an existing corner, face or edge to locate the origin of the new piece to draw in relation to any existing geometry. Then click to position the starting point in the previously set plane.

Change the starting point or plane of the profile to draw Press the Esc key to start the tool again if you need to change the starting point or the plane of the profile.

Fix orientation of the profile

Move the mouse around the picked reference point to orient the cross section in the selected plane, which will show as a coloured rectangle, the size of the currently selected wood profile. Zoom in if necessary to see the orientation more clearly.

Change the size if necessary by a right click.

Fix the orientation by a second click.

Define the length

Move the mouse to extend the profile along its length, which will be shown by a 'rubber band' coloured outline and a (text) length in the Measurement box.

Fix the length either by typing a value in any format valid as a length in SU, or by clicking the mouse, and optionally using inferencing to any existing element in the drawing.

If you don't add units to the value typed, current model units will be assumed.

You're done!

That's it. Your piece has been drawn in three clicks and a few key presses.

Authors Steve Baumgartner and John McClenahan, v1.0 2019-07-31 © 2019

See Overview

Version 1.0 released 31 July 2019. All currently planned functions included.

Version 1.01 released 5 Aug 2019 Added paragraph to help.html to note that matching size components have the same component definition, regardless of orientation of profile.

Prevented Help from opening more than one copy of the help.html file if clicked again.

Version 1.02 released 22 March 2021 Bug fix - custom actual sizes were reduced by country-specific planing allowance before being drawn. Now drawn the specified actual size