Google's SketchUp is a powerful tool for the woodworker. With it you can quickly turn an idea into a 3D sketch. From there you can develop accurate working drawings and cutlist - the information you need before you head out into the shop.
We're setting up a the computer lab in Building 306 at the Fort (with the help of our good friends at Goddard College) so each student will get plenty of hands on time at their own PC. Bulding 306 is a a couple of hundred yards away from the school. Please note that unless a miracle happens there will be no internet connection available during the class.
Prerequisites (for both courses):
Designing on a computer is not for everyone so we suggest looking through these prerequisites before you sign up for the course.
- You need to be comfortable using a PC (the lab is equipped with PCs)
- You should be able to draw a perspective sketch of a piece of furniture
- If you do sign up for the course we recommend that you download SketchUp for free and run through the tutorials. Focus on learning the navigation tools (Pan, Zoom, Orbit). We recommend that you don't spend too much time drawing so that we don't have to help you unlearn bad habits.
Both courses are standalone. The Introduction is a two day "get you oriented and running" class which is repeated at the beginning of the Designing Furniture class.
Introduction to Sketchup
This two day class focuses on teaching you the basic skills you'll need to draw simple furniture. You can then go on to explore other areas of SketchUp on your own.
We'll start by drawing a family of simple tables to give you a good understanding of how Sketchup works.
We'll, then, work through converting an idea for a piece of furniture into a drawing that you can show to a client. You can then add joinery and other details to complete the working drawings and cutlist.
Class size: 12 (Minimum enrollment 8)
Cost: $260
Designing Furniture with Sketchup
The first part of this course is the same as the Introduction course - we'll start by drawing a family of simple tables to give you a good understanding of how Sketchup works.
We'll, then, work through converting an idea for a piece of furniture into a drawing that you can show to a client. You can then add joinery and other details to complete the working drawings and cutlist.
Moving away from simple rectilinear furniture we'll show you the techniques used to create curved coomponentso that you can draw more complex pieces of furniture (like a Windsor Chair).
A major asset of using Sketchup is that you developing libraries of commonly used furniture components and then use those components to create other designs. We'll show you how to create and manage libraries of components.
You stand a much better chance of completing a sale if you can show the client an image of your furniture in their home. We'll show you how to use of photos taken on site and model the client's room and render it. We'll look at some methods of reverse engineering from photos and drawings. We'll take a deeper look at creating presentations for clients.
During the class you'll be able to explore how add details and material textures (wood color and grain) to render the finished piece.
Class size: 12 (Mimimum enrollment 8)
Cost: $695
