Anyone use Google SketchUp for blade design?

Pete84

Pete84

Joined
Apr 14, 2011
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A friend just turned me on to using Google SketchUp. I'm just beginning to play with it and I'm wondering if any of you use it or similar CAD-type programs to do precision drawings of blade designs (or to print templates, etc.)?
 
There was a thread on here a few months ago about sketch up and other design programs. I don't use them myself, I don't have the patience to figure them out hehe. Pencil and paper is as precise as I get.
 
I've never heard of SketchUp so I asked my 13 year old daughter if she'd heard of it. She said "um, yeah". I asked her if she knew how to use it and she said "yeah!". I just downloaded it and she's going to give me a lesson. I love it when my kid teaches me stuff!
 
tattooedfreak said:
There was a thread on here a few months ago about sketch up and other design programs. I don't use them myself, I don't have the patience to figure them out hehe. Pencil and paper is as precise as I get.
Click to expand...

I do about 90% of my rough sketches with a pencil and some graph paper to get the scale right, then I scan it into my computer, import the picture into Rhino 3D as a back ground and trace it in Rhino to clean up the lines and get all the angles and curves just right. Once I am happy with the look on the computer I print it up on a piece of file folder that has been cut to legal paper size. I end up with a nice clean template with accurate lines to take measurements off of.

Pete84, don't be afraid of design programs, you any need to know a few simple tools to do a line drawing with them. Be careful though because not all are created equal and you could end up with blocky looking designs. I got luck and was given, for a good price, Rhino 3D by a friend that worked for a company that was using it and upgraded to newer software and sold off the old stuff. Rhino is great because it uses what is called NURBS ( Non-uniform rational basis spline ) to make its curves. The great thing about NURBS is it gives you natural curved lines and edges. If you draw something that just doesn't look right, you grab a point on the line and drag it to where you want it to be and the rest of the line adjusts to maintain the natural flow.
 
I've used sketchup and AutoCad somewhat extensively in the past for various projects, and I've even tried to design a few blades in CAD. While some of them did come out about how I wanted them, I think I prefer hand drawing them. I'll then take the final drawing and transfer it to a piece of mild steel. Then I have something to clamp to my blade stock and mark with a metal scribe, and I don't have to worry about paper templates coming unglued or getting destroyed when I dip my blades.
 
I never glue the template to the steel, I trace it out with a scribe straight to the steel after I give it a coat of dykem
 
I go from graph paper to 1/4" mdf to scribing steel. So far it works great and I can refine the final shape the mdf before I transfer it to steel.
 
I draw first and when I like the design and want to use it more often, I use SketchUp for a drawing.

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Here's an example
 
From a CAD/CAM manufacturing perspective sketch up is a waste of time. Good to get a concept but not going for waterjet & mill operations. Doing a proto of a Bali for a customer who tried to save time and money but cost me double plus some.

Nathan what do you think?
 
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I personally use sketchup and have produced some decent looking templates. I then print them onto a piece of file folder and trace that onto some mild steel. That will then be used as my working template for profiling. Once I get the profile close, I un clamp the mild steel and finish the profiling by eyeballing it. I only have 2 knives profiled, but this process seems to work for me.
 
@sheckey

I draw a 2d image (when you rotate the image you will not see any thickness) and export it as a 2d drawing.

@H2O knife
I agree, I once used sketchup for waterjetting some blanks. But they came out 30% bigger than the drawing. Maybe I did something wrong, I don't know.
 
Great for concept but not so good for CAM manufacturing.
Try Draftsight http://www.3ds.com/products/draftsight/free-cad-software/
FREE by Dassault the people who developed Solidworks.
A lot better way to go than Skechup.
A way to solve scale issues is to draw a specific box or circle and communicate the size to your waterjet guy. Easy enough to mess up on all aspects so ya gotta be specific. Eliminate the unknown and you'll get better details.

Good luck on your designs!
 
Hi,
I use SolidWorks but Autodesk Inventor is also good. If you are a student you can get a free copy of Inventor here: http://students.autodesk.com/
You can also ask SolidWorks for a student copy (it may cost some money but it is worth it) if your school has a license.
-Frank the Tank
 
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