Chiefwoodworker's Blog

New England School of Architectural Woodworking

By now, if you have read my last two newsletters, you are pretty familiar with NESAW, at least their nine month professional program. But if you are an adult hobbyist or weekend woodworker, or a young woodworker wanna be, NESAW has an offering for you. Parents, nothing can be more rewarding for a child than to learn a craft like woodworking. Completing a woodworking project gives a child a sense of accomplishment and pride. Check out the Kid’s Classes.

Adult Classes

Beginning Woodworking Level 1 10 Thursdays, 5/17 – 7/19, 6:30-9:30 pm

Beginning Woodworking Level 2 10 Wednesdays, 4/25-7/18, 6:30- 9:30 pm

Intro to Wood Inlay 6 Thursdays, 4/5-5/10, 6:30-9:30 pm

Intro to Veneering 1 Saturday, 5/12, 8 am – 4:30 pm

Intro to Carving 2 Saturdays, 5/19 & 6/2, 8 am – 4:30 pm

Kid’s Classes (Elementary Grades 4-6)

After School Program 8 Thursdays, 4/24-6/12, 3:30 – 4:45 pm

Saturday Woodworking Class 1 Saturday, 6/2, 10 am – 4:30 pm

NESAW also offers a number of summer intensives that can be found on their calendar at http://www.nesaw.com/calendar/.

The Heartwood School – SketchUp for Timber Framing

SketchUp is used in many fields of woodworking. The Heartwood School, which I wrote about in the 6-27-2011 newsletter issue, teaches timber framing for the professional and hobbyist. As part of their course offerings they have a SketchUp for Timber Framers 3-day course. It runs from April 26-28 of this year. You can find details on it and other courses at www.heartwoodschool.com.

Chiefwoodworker’s Calendar of SketchUp Classes

I teach SketchUp in a number of the local colleges and woodworking schools. If you live in the area, plan to vacation in the area or would like to stay in the area for a class, check out my schedule below. Anyone who wishes to visit the area for a class, or for any reason, contact me and I can help you make arrangements at very reasonable rates.

Beginner’s SketchUp Courses

Berkshire Community College, Pittsfield, MA – Saturday May 12^th & Saturday May 19^th, 2012 from 9am to 5pm. Contact Linda Pierce at (413) 236-2122.

Google SketchUp for Furniture – Advanced Techniques

Offered by the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking, this is an intermediate course in Google SketchUp. The beginner’s course, A Beginners Guide to Using SketchUp in Woodworking, is recommended prior to taking this course. The free version of SketchUp will be used primarily, but the students will be exposed to the Pro version also. The focus of this course is modeling non-linear components; i.e. components with circular and complex shapes. The format of the two day workshop is six sessions, each session a one hour lecture followed by a one hour lab. Students should bring a laptop (notebook) to class with SketchUp 8 already installed.

Session 1 will begin with an arched rail for a clock door, the arch being a simple circular curve. Each session will progress to more complex shapes. Session 5 will focus on modeling cabriole legs using Bezier Spline curves. Each session will include an introduction to new tools – including a few Ruby script extensions to SketchUp – necessary to create these ever increasing complex shapes.

Finally, Session 6 will introduce the Pro version of SketchUp. The instructor will detail the differences in the free and Pro versions and even demonstrate a few of the new tools in SketchUp Pro 8. In addition, the student will be introduced to LayOut 3, a 2D presentation application that comes with the Pro License. Students will be shown how LayOut 3 can be used to create professional looking shop drawings and marketing materials. If you have any questions please contact the school’s director, Bob Van Dyke at (860) 647-0303.

Section 041412B: Saturday & Sunday, April 14 & 15, 9:30am – 5:00pm

Occasionally I update the tools in the Construction Plus toolbar; usually with fixes and minor modifications. This time, in addition to such changes, Dovetailed Components has been significantly enhanced. In addition to drawing drawer sides for traditional drawers automatically, it now draws contemporary drawers and tailboards automatically too. Contemporary drawers are much more common in today’s furniture and tailboards are useful in constructing carcasses, grandfather clocks, jewelry boxes, blanket chests and much more.

With this release I have included a short User’s Guide. When you download construction_plus.zip and install it, by extracting it to the Plugins folder, you will find Dovetailed Components User’s Guide.pdf in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Google SketchUp Pro 8\Plugins\dovetailed_components directory. Of course, your directory will be somewhat different depending on your platform (MAC or PC), Operating System version and SketchUp version and license. So adjust accordingly.

I hope you find this tool useful. I have ambitious plans for its evolution; Dovetailed Components will eventually model the entire drawer, including front, back and bottom. In addition it will allow for custom tails and pins with unequal spacing. In the meantime enjoy this version.

OK, a little dramatic, but I had to get your attention. We all know how difficult it is to manage SketchUp layers; specifically which layers primitives reside on. The biggest problem newbie SketchUp users have, bay far, is spreading primitives over layers, often multiple layers, other than Layer0. I wrote a script called layers.rb or Layers Manager. That tool does several things, but most importantly it warns you if you try to make a layer other than Layer0 active. Making a layer other than zero is a major cause of modeling problems.

However, there are numerous ways to get into trouble besides changing the active layer. In fact SketchUp seems to want to help you get into trouble. If you have a group or component instance which resides on a layer other than zero, but whose primitives are correctly residing on Layer0, and then use context tool Explode, SketchUp will move the primitives to the layer the group or component instance was on. Let’s say I have a component called Cube, and I place it on Layer Cube after first drawing it and making it a component on Layer0. Cube will be a correctly formed component; its primitive will be on Layer0 and Cube will reside on Layer Cube. As I make Layer Cube visible or invisible my Cube component will be displayed or hidden.

Now suppose I decide to explode Cube using the context menu Explode tool. I select Cube and Explode it. Cube (that instance of it, not the library component) will be deleted, but in its place, on Layer Cube will be all the primitives that belonged to Cube and was originally on Layer0. Why is SketchUp so helpful? I don’t know.

Fortunately Steve gave us two context tools. One called Explode to Layer 0, which works the way Explode should work; it deletes the group or component instance while leaving its primitive on Layer0.

The second tool is even more helpful. If you get well into a model before you discover you have major spreading of primitives, don’t panic. The solution is only one two clicks away. First use the select tool to select all groups and components in your model. Next context click and choose Primitives to Layer 0. This tool will examine each group and component in the selection, recursively drill down if any are hierarchical, and place all primitives on Layer0. It will leave all groups and component instances correctly formed independent of the layer they are on. I highly recommend making this tool a part of your Ruby script plugins.

Download the To Zero Tool

You can download the To Zero ruby script by clicking here. This is a compressed file and needs to be unzipped or decompressed. Simply extract it to your Plugins folder.

If you find this tool as useful as I do please drop Steve a line and let him know. You can get contact information by visiting his website, http://www.slbaumgartner.com/, and while you are there browse his gallery of fine furniture.

Viewing The To Zero Video

You can view the To Zero video by pressing the play icon below or by downloading it to your system.

The video file is mp4. It can be viewed with most video players including QuickTime and Media Player. If you have a default, or user specified, file association for .mp4 you may have to delete it or use a download manager to download this file. Otherwise the associated application may be invoked and file streaming will prevail over downloading. There are numerous free download managers on the internet. Be careful, and do some research to locate one that is not loaded with spyware or viruses.

If you are on a PC platform running Windows OS and have Internet Explorer or Firefox you don’t have to change file association or use a downloader. Simply right click on the link(s) below and choose Save Link As. When Explorer opens choose a destination folder and select Save.

To download Introducing SketchUp Tool Face To Face click on or paste

http://blip.tv/file/get/Chiefwoodworker-SteveBaumgartnersToZeroSketchUpTool108.mp4

into your browser or download manager.

Full Screen Viewing

You may find it easier to view the video in full screen mode. Start the video before selecting this mode. To enter full screen mode click the little screen icon at the bottom of the video player. When in full screen view hold your cursor near the bottom of the screen to access the video

I teach SketchUp in a number of the local colleges and woodworking schools. If you live in the area, plan to vacation in the area or would like to stay in the area for a class, check out my schedule below. Anyone who wishes to visit the area for a class, or any reason, contact me and I can help you make arrangements at very reasonable rates.

Beginner’s SketchUp Courses

Berkshire Community College, Pittsfield, MA – Wednesday Evenings, 6 – 8pm, Intermodal Center Room 1 beginning January 25,2012. See http://digital.turn-page.com/issue/50000/2 Career Enhancement – Design section on page 34. Contact Linda Pierce at (413) 236-2122.

Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking, Manchester, CT – Saturday & Sunday workshop, February 18th & 19th, 2012. Contact Bob Van Dyke at (860) 647-0303. See A Beginners Guide to Using SketchUp in Woodworking below.

Berkshire Community College, Pittsfield, MA – Saturday May 12th & Saturday May 19th, 2012 from  9am to 5pm. See http://digital.turn-page.com/issue/50000/2 Career Enhancement – Design section on page 34. Contact Linda Pierce at (413) 236-2122.

Advanced SketchUp Courses

Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking, Manchester, CT – Saturday & Sunday workshop, April  14th & 15th, 2012. Contact Bob Van Dyke at (860) 647-0303. See Google SketchUp for Furniture – Advanced Techniques below.

Other SketchUp Appearances

I will also be giving introductory SketchUp talks at the Northeast Woodworker’s Association’s Saratoga Showcase on March 31st and April 1st, 2012 at Saratoga Springs City Center, Saratoga, NY. This is the best woodworking show I have ever attended and a must for any woodworker within distance.

Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking

Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking is a premier woodworking school dedicated to teaching excellence in craftsmanship. CVSW has a wide range of woodworking courses and many of them are taught by its director, Bob Van Dyke, pictured right. Courses range from woodworking fundamentals to ten week fine furniture projects, wood turning, finishing and focused woodworking skills. In addition to Bob, CVSW provides courses taught by world class woodworkers such as Chris Schwarz, Glenn Huey, Phil Lowe, Mario Rodriguez and many more. Courses range in length from one lecture to weekend, week long and ten weeks. Check out the 2012 course schedule. In the schedule, under Specialty & Weekend Classes you will find yours truly. I will be teaching a beginner’s SketchUp course. I have copied that section below. If you live in the Northeast of the USA, I promise this will be a course that will add significantly to your woodworking skills. I look forward to meeting with you and talking shop and SketchUp.

A Beginners Guide to Using SketchUp in Woodworking

Computer aided designing has become more and more widespread and consequently- a lot simpler than when it started out. Google SketchUp 8 is a free and powerful tool that is being used by woodworkers everywhere. The Pro version is used by professional to model and design everything from bottles to skyscrapers. We will use the free version to model a Bedside Table complete with tapered legs, mortise and tenon joinery, beveled top, dovetailed drawer trimmed with bull nose cock beading and a Shaker style drawer pull. We will begin by learning how to install SketchUp, setup application preferences, choose model defaults and customize a template. Next we will tour the work area and become familiar with its tools. The heart of this course is modeling the Bedside Table and producing dimensioned shop drawings and photorealistic textured images. Finally we will learn how to extend the functionality of SketchUp through the use and customization of Ruby scripts. A laptop computer is helpful for this two day class. Basic computer knowledge is helpful. If you have any questions please contact the school’s director, Bob Van Dyke at (860) 647-0303. Sign up today. Tuition: $255.00 Materials are included

Section 021812B: Saturday & Sunday, February 18 & 19, 9:30 – 5:00pm

Google SketchUp for Furniture – Advanced Techniques
This is an intermediate course in Google SketchUp. The beginner’s course, A Beginners Guide to Using SketchUp in Woodworking, is recommended prior to taking this course. The free version of SketchUp will be used primarily, but the students will be exposed to the Pro version also. The focus of this course is modeling non-linear components; i.e. components with circular and complex shapes. The format of the two day workshop is six sessions, each session a one hour lecture followed by a one hour lab. Students should bring a laptop (notebook) to class with SketchUp 8 already installed.

Session 1 will begin with an arched rail for a clock door, the arch being a simple circular curve. Each session will progress to more complex shapes. Session 5 will focus on modeling cabriole legs using Bezier Spline curves. Each session will include an introduction to new tools – including a few Ruby script extensions to SketchUp – necessary to create these ever increasing complex shapes.

Finally, Session 6 will introduce the Pro version of SketchUp. The instructor will detail the differences in the free and Pro versions and even demonstrate a few of the new tools in SketchUp Pro 8. In addition, the student will be introduced to LayOut 3, a 2D presentation application that comes with the Pro License. Students will be shown how LayOut 3 can be used to create professional looking shop drawings and marketing materials. If you have any questions please contact the school’s director, Bob Van Dyke at (860) 647-0303.

Section 041412B: Saturday & Sunday, April 14 & 15, 9:30am – 5:00pm

With a lot of help from Steve Baumgartner I added a Face To Face tool to the Construction Plus Toolbar. Face To Face tool’s icon is shown at left. Excuse my artistry; the tool’s icon is supposed to be two faces looking at each other representing the Face To Face tool. If there is a real artist out there who wishes to donate a better icon please feel free to do so.

So what does Face To Face do?

Have you ever wanted to make the face of one object align with the face of another object, on the same or parallel plane, facing each other? Well now it takes just two clicks. Better yet, neither face has to align with a major plane (red/green, red/blue or blue/green). Both faces can be at any angle to any of the major planes.

In addition to aligning the faces on the same or parallel planes and facing each other, you can select a point on an edge of one object and move it to a point on the edge of a second object, just like the Move tool. You will see in the included video that Face To Face is often a better move tool that Move tool itself.

Lastly, if the points chosen in the previous paragraph are each end points of an edge that are brought together, then the edges themselves can be made collinear (brought together).

This may all seem complex, but it isn’t. I will demonstrate the tool completely in the accompanying video. But first I need to explain a few things. The tool asks for Reference and Subject Faces, Reference and Subject Points and Reference and Subject Edges. Reference simply means the object that will not move, but serves as the face, point or edge that the Subject object will align to. To complicate things a little bit more, but in the name of flexibility, the Reference and Subject objects do not have to be the same objects for Face, Point and Edge alignment. The only restriction is that a Subject object must be a non-nested Group or Component Instance. The Reference object can be a primitive (Face or Edge), Group or Component Instance.

Lastly, there are six modes of operation: Face To Face; Point To Point; Edge To Edge; Face & Point To Face & Point; Point & Edge To Point & Edge; and Face, Point & Edge To Face, Point & Edge.

• Face To Face aligns the selected Subject face to the selected Reference face such that they are on the same or parallel planes with the two faces facing each other. The exception is when one of the faces are reversed and the other is not i.e. facing inward to the object. In that case the two faces will be facing in the same direction.
• Point To Point moves the Subject object to the Reference object, joining them at the selected points.
• Edge To Edge aligns the selected Subject edge such that it is collinear with the selected Reference edge.
• Face & Point To Face & Point performs the Face To Face operation first and then the Point To Point operation.
• Point & Edge To Point & Edge performs the Point To Point operation first followed by the Edge To Edge operation.
• Face, Point & Edge To Face, Point & Edge performs Face To Face operation first, Point To Point second and Edge To Edge third.

The cursor provides guidance by telling the user what the tool is looking for as explained below:

The cursor will have an arrow pointing to the object you wish to select. The letter R or S will be prominent; R for Reference and S for Subject. There will be a face, line or point to indicate what the user should choose. The icon at left asks the user to choose a Reference Face. The icon at right asks the user to choose a Subject Face.

Similarly, the cursor at left asks the user to choose a Reference Point, while the one at right asks the user to choose a Subject Point.

As you probably guessed, the cursor at left asks the user to choose a Reference Edge while the one at right asks the user to choose a Subject Edge.

Modes can be changed with the Tab key. The last mode selected becomes the default. When you reopen SketchUp the default mode will be the active mode it opens to.

The Esc key has two functions: first, if you need to use a camera tools such as Orbit, Pan or Zoom, you can return to the Face To Face tool where you left off by pressing the Esc key; second, if you wish to abort an operation and reset the tool simply press the Esc key.

The Undo/Redo tools can be used to Undo/Redo each step of the operation.

When might you use the Face To Face tool?

Often, especially when you are working with furniture or home design where faces are at angles to major planes, you find it easier to draw a component in place. Shortly thereafter you discover that the bounding box is misaligned to the part. This causes real problems for tools such as Cut List and Get Dimensions. With Face To Face you can easily align the component instance to a major plane and axis, explode it and remake the component. Now the bounding box will supply the correct dimensions to Cut List or Get Dimensions.

Imagine the problem in reverse. You draw the component aligned with a major plane and axis resulting in a bounding box that is correct, but now you need to move the component instance into place. You realize that the face of the component instance is not aligned to a major plane or axis. An example is moving a roof rafter into place. The end of the rafter must align with the surface of a ridge board; a perfect application for the Face To Face tool.

Does this occur in the design of furniture? Yes, a lot if your furniture has trim or sides not aligned to a major plane and axis. This is especially true with complex miter joints. Face To Face is not a tool you will use all the time, but when you need to align irregular faces, it is the perfect tool.

The video below will give you a complete demonstration of Face To Face tool. The Construction Plus toolbar and its tools can be obtained by downloading the zip file here and extracting it to your plugins folder. A SketchUp Face To Face Practice File can be downloaded here to help you follow along and practice using Face To Face.

Viewing The Face To Face Tutorial

You can view Introducing SketchUp Tool Face To Face by pressing the play icon below or by downloading it to your system.

The video file is mp4. It can be viewed with most video players including QuickTime and Media Player. If you have a default, or user specified, file association for .mp4 you may have to delete it or use a download manager to download this file. Otherwise the associated application may be invoked and file streaming will prevail over downloading. There are numerous free download managers on the internet. Be careful, and do some research to locate one that is not loaded with spyware or viruses.

If you are on a PC platform running Windows OS and have Internet Explorer or Firefox you don’t have to change file association or use a downloader. Simply right click on the link(s) below and choose Save Link As. When Explorer opens choose a destination folder and select Save.

To download Introducing SketchUp Tool Face To Face click on or paste

http://blip.tv/file/get/Chiefwoodworker-IntroducingSketchUpToolFaceToFace803.mp4

into your browser or download manager.

Full Screen Viewing

You may find it easier to view the video in full screen mode. Start the video before selecting this mode. To enter full screen mode click the little screen icon at the bottom of the video player. When in full screen view hold your cursor near the bottom of the screen to access the video

Steve Baumgartner (http://www.slbaumgartner.com) discovered a bug in my Get Dimensions tool and sent me code changes to fix it. He also changed the Status text box to be consistent with the Outliner names. The latter may be marginally helpful if the group or component name is longer than the Status text box; SketchUp does not permit stretching this box to accommodate longer names.

The bug Steve fixed is significant. You should download the Construction Plus Zip file and update your Plugins folder. However, there is still a potential problem in using this tool. The picture at left shows two solids; one not desirably aligned with its bounding box (misaligned) and the other correctly aligned. Hence, the dimensions the tool will display for the misaligned solid are not the dimensions you would expect. This can occur whenever you create a part and rotate it before you make it a solid, or when you draw it relative to current components and then make it a solid. An example of the latter might be drawing a rafter of a house in place, using the ridge board and wall plate to assist in creating it.

In the case of groups, since there is always one instantiation of a group, all you need do to correct this problem is align the group to a major plane (red/green, red/blue or blue/green) and axis, explode the group and re-make it. If you made copies of a misaligned group you will have to fix each one independently; but shame on you for using a group.

In the case of components, misaligned instances are not a problem (thanks to Steve’s fix) provided the original creation of the component (the one in the library) was aligned properly. If the component in the library is misaligned you can fix it by using the context tool Change Axis. But be careful, this will transform all instances of that component.

As a general rule you should align all groups and components to a major plane and axis (preferably the red/green plane and red axis. If you need to create a solid in place, and it is misaligned as a result, fix the first instance or copy before proceeding to use other instances of a component or copies of a group. This will ensure that tools like Get Dimensions and Cut List will always provide the expected dimensions.

I have added a SketchUp Ruby script drawing tool called Drawer Side to the Construction Plus tool set. Drawer Side creates the Drawer Side component of a traditional drawer, including front and back tails and dado for the drawer bottom to ride in. A Left Drawer Side instance is placed at the model’s origin. This instance can be copied, placed and mirrored (flipped) to create the Right Drawer Side. From there the front and back can be easily created using the Intersect Faces tool.

The tool’s Drawer Side command shows up in the Draw menu and also on a tool bar called Construction Plus. Its human interface is user friendly and allows for the quick creation of multiple drawers, such as needed for a high boy. Each time you use the tool a new drawer side is added to the In Model Component library with a unique component name. To create a series of drawers with the same depth, but progressively deeper, simply change the drawer side width, and perhaps the number of tails and re-Draw.

Drawer Sides accepts Metric or Imperial inputs and user inputs are saved when the tool is used or closed so that they can be restored on the next use. User instructions can be displayed by clicking the Instructions button. Help buttons are also provided for each category on user inputs, as is a helpful picture showing the input information requested. The Drawer Side window will adjust size to accommodate older and smaller screens.

Download Construction Plus and check out Drawer Side. I will probably evolve this tool to add functionality such as drawing the front, back and bottom of the drawer, drawing general tail or pin boards (without dado) and with the same  or different ends. Stay tuned.

Many of you are probably wondering when the next Chiefwoodworker’s Newsletter is coming out, since the last one was August 15th and they normally come out every two months. You may have also noticed that my last blog was September 16th. I haven’t given up blogging, or writing my newsletter. This summer I discovered my house of ten years old had a serious water problem in two places that needed immediate attention (and a third not so serious which I will attend to next year).

The repair project required the removal of a door in front and a double French door in a second story bedroom, which opened onto a deck. Because of the amount of snow we get in this area, and exacerbated by my metal roof, snow collected around these areas and eventually found its way into my nice cozy warm home.

It’s a long story I might write about in the next newsletter. But suffice it to say I have been a full time carpenter for the last few months; indoors in my shop or home when it rained and outdoors when weather permitted. The extent of the repairs was quite large. I decided to replace both doors with windows. A lot of siding had to be replaced and a deck removed. The project had to be completed before winter weather set in, though you are probably aware the Northeast got a surprise Halloween snow storm. It left 30" in my area. So I had to devote my entire attention to this minor distraction.

The repairs are nearly complete and I will soon be returning to my favorite hobbies: woodworking (of the furniture variety), photography, blogging and writing my newsletter. I have decided to forego the October issue and distribute my next one on December 15th. So I ask your patience. Rest assured I did not lose your newsletter request if you signed up post August 15th. You are on the list and will receive your first newsletter in December.

Thank you for your patience and interest.

I just couldn’t help myself. Over the last few years I have often wanted to draw a construction line normal (perpendicular) to a surface. It’s not particularly hard to do with a few key clicks if the surface is part of an object with sides that are already normal to it. However, on surfaces such as those on the four sided tapered box shown left, not so easy. I often wished I had one tool that would accomplish the task, and more importantly, let me place the line anywhere I wanted it. Well, now I have it, because I wrote a Ruby script tool for SketchUp and added it to the Construction Plus toolbar.

Before I provide you a download link you should read the simple operating instructions provided here.

Draw Normal Tool Description

Tool Draw Normal tool draws a construction line, normal to a selected face at a point specified by the user. When the Shift modifier key is selected a line of specified length is drawn instead. The tab key is used to select the construction line stippling.

Normal Construction Lines

Start by selecting a face. The face should be a primitive, not a component or group. If you wish to draw a construction line normal to a face in a component or group, enter component or group edit mode first. Next select a point. The point can be anywhere, it doesn’t have to reside on the face. Once the point is selected a construction line is drawn at the chosen point in a direction normal to the chosen face (plane). The construction line is placed on the $Construction$ layer if one exists, or is created by the tool if not.

The Tab modifier key can be used to select line stippling by cycling through the available styles. The default is Long Dashes. Other styles available are Dots, Short Dashes and Dash-Dot-Dash.

If you wish to choose one face and place multiple normal construction lines, use the Ctrl modifier key. Notice when the Ctrl modifier key is selected and the mouse moves a + sign is added to the cursor to indicate you can add additional lines.

Normal Lines

Alternatively, if the Shift modifier key is pressed the tool will place a line of specified length at the chosen point in a direction normal to the selected face. The cursor will change to a solid line as shown left. In this mode the order of steps is: select a face, choose a point and specify a length in the VCB and type Enter.

Like the construction line mode, you can choose a face and add additional lines normal to the face, each at different points and of varying lengths if you wish. Use the Ctrl modifier key as before and a + will be added to the cursor indicating you can add additional lines.

Tool Life Cycle

When the Draw Normal tool is selected it remains active until another tool is selected. While Draw Normal is active the user can successively select faces and place a construction line(s) or line(s) normal to the selected face. If the Ctrl modifier key is selected, the selected face remains selected so that multiple construction lines or lines can be placed normal to the same face.

Modifier keys can be activated and deactivated by successive presses of the key. In this way a single face can remain selected while multiple construction lines and/or lines are placed at various points, each normal to the face.

If, during any step in the use of the tool, the user needs to reposition the view, simply choose a camera tool such as Orbit, Zoom or Pan. When the view has been repositioned press the Esc key and you will return to the Draw Normal tool where you left off. The Esc key is not needed for Zoom Extents; in this case you return to the Draw Normal tool immediately following the Zoom Extents.

Draw Normal is deactivated when a tool other than a camera tool is selected.

This tool is most helpful when used on faces that are not on, or parallel to, the red/green, blue/green or red/blue plane. All construction lines are placed on the $Construction$ layer. If the $Construction$ layer does not exist it will be added by the tool.

Lines of specified length will remain on Layer0.

Installing Draw Normal Only

Download the draw_normal.zip file and extract it to your SketchUp plugins folder. When completed your plugins folder should contain the draw_normal folder and the draw_normal.rb  file. Be sure to enable the Construction Plus toolbar by checking it under View/Toolbars menu.

Installing The Entire Construction Plus Tool Set

Download the construction_plus.zip file and extract it to your SketchUp plugins folder. When completed you should have the files and folders highlighted in the picture at left in your plugins folder. If any of these previously existed in the plugins folder you will be asked if you want to replace them. Answer “Yes to All”. Alternatively, you can delete these files and folders prior to extracting the new construction_plus.zip. In either case after downloading and extracting the sip file check to be sure these files and folders are present in your plugins folder. Be sure to enable the Construction Plus toolbar by checking it under View/Toolbars menu.

Do you live in the Eastern States? Are you a woodworker looking for something new and exciting to do for the weekend? Well visit the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking and their 11th Annual Open House.

This one is shaping up to be the best ever. All the info is below. As always – there will be student displays exhibiting some of their most excellent work. The student work gallery has gotten better and better each year – and this year promises to be their best.

If you are interested in Woodworking, Furniture making, Woodturning, Blacksmithing, old tools, Guitar making or just having a good time then you need to come.

Check out the superb work of CVSW students and talk to demonstrators and school instructors.

If old tools are your thing then you are in luck. There will be at least six antique tool dealers there for the day.

The whole idea of the event is to get a bunch of people who are interested in woodworking together and have a good time!

A partial list of demonstrators/ exhibitors is below:

• Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking student work gallery
• Lie-Nielsen Toolworks
• Central Ct Woodturners
• Mystic Woodcarvers
• Fine Woodworking Magazine
• US Guitars
• Matt Bickford 18th Century Molding Planes
• Walt Scadden Blacksmithing and Carbon Fiber work
• Tico Vogt – Chute boards
• Jeff Noden – Adjusta bench
• Greg Massicotte – Behlen finishing products
• Bill Rittner – custom handplane knobs & totes
• Joe Zeh- Sketch Up instructor
• Ct Historical society
• CVSW Instructors
              Bob Van Dyke, Will Neptune, Mickey Callahan, Walt Scadden

The open house is Saturday, September 10, 9am – 3pm- Rain or Shine! For directions see http://www.schoolofwoodworking.com/contact-and-directions.html.

If you haven’t noticed yours truly will be there demonstrating Google’s free SketchUp 3D drawing application, which has become a must tool for woodworkers who design their own furniture. Stop by and say hello. We can talk SketchUp, shop or anything woodworking related. Hope to see you there.

If you are interested in CVSW classes the entire fall schedule is posted and can be seen at www.schoolofwoodworking.com.
There are some great classes coming up.