Shop Design and SketchUp

[Dave Richards]

I just got the FWW Tools and shops issue. On page 22 there's a short article by John Yurko on shop layout with a page of drawings of common shop tools. They can be photcopied and cutout to do layouts but if you go to the author's website, http://yda-online.com/shopmodels.htm you can either print the page or click on the individual tools to get a link to download the SKP file for the tool. Handy thing for sure.
http://yda-online.com/fww/images/50_in_cab_ts.jpg

[Ted Shrader]

Dave -

Very cool. As I am about to re-arrange the shop . . er . . garage that will come in handy.

Thanks,
Ted

[John Gregory]

Does anyone have similar tool images for Autocad?

[Mark Singer]

Dave,

That is really helpful for space planning

[Dave Richards]

John, I don't know of any tools in AutoCAD. I could take these and make DXF outputs but it will take me a little while.

Mark, I agree. I like that he drew infeed and outfeed planes with the tools. I did find the contractor's tablesaw table is a few inches smaller in each direction so I've been modifying that. It's also nice that the SKP files can be edited. I exchanged the fence for an Incra TSIII.

Dave

[Frank Pellow]

Thanks for the tip Dave. Now that my shop is almost built it is time that I re-drew the layout. These machine drawings are better than the ones that I used the first time.

[Chris Padilla]

I exchanged the fence for an Incra TSIII.

Dave
Great fence...but kind of a pain that it pokes way out the end on a wide cut...that feature would be important to capture in the layout.

[Pete Lamberty]

I might be missing something here but I don't really see how these drawings would help me set up a shop. If I were designing a shop I think I would want to visualize it in a floor plan. When I went to the website and clicked on a machine, the drawing came up as an isometric, which is not what I would want to use in a floor plan. Also I didn't see any indication of what scale the drawings were. I could be to picky also. Anyway just a few thoughts.

[Dave Richards]

Pete, as they were printed in FWW, the scale is 1/4" = 1 foot. Giving a scale for the 2D versions shown on the website (you could just print the page of the top views) would difficult at best because it will have a lot to do with the printer.

The isometric views aren't intended to be used directly in a shop layout. The link below the drawing leads to a SketchUp file that can be downloaded as a component to apply in a SketchUp model of the shop. This could be viewed as a plan view or in section or in 3D (isometric or perspective). You do need to have SketchUp to utilize the 3D capability of course.

Viewing the tools in 3D is handy. It allows you to see vertical relationships between machines.

Chris, I agree with you on the Incra fence. The sticky-out part is a pain and I figure adding it into the drawing is a good idea. I still wouldn't trade the fence, though.

[Dave Richards]

Pete, I just zipped this out quick to show you what could be done. The tools are from the site I mentioned above. I didn't spend any time on placement and obviously didn't include all the tools. I also didn't draw in walls or anything although that would be easy enough.

The top is a 3D view. The bottom is the same tools in a plan view. You can have it either way.

http://www.woodshopphotos.com/albums/Dave-R1s-Album/demoshop.jpg

[Pete Lamberty]

It does look really good, Dave. Thanks for the the great example.



Pete, I just zipped this out quick to show you what could be done. The tools are from the site I mentioned above. I didn't spend any time on placement and obviously didn't include all the tools. I also didn't draw in walls or anything although that would be easy enough.

The top is a 3D view. The bottom is the same tools in a plan view. You can have it either way.

http://www.woodshopphotos.com/albums/Dave-R1s-Album/demoshop.jpg

[Jim Becker]

One of the things I liked about John's article is the emphasis on considering infeed/outfeed requirements for tools, too. BTW, John just joined SMC...

[James Stokes]

I went to Grizzly a couple days ago. Saw a sign on one of the doors that they had the same thing on their web site.

[Dave Richards]

Jim, I agree on the infeed/outfeed thing. Seems like such a simple thing to add to the tools and so important in the layout of the shop.

[Jim Becker]

I went to Grizzly a couple days ago. Saw a sign on one of the doors that they had the same thing on their web site.
"Not quite" the same, but a functional tool for many folks, especially if they are buying Grizzly tools or similar. The Grizzly shop design application presents a nice way to do basic floor plans; but you can also photo copy/enlarge the templates in the FWW article to work things out on graph paper...which may actually be faster in some cases! For those of us who like to abuse ourselves with software, the CAD and SketchUp! options are very kewel, however...:rolleyes:

[Steve Cox]

One of the things I did when I moved into my current shop was to make a scale drawing of the shop and then make scale cutouts of each machine I had plus any that I intended to acquire. I also made a scale 4 x 8 cutout to see what would fit where. I have modified the layout since then but it was very useful to know that stuff would fit where I wanted it. It was also very simple to make and did not require hours of programming or purchase of software packages.

[Dave Richards]

It was also very simple to make and did not require hours of programming or purchase of software packages.

I hope nobody thought I was suggesting that you have to buy software for doing shop layout. I was only pointing out that the tools have already been drawn and are available in either FWW or online. For those of us that already have the software, the 3D versions of the tools are available.

I apologies if anyone thought otherwise.

[Steve Cox]

Dave,

I, for one, did not take it that way. I use VectorWorks to design my furniture and while I could have done my shop layout on it, it was actually easier to do it with paper cut outs as I could move little pieces of paper around faster than I could modify the drawing on screen. I was just pointing out another way, not implying that there was anything wrong with using the computer.

[Rich Konopka]

The bottom is the same tools in a plan view. You can have it either way.


Dave,
I am playing around with SU 4.0 and I cannot find a "Plan View". I have a Top view and I can export is as 2-d JPEG. Am I missing something??

[Dave Richards]

Tom, look in the Camera menu. Click perspective to remove the check mark. Then, the top view becomes a plan view.

Some of your walls are weird because they haven't filled. Look at the left end of the alcove at the bottom. I wonder if you have drawn planes. Be sure to watch for the lines to turn colors as you draw parallel to the axes.

[Rich Konopka]

Dave, Thanks that worked. I'm not sure what the heck I'm soing but I am doing isomething. I have spent aboy 3.5 hours toying around on the evaluation. It definitely make a difference on the perspective with equipment. My 12 year old daughter who wants to be an architect is showing me how to use it even though she has never touched the software. I have a bit of learning. The online tutorials really are good and make it look easy. The prebuilt woodworking machines are cool.

Thanks

[Dave Richards]

Good work Rich. You'll get the hang of it pretty quick. I did a quick little SketchUp tutorial that I would like to send you via e-mail. Please send me a PM with your e-mail address.

[Matt Meiser]

I did a shop layout in Microsoft Visio when I was planning how to arrange my shop last year. I drew each tool as a simple block, but I also drew the work area for each on a separate layer in each symbol. Since I was doing a lot of traveling at the time, I'd play with it regularly on my laptop moving things around. I also put in utilities like dust collection, lighting, and compressed air lines on the drawing so I could see how each affected the other. I attached an early version of the layout I did. In the end, I was able to come up with a layout that I've since made very few changes to. Moving the mouse is much easier than tools. Drawing in the work areas was a big part of that because in many cases I was able to put tools closer together than I had thought I would be able to, effectively giving me more room (for more tools :-))

[Rich Konopka]

Hi Matt,

I use Visio all the time at work and It is a great tool. Here is a link that you can use to spice up your shop layout.

Visio Stencils for Woodworking. (http://home.comcast.net/%7Ehchute/woodshop_visio.htm)


Cheers

[Brian Hale]

Those tool sketches were created with version 4. My old version 3.1 won't open them, it just laughs at me..............

Brian

[Dave Richards]

Brian, send me your e-mail address and I'll send you tools that you can open.

[Marty Walsh]

I thought it would be easier to ressurect this thread than to open a new one. This way context is already established...

Does anyone have any additional Sketchup tool models that would assist me in laying out my new shop? I've already downloaded the models from yda-online, but I'm looking for more. Specifically, there isn't a lathe model included, nor a cyclone, nor a tablesaw with a large outfeed table...etc.

Dave, that table saw model you included above looks nicer than the one that's included. Is that your original design, or did I miss something in the downloaded package?

Any assistance or pointers to more models would be appreciated...

- Marty -

BTW, I'll be posting my proposed design as soon as I add a few more tools, hoping for feedback from all the expertise available here...

[Dave Richards]

Marty, that cabinet saw that I posted was from the YDA site. John Yurko set up the tools with infeed and outfeed zones so he could make sure his tools didn't conflict with each other.

As far as other tools go, I haven't seen a cyclone and adding a larger outfeed table to one of John's saws would be a simple matter of editing the component.

The cyclone shouldn't be difficult to draw. If you want to send me some sort of dimensioned drawings, even 2D ones, I'll pop out a simple cyclone for you.

Also, if you're trying to draw DC duct work, there are a couple ways to do it. One would be to draw the individual parts including pipe in standard lengths and make components of them. Then copy them and move them as desired. You could also draw lines to represent the centerline of the ducting and use Follow Me to do the ductwork. It's a little harder to make changes that way although it could be edited.

Edited to add, you can download ducting components in the HVAC package from the SketchUp site. I looked through the tools from John Yurko and foud there is a lathe. If it really isn't in the bundle that you downloaded, let me know. I'll send it to you.

[Marty Walsh]

Dave,

I must be missing something, or I've been working too hard. I took another look at the collection I downloaded...no lathe. I then re-visited John's site and see that there's a lathe! There's also a much nicer bench (with dogs and vise). So, I (re)downloaded the collection.

Upon unzipping it, here's what I find:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c226/fivebraids/shop%20construction%20ideas/Johnsmodels.jpg

No lathe, same plain bench, etc.

What am I missing?

Thanks...
- Marty -

P.S. Thanks again for your help offline. You helped me make HUGE progress overcoming the learning curve of Sketchup!

[Marty Walsh]

Dave,

Digging a little more into the models, I found the better bench...inside Alltools2ghosts. But the models just don't seem to match what he has posted in the image on his site. I still don't see the lathe, nor the scrollsaw, etc.

Sorry if I'm being obtuse...

- Marty -

[Marty Walsh]

Yup, obtuse to say the least! I didn't realize I could click on the individual items on that map to bring me to a seperate page that contained the actual .skp file! :rolleyes:

I assumed he would have included everything in the All-models zip file. There goes an assumption getting me in trouble.

Sorry...back to work...

- Marty -

[Dave Richards]

Obtuse might be better than acute. :D

Glad you found the lathe. Keep plugging away.