Resizing drawers in Sketchup

[Wayne Jolly]

I am new to Sketchup and so far I like it a lot. I found a couple of good instructional videos on the internet which helped immensely. I was initially using Sketchup8, but found that Sketchup2014 was out so I am using that one now. I don't see much of a difference at my (low) skill level, but that is another story.

I am building a router table. So far I have done the carcase and face-frame using Sketchup, and I got a good plan done on my third try. Now I have moved on to the drawers. I have completed the first drawer including all four sides, bottom, and the half-blind dovetails. This drawer is 3 tall x 6 1/8 wide x 24 deep. Woohoo! So now I have moved on to the next drawer and here is my question. The next couple of drawers will be the same 24" depth and 6 1/8" width, but the heights will be 5" or 11". So far, my attempts to stretch/scale the height of the sides also changes the size and spacing of the dovetails. Is there a relatively easy way to increase the height of the sides while maintaining the 1/2" spacing of the dovetails?

Thanks,

Wayne

[Dave Richards]

A similar question was asked yesterday. The Scale tool isn't the correct one for the job but you can do it with the Move tool. In the case of your dovetails, though, you might need to add another tail/pin. That's not difficult but it would just add an additional step. If you've made each part a component and like parts are instances of the same component (i.e. drawer sides) you only need to modify one to have both copies modified. If you make groups, instead of components, you'll have to work a little more.

[Mark Bolton]

Wayne,
It may be fun for learning and so on but there is really no need to draw the pins and tails in sketchup. You can just draw the drawer parts full length overlapping and this will give you the parts needed should you opt to export to a cut list program. If you build your drawers in sketchup with each part being a group it would be easier to re-size them with the move tool because the geometry wont be connected. You would simply have to move your sides for the width then you could scale your fronts, backs, and bottoms.

[Matt Day]

I totally agree that dovetails are overkill. I understand if you have a dovetail jig and need to stay at a certain spacing, but for drafting just make it a butt joint regardless.

If you do make it a butt joint, you can simply copy and paste the drawer then using the extrude tool pull the top surface up.

This is hard to say for sure though since we don't know if you're using components or groups or either.

[Sam Murdoch]

I agree too that drawing the dovetail joints is just complicating the model unnecessarily.

If you draw the box it is very easy to change the overall dimensions using the SCALE tool. It's just a matter of pulling or pushing on the correct little square - which is the center square in the face of the orientation you which to change.

284503

You can make one drawer box - save that as a component then scale copies as needed and drop them into your cabinet (s) accordingly.

I think that's right? :D Works for me anyway.

[Mark Bolton]

I agree too that drawing the dovetail joints is just complicating the model unnecessarily.

If you draw the box it is very easy to change the overall dimensions using the SCALE tool. It's just a matter of pulling or pushing on the correct little square - which is the center square in the face of the orientation you which to change.

284503

You can make one drawer box - save that as a component then scale copies as needed and drop them into your cabinet (s) accordingly.

I think that's right? :D Works for me anyway.

The scale works if your just trying to get a box in the hole for representation. But if your trying to keep your model to a point where you can export to a cutlist the scale will change every parts dimensions proportionately. If you scale the drawer taller the bottom gets thicker. Scale wider/deeper and the sides will change thickness.

If your not taking advantage of cutlists you should try it. It will change yojr production instantly. But everyone works in their own way.

I export an entire project and just start cutting.

[Sam Murdoch]

The scale works if your just trying to get a box in the hole for representation. But if your trying to keep your model to a point where you can export to a cutlist the scale will change every parts dimensions proportionately. If you scale the drawer taller the bottom gets thicker. Scale wider/deeper and the sides will change thickness.

If your not taking advantage of cutlists you should try it. It will change yojr production instantly. But everyone works in their own way.

I export an entire project and just start cutting.

This is exactly what Dave Richards wrote to me in a PM. I admit that I am a SU hack. Not a hacker - that suggests a great deal of expertise - but simply a hack. I don't use it to the best advantage. I really should not be offering SU advice being the king of work arounds. Self taught, and somewhat badly taught, but I am able to make some very cool representational models that allow me to develop and sell my designs. I don't use SU to develop cultists- I'm old school and hands on in that regard. I have no one waiting on me for a good cut list except myself and I don't mind doing that in the shop as part of my "getting into the project". My above suggestion does work with limitations as Mark Bolton and Dave Richards will tell you. I am still learning and glad to have the benefit of their advice to become better.

[Mark Bolton]

This is exactly what Dave Richards wrote to me in a PM. I admit that I am a SU hack. Not a hacker - that suggests a great deal of expertise - but simply a hack. I don't use it to the best advantage. I really should not be offering SU advice being the king of work arounds. Self taught, and somewhat badly taught, but I am able to make some very cool representational models that allow me to develop and sell my designs. I don't use SU to develop cultists- I'm old school and hands on in that regard. I have no one waiting on me for a good cut list except myself and I don't mind doing that in the shop as part of my "getting into the project". My above suggestion does work with limitations as Mark Bolton and Dave Richards will tell you. I am still learning and glad to have the benefit of their advice to become better.

I highly doubt your a hack in any way Sam. ;-). As you say, it's great for representation when the dimensions don't really matter. Do the same thing when showing initial concepts and so on.

I had the feeling the OP was trying, for whatever reason, to draw each and every part as it will be which is actually very handy in conjunction with cultist plug in.

Id say that vast majority of us are self taught. ;-)

[Lee Schierer]

A similar question was asked yesterday. The Scale tool isn't the correct one for the job but you can do it with the Move tool. In the case of your dovetails, though, you might need to add another tail/pin. That's not difficult but it would just add an additional step. If you've made each part a component and like parts are instances of the same component (i.e. drawer sides) you only need to modify one to have both copies modified. If you make groups, instead of components, you'll have to work a little more.

What about making a component with one pin on each end or one tail on each end and then copy and paste that component as many times as needed into a stack to make the desired drawer height. Sort of like making the drawer out of Lincoln Logs?

[Dave Richards]

You could do that, Lee. It depends upon what you need out of the model. If it's only for show, it would work. Hide the seam line edges and the faces in the seams so they don't show. If you want a cutlist from the model, the drawer box parts will be listed as those "lincoln logs" so if you had 5 tails, it would show as 5 pieces instead of one. If the drawers are of traditional construction where the drawer back is cut up to allow the bottom to slide in, the dovetails will be different front and back and may not align.
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Showing dovetails may not be a big deal for some folks but they can be useful if you are trying to work out where to put the groove for the bottom or things like that. You should only draw the details you need for the application of the drawing. For the furniture I draw for plans that others are to build from I draw all the joinery and show things like screws and other hardware. For one client who buys drawer boxes from a supplier, I made a dynamic component that drops into the opening effortlessly. When I enter the opening dimensions and depth of the cabinet the drawer box is sized to meet the dimensions specified for the Blum drawer slides that will be used and I get the numbers required to quote the price of the drawer box and to order it from the vendor automatically. That box doesn't have any joinery shown because there's no value in having it.

I know a guy who must have a free supply of pocket screws and uses them extensively. He likes to show every screw in his SketchUp models. I think that is excessive but the beauty of SketchUp is that you can put in whatever detail you want or need.

I didn't see any point in telling the OP he doesn't need to show dovetails in his SketchUp model. He didn't ask for that advice. He asked how to resize the drawer that he had drawn. Whether or not dovetails are need, the process for resizing the drawer with the dovetails is worth knowing because it can be used for other things, too.

[Bob Lang]

Like Dave, I often need to show more detail for publication than what is needed to build. As others have mentioned the Scale tool doesn't work effectively. It is possible to "stretch" complex parts by using the left to right selection box and the Move tool, but with dovetailed drawer sides you have to navigate to just the right point of view and select very carefully. Often you'll need to add some tails and that gets tricky. With practice, you can add dovetails in just a minute or two by copying and letting SketchUp space the copies evenly. You can also copy geometry from one part to another. For any of this stuff, only you can decide what level of detail is worth the time it takes to add it, and how much time you're willing to spend practicing to get quick at it. Dovetails in SketchUp are a lot like dovetails in real life. It takes quite a few to develop an efficient process.

Bob Lang