Google Sketchup is a 3D drawing program available free from Google. It's a great tool for modeling timber frame designs in 3D, and you can create serviceable drawings where timbers are represented as simple rectangular solids. This is often all you need to demonstrate to your clients what their frame will look like. But Sketchup is capable of doing much more. You can actually make a highly detailed model that includes all of your joinery design. You can then create accurate shop drawings for laying out timbers in your shop.
In this information-packed manual, Clark Bremer documents the procedures he has demonstrated at recent Timber Framers Guild conferences to customize SketchUp for timber framing. Topics include:
- Making shop drawings using Ruby scripts
- Creating libraries of joinery and timbers
- Generating a timber list and peg count
- Creating joints from scratch, including pegs
Using the custom Ruby scripts Clark provides, you will be able to create frames, timbers and joints in 3D that can be rotated, dimensioned, and seen in exploded views. These can then be saved to libraries to use in future projects. You'll see how once you create the tenoned member of the frame the mortise and pegholes automatically appear on the mating piece.
While SketchUp cannot provide the full functionality required for architectural contract documents, it is an excellent modeling program and a good introduction to CAD. You must download (free) SketchUp from Google before using this manual and the Rubies.
All proceeds from the sale of this manual are generously donated to the Timber Framers Guild by Clark Bremer and Northern Lights Timber Framing.
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