Using Google SketchUp and printapart.com

[marc_reusser]

You talkin to me!?......

Out on the bike at the moment.....but email it to me and I'll have a looksee over the weekend.
  marc(at)rbadesign.net

....also need to know what version of SU you're using......and, are those rectangles supposed to be at each side?


MR

[RoughboyModelworks]

Out on the bike at the moment.....
MR

You have a computer on the bike?.... shame on you...

Paul

[marc_reusser]

I gots me this here new-fangled thing...I think they calls it a somethin'-"Berry"..... it's sposed to give you blue teeth.....can't rightly see how though....it tastes somethin' awful, and makes you feel gassy afterwards....which must be that "whiffy" thing they're talkin about.  When I gots it they also said it would go roamin' with me....but fer some reason when I sets it on the ground, it just set there and don't go nowhere. .....shoulda gotten me nother dog.

Marc

(I know, I know....to the corner)

[RoughboyModelworks]

  Uh huh...

You got to watch out fir them thangs, coz you can git a virass from computers you know....

Returning to reality here for a moment, it may seem hard to believe, but I have "clients" who refuse to use the legal research computer system for that very reason. These are the same gentlemen who won't use the typewriters because they believe the DA comes into the library at night and reads the typewriter ribbons....    We may make fun of this, but this is real to some folks...

Paul

[marc_reusser]

Uh huh...

You got to watch out fir them thangs, coz you can git a virass.......
.
........comes into the library at night and reads the typewriter ribbons....    We may make fun of this, but this is real to some folks...

Paul

Nobody best be playin grabass with my pootie.......


.....shades of the Stazi or NKVD.....luddites unite.

MR

[finescalerr]

Ahem. And, uh, what exactly does all this have to do with modeling, gentlemen? "Nobody best be playin' 'grabass' with my 'pootie'......."? The very idea! -- ssuR

[Frederic Testard]

(Sent from the corner...)
Uncle, considering Marc's taste for flying over his bike, we can at least think that if he uses a puter while biking, he will soon have to remodel his face (maybe into something as charming as his current avatar).
No need to go, I'm already there...

[JohnP]

Marc said Luddite! Come on, grab the pitchforks and torches and let's go smash some infernal machines! Who's driving?err, why's the car on fire?

Anyway, Lance Armstrong was/is famous for his Crackberry use. Any decent cyclist has one.

Back on topic, I use TurboCAD Deluxe 15 for my drafting software. It does not export in .STL for PrintaPart and similar rapid prototyping applications. A web search brought me to MeshLab www.meshlab.sourceforge.net which is a free download. TC15 saves in .DAE which is the extension for COLLADA 3D files. MeshLab opens .DAE and will convert to .STL. It will fix the mesh as well as give you the chance to edit the mesh. I am just starting to learn what the mesh means, but MeshLab will probably do what I need for PrintaPart and can convert other files to if you need it.

I have attached renderings of a bridge shoe as it appears and as the mesh.

John

[marc_reusser]

Apologies to Fred...was a bit slow getting on this, but here is the SBS on the rung issue that he was having.


This shows the file/part as I received it. Note the gap in the center and the mis-alignment of the two parts. Each half at this point was designated as a "component". I am assuming that what Fred did was create/draw one half, save it as a component....copy that component, and then "rotated" the copy or "flipped along axis" (correct me if am wrong here Fred.)



First step was to align and join the two components. The right hand component was selected. Then using the "Move/Copy" tool I grabbed the endpoint of centerline of the circular shaft (these lines were there from when Fred extruded the shaft)......



....and simply moved the whole comp. to align with the same center-line in the other comp.



Both component halves were then selected, and "exploded" (so they were no longer individual componets).



Next, the line that was created from the joint/joining of the two comps. was deleted.



Not shown in images, the next step was to remove the longitudinal center lines that were created from the extrusion....for some reason, due to the way it was extruded, the lines would not erase, and blend/join the adjacent surfaces (it deleted them when the lines were deleted),  I could have gone through and re-extruded the shaft, but that was not what this SBS was about, so I simply selected them and did "Hide", so that they were no longer visible in the model.

A quick side-step.....but, because I always consider the blue color as the "inside" or "back" of a surface (just an anal thing with me)...I selected the entire model and did "Reverse Faces"...to make them all the white color.



I then made the entire part into a new component, using "Make Component"



The initial half rung that had been drawn, was not exactly half the size/length...so the now joined model and new component was a bit shy of it's desired 21.75" overall length. The stretch could have been done by just using the "Move/Copy" tool and entering a numeric distance, but unfortunately the existing length was some odd portion of a fraction....so rather than messing with trying to determine what that was, I simply laid out some guide lines to locate the new desired/needed length (the dimension line is not something I would use...it is only on the image for your info/reference)



Working inside the component, I selected the end of the rung...using the "Select" tool, and dragging from top left to bottom right, so as to only select the end, and not accidentally get/include any part of the shaft.



Still working in the component; using the "Move/Copy" tool, I then selected the endpoint of the part....



....and simply pulled it to the new desired/needed length, located at the intersection of the layout lines I had previously drawn. [By not selecting the shaft before doing the move, the shaft is automatically stretched when the end /head is moved, as the model considers it  "attached".....had I included the shaft in the selection, it would have stretched the end/head at the other end of the rung, thus deforming it.]



....then simply exit the component, delete a couple of guidelines, hit "Save", and you have a finished rung that can now easily be duplicated and placed along the ladder braces.




HTH.


Marc

[Bexley]

One small observation- circles in Sketchup are not mathematical circles, but polygons with lots of sides- I believe the default is 24 sides. If the part is small enough, it may not be noticeable, but for safety's sake, you may want to increase the number of sides to be sure that the part prints out without obvious flats. (Unfortunately, I don't think you can go back and alter circles previously made.)

[finescalerr]

That was extremely helpful. Things like that allow others with less experience to get the hang of a program without as much trial and error. This is an excellent thread. -- Russ

[Fred H.]

Yes, Russ, Marc's help was invaluable. Several key things here the more I study it.

1) Aligning the center-points of the components was something I had trouble with.
2) Now I understand about "exploding" something!
3) Now I see how to "stretch" a part! Cool!
4) The blue/white orientation thing is a good habit, I agree.

I'm going to verify the dimensions from Derrell and then back to the process. Will post an additional update this weekend.

Marc, thanks again! You're a prince among men, even if you DO set the bar WAY TOO HIGH for the rest of us! 

[marc_reusser]

Not to horn in on Freds thread (Fred...if you want me to post this elswhere let me know).....

I did some experimenting with this process a bit. Since I needed welding tanks I decided to have a try with modeling one.  Drew the half tank outline in ACAD, imported it into SU...and used the "Follow Me" tool to turn it into a tank/solid shape. I then went and downloaded the free version of the CADspan STL converter for SU. http://www.cadspan.com/.....then ran the tank through the STL process, and it seemed to work. the image below is what the SU model looks like during the "hole/watertight" check. When the process was done, I was able to download an STL file of the tank to my computer....have no Idea what the file looks like now that it's been converted (as none of my programs can open an STL.......so I won't know how it all works till I send it to PAP at some point.....but thought I would post the experience so far. (I want to print several tanks and other parts at once on a sprue set-up like Chuck.)  The only issue so far was during the conversion where the converter kept balking tellin me I had 8050 triangles and to reduce the file size.

MR

[finescalerr]

Your information is simply enhancing Fred's thread. I have downloaded both programs and, someday, will try to learn them. Fred, Chuck, and you are helping to push the envelope of our hobby. -- Russ

[Fred H.]

Russ, I agree completely. Marc is really adding to this thread. I've been meaning to get back to this project now that I have several dimensioned drawings thanks to Derrell Poole, but simply haven't found the time to do so. I'm actually planning on experimenting with the Print-A-Part service by sending them two or three different versions of the reefer ladder set-up. I bookmarked CADspan a couple of days ago and will use that as well.

While I was waiting for the reefer data from Derrell, I used SketchUp to do the C&S Forks Creek Station. Here are a few screenshots. An interesting sidebar... I went with a client up to a meeting at Penn State last Friday and showed this to two mechanical engineering professors who are working with us on a major flywheel clean energy storage proposal to ARPA-E . They were impressed that a PR guy could do this!