Aspire, PRO Version of Sketchup & Custom Furniture Design

[GerryV]

Hello, a triple-barrelled question regarding the design of premium custom furniture pieces.

(a) Is anyone using Aspire as a stand-alone program for designing fully custom furniture and free-standing cabinetry pieces and what are your experiences in this regard. I'm not expecting it to be a full blown 3D design program... with an associated 3D (three decade) learning curve, at my speed

(b) For those using the PRO version of Sketchup 8 with all the new features (apparently targeted at woodworkers) but not included in the free version; how are you finding it? Do the files transfer well and which of the numerous file formats do you find work best with Aspire?

(c) With regard to (b) has anyone purchased the Woodworkers Guide to Sketchup DVD by Bob Lang. I'm looking at this very positive review: http://blog.lostartpress.com/2010/06/10 ... tchUp.aspx

[Adrian]

Too be honest I don't see any difference as regards the tools in Sketchup 8 Pro to the previous versions as far as woodworking goes. It certainly hasn't changed the way I work with it. If you're doing woodworking with it you're much better of using the free version and getting some Ruby scripts targetted at woodworkers.

Most cabinet work tends to be flat 2D stuff so most of the exporting you'd do from Sketchup (if you drew and designed the cabinets in there first) would be as 2D top down views.

As far as design programs go it depends on who you're designing for really. Sketchup (without addons like Podium) doesn't render well compared to other cabinet design programs and, as they're designed for that rather than large scale architecural drawings, tend to do the job better as well.

[Bob_S]

Great question, and I don't think there is a simple answer.
I have used Aspire to do some complicated cabinets. It works, BUT it is not parametric so you cannot scale parts and keep your dados the same for example without using the trick of entering Node editing mode and moving the joint without scaling it.
I have Ryans Cabinet Parts Pro for boxes - it is simple and fast and you can export the parts you want to carve to Aspire as DXF and work there - smooth workflow.
I have used Sketchup Pro and free to show some clients what their entertainment centers will look like. The best beginning tutorials have been the free one Joe Zeh has done at http://www.srww.com/google-sketchup.htm He is an excellent woodworker and a great teacher so they are worth the time to watch. I also like the Sketchy styles that Dave Richards explained in http://www.finewoodworking.com/blog/design-click-build
I do a lot of work cutting curved parts for some very exclusive cabinet makers. They tend to use sketches and sample boards to show clients, I believe they are correct that rendered 3d presentations take away from the wow factor of the final job, it better to show a great sketch showing form and function and leave the photographic look for the real work. Sketchup can easily do this for you.
Fabrice (search here and Shopbot forum) has done some really interesting work in Solidworks that he slls to be cut with Aspire, but that program has a really huge learning curve and is expensive. some modeling software is another that I have been contemplating to use for 3d shapes and then import into Aspire for final work and cutting.
Bob

[Paul A]

Hello, a triple-barrelled question regarding the design of premium custom furniture pieces.

(a) Is anyone using Aspire as a stand-alone program for designing fully custom furniture and free-standing cabinetry pieces and what are your experiences in this regard. I'm not expecting it to be a full blown 3D design program... with an associated 3D (three decade) learning curve, at my speed

(b) For those using the PRO version of Sketchup 8 with all the new features (apparently targeted at woodworkers) but not included in the free version; how are you finding it? Do the files transfer well and which of the numerous file formats do you find work best with Aspire?

(c) With regard to (b) has anyone purchased the Woodworkers Guide to Sketchup DVD by Bob Lang. I'm looking at this very positive review: http://blog.lostartpress.com/2010/06/10 ... tchUp.aspx

Gerry,

Here goes.

(a)
Aspire is not mean't to be a design tool for furniture there are far better programmes for that, I do use Aspire for designing my individual cabinet part or adding all the grooves, rebates, notches and holes etc .

(b)
At the moment I am on Sketchup Pro 7, the additions in 8 area bit of a pony show, I do not find the need to draw mortice and tennons etc with new tools.
I find Sketchup does not export DXF files suitable for machining, someone more qualified might step in here and give you a better answer.

( c).
I have not seen Bob Lang’s video, when I need to find out how to do something in Sketchup I usually try Youtube, Sketchucation or the excellent videos on Fine Woodworking by the master Dave Richards.


I do use Sketchup to do my presentations as I like the sketchy drawing to give it that hand drawn look and the presentation in Layout. I agree with Bob with a dislike for the photorealistic pictures.

I have been helping Paul Verhelst of CabinetSense with the oddities of UK cabinetry, it might be of some interest to you.

CabinetSense works inside Sketchup as a parametric cabinet builder , it enables you to build single cabinets or complete kitchen layouts, once you have built a range of generic cabinet or use the library models you just drag and drop them from the component menu onto the plan and resized them, all the components are resized for each cabinet. I can output a single cabinet or a complete kitchen or bedroom layout direct to Cutlist Plus which gives me a complete list of every component in the project, I have Cutlist Platinum which can export DXF files into Aspire, it sounds long winded but it is only a couple of mouse clicks to get all the panels into Aspire. There are programmes out there that will go from screen to machine but they cost many 000’s of $ or £.

In CabinetSense all elements of the build are covered

Carcase material
Various types of construction
Layon or face frame, all the frames sizes can be changed
Slab or five piece doors
Drawer boxes in butt, dado or dovetailed construction
Customize drawers to suit Blum Tandem runners.
Knob or handle selection and placement

The best part is with one click it will give you……….
Complete cutting list of materials which can be imported into Cutlist Plus for Sheet layouts
List of doors
List of drawer boxes
List of handles, hinges and runners.




Here are some video clips to give you in idea how easy is…….

Getting started http://www.youtube.com/user/CabinetSens ... QK_wVhS3M4
Cabinet basics http://www.youtube.com/user/CabinetSens ... 5W350pLByA
Drawer box http://www.youtube.com/user/CabinetSens ... w5055rdiUw
Cutlist http://www.youtube.com/user/CabinetSens ... CaKUmVxDhI
Face frames http://www.youtube.com/user/CabinetSens ... VZZE1lRo1U
Building an island http://www.youtube.com/user/CabinetSens ... NsUu_viDYU
Wall cabinets http://www.youtube.com/user/CabinetSens ... yL-3Tx7DaM
Exporting data http://www.youtube.com/user/CabinetSens ... dpEpPX5C3M

[GerryV]

Adrian, Bob & Paul,
Thank you kindly. This is all most helpful. I've already watched a couple of the third-party tutorials and find they will be a great benefit as well.
- GerryV

[dmthomson]

Paul,

Where does one get Cabinetsense? I'm VERY interested!

[Paul A]

Hi Don,

CabinetSense is still in testing, I will keep you updated when I get more news.