Thread: Make my own furniture? : Design in Sketchup > Send for manufacture?

How complex is this beastie?

Perhaps you can show us your designs so far!

It would not be that complex at all. I have not designed it yet. It would essentially be a rectangular prism, to my size and specifications.


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I THINK the short answer is maybe.

AFAIK, Sketch-up is not a true CAD program -- meaning the components in a sketchup drawing can't be turned into a component ready for CNC machining without some additional steps.

Ian is right. It isn't CAD at all for that purpose, but for design I find it outstanding.

you draw your objects, turn them into groups or components, stick them all together and move ten around. It great. I would boldly say that Sketchup wins me 100% of every customer enquiry and for me it was worth every cent.

After making the design, i take the components, flatten them for display "out of the way" then put those into CutList which shows me how to optimally cut up a sheet without waste. I'll post about what I mean with this with a few pictures.

To export shapes into CAD for a CNC shop to use, I've just done this for three projects, one selects the shape they want, export it into DXF format, then import it into the CAD program to ensure its "good". There is a bit of a trick to it however, which I should write up for members to know about.... There are a few frustrations and workarounds to get it right and it's not as trivial or obvious as one would hope!

But, for something like a cabinet, Sketchup is perfect.

I buy materials from several places locally, including very fancy laminates and veneered ply. My tiny studio can pump out almost anything with enough thought. You don't need whizz-bang for 99.999% of woodworking jobs. It's certainly a nice big toy, but not strictly necessary.

A bigger issue might be cost. A couple of years ago I sent photos and specs of a cabinet I'd made for my daughter to three cabinetmakers and asked for a quote for a like item. Here it is:
Ash Ent Unit.jpg
'
Timber is Vic Ash. Cabinet is solid timber except for the doors, which are veneered.

After each quote came in it took several minutes for me to regain the power of speech.

But good luck for your project. I hope you have better luck.

It depends...

If you're after a very specific design as others have said sketchup isn't CAD and majority of manufucturing companies that use CNCs etc require CAD drawings.

However if you're wanting to present a concept to a manufacturer its definitely better than a scribble on paper. However they may charge you a "design" fee to transfer the drawing into CAD.

If its a boutique cabinet maker they willy be happy to work with your sketchup drawings but obviously will cost significantly more than someone who utilises CNC machines etc and the end result will differ slightly to your sketchup drawing.

This also depends on how detailed your drawing is.

Yes, you can get it cut up and even assembled but it will depend on your budget and if someone is willing to take your design and cut it up as-is. Even if someone is willing to take it as-is, tooling still needs to be applied to each component. Obviously getting it assembled is the most expensive option... and where's the fun in that?

As already mentioned, SketchUp isn't the most widely used program in a production environment. It will also depend on whether your version of SketchUp can export dwg/dxf files. See this: https://help.sketchup.com/en/article/3000165 & the differences between Make and Pro here: https://help.sketchup.com/en/content...d-sketchup-pro
Converting your model to a 'flattened'/2D model of each component will help with understanding the requirements of each component (think cutlist diagram) as well as calculating all the material requirements.

I've had problems with taking 'outside' designs that were created in AutoCAD (and other CAD programs) and getting them ready in whichever CNC program I was on i.e. BiesseWorks or Aspan. Sometimes there is user error (in the original design) and sometimes the 2 programs just don't play nicely i.e. between the export and import settings used.

My advice would be to create your model in SketchUp and use it begin the conversation with your potential fabricator. They may offer recommendations on your design and it will provide them with a good base to start quoting from.

Originally Posted by John Samuel

Timber is Vic Ash. Cabinet is solid timber except for the doors, which are veneered.

After each quote came in it took several minutes for me to regain the power of speech.

Unfortunately anything custom made using solid timber is going to cost a heck load more than most people would think...

Originally Posted by Junkie

Unfortunately anything custom made using solid timber is going to cost a heck load more than most people would think...

Indeed!

I had a chat with one of the cabinetmakers. He said that anything custom made would be expensive, regardless of the material used because the bulk of the cost was in the workshop hours (machines and labour). He continued to say that they were set up to make standard components and then to assemble them, and that once they moved away from standard components, costs rose pretty rapidly.

This made sense to me. Nearly two years ago I made three student desks for my grandchildren, and I made them all at the same time. So, I cut 12 legs ... then made all the web frames and so on. The total time required to build them was a fair bit less than if I had made three pieces, one at a time.

What was the cost like? I just can't get my head around these seemingly astronomical costs. If one has the right tools and materials, it should not take more than a day to cut and assemble a 180x45x50 cabinet.

Speaking to a few people rough costs were all in 5k+ !!!!

Seems ridiculous to me! I can't seem to fathom the prices people attach to anything "custom"...

I am seriously tempted to start investing in some tools and doing it myself. A cabinet saw ~1.5k would be the primary investment...router (already have), drill(already have) some sand paper (already have), dowels & jig (already have), chisels (already have)...

Maybe I could consider enlisting the project within this forum to a local woodworker...?






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It's always better to supply a manufacturer with an accurately drawn sketch, ideally computer generated because that way the manufacturer can pull actual dimensions from the drawing that you may have failed to provide rather than needing to make a phone call. What they do with your drawing is their problem. If it was me, I would pull the dimensions from your drawing while I was redrawing any CNC components to my exact requirements for my machine, software and controller.

Originally Posted by l2oBiN

What was the cost like? I just can't get my head around these seemingly astronomical costs. If one has the right tools and materials, it should not take more than a day to cut and assemble a 180x45x50 cabinet.

Speaking to a few people rough costs were all in 5k+ !!!!

I forget the exact quotes for the Vic Ash entertainment unit, but seem to recall the quotes were between $7,000 and $10,000. I was in a state of shock for quite a while.

Why not make it yourself?

Originally Posted by John Samuel

I forget the exact quotes for the Vic Ash entertainment unit, but seem to recall the quotes were between $7,000 and $10,000. I was in a state of shock for quite a while.

Why not make it yourself?

Wow!!! 7-10 k!!!

That is exactly what I mean!

What was their break down of costs?






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[QUOTE=l2oBiN;2041783]Wow!!! 7-10 k!!!

That is exactly what I mean!

What was their break down of costs?[QUOTE]
Didn't get a breakdown ... I was in a state of shock and did not think to ask.

Makes me wonder if they didn't really want the job unless I was silly enough to accept an inflated quote. I am guilty of that myself. Had a request several years ago for a proposal to do some training in Saudi Arabia. Not my idea of fun, so I almost doubled my daily fee. They accepted ... for the past four years I have spent two weeks there each year.