Re: CAD/CAM on Sketchup

Hi All

Hope everyone has sobered up by now =;-)))

> Unfortunately, this isn't just an issue in LayOut. SketchUp can't really
> work to .001" precision either. As you approach entities of .001" in length
> or less, you'll find that faces in the model won't close and SketchUp will
> begin reporting validity problems. The only real solution to this is to
> scale the entire model up by some multiplier.

Strange, I'm on a Mac, but I assume this is the same on the PC - go to the 'Window' menu, choose 'Model Info', select 'Units'.
You can then choose your unit preference - mine is 'millimetres' - precision is from 0mm...0.000000mm - I generally use 0.00mm as 10 microns is well above anything I would ever build!
As far as I am aware (I'm certainly prepared to be corrected if you have good info :-) the internal measurement system on Sketchup (and I assume Layout too) is imperial with a _minimum_dimension_ of 1/1000th of an inch - 0.001".
You definitely can't draw a 0.0254mm (0.001") rectangle, but you _can_ draw a 0.026mm rectangle. I can't imagine why you would want to draw a rectangle this size though unless you create semiconductor photomasks for a hobby :-)
You can also draw a 100.001mm rectangle (or highr resolution) - which measures accurately with the dimension tool. The system certainly does not seem to 'snap' to a 0.001" grid either.
I have had no issues sending stuff from sketchup to my CNC router (either via DXF or Gcode) - while most of it is bits of plastic and wood - the accuracy is certainly good enough.

I find working in Sketchup quite intuitive once you get your head around it - everything is drawn at full size - in 3D and not on a piece of paper !

Above all, it works very well and it's free (at least the free version is free :-)))) The object snapping is exceptionally good - far better than say Vectorworks 9 and as good as Cobalt or TurboCAD Pro.

Cheers

Neil