RE: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: CAD/CAM on Sketchup

Interesting Neil,



What does your program do when you switch to Imperial and specify a .00?
precision? Have you got the Full or Free program?



Swiss



From: CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Neil Gillies
Sent: Sunday, December 26, 2010 11:00 AM
To: CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] 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





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