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Taper Maker, Curve Maker and Stock Maker Plugins for SketchUp Users Guide Vers

Taper Maker, Curve Maker and Stock Maker Plugins for SketchUp Users Guide Version 1.03 August 2008 Copyright ©2007-2008 G. Terry Ross, Draw Metal LLC – All rights reserved. SketchUp is a registered trademark of Google, Inc. www.drawmetal.com 1.0 INTRODUCTION Taper Maker is a SketchUp plugin (a Ruby script) that tapers a cross-section shape along the length of a line. Taper Maker was motivated by the desire to draw curved tapered elements for architectural ironwork design. Figure 1.1 shows several examples created by Taper Maker. Figure 1.1 – Example Tapers Two additional tools complement Taper Maker. The first tool, Curve Maker draws one of several pre-defined curves. To facilitate fitting an element into a design, Curve Maker allows you specify the size of the curve instead of parameter values for mathematical equations. Figure 1.2 shows a spiral path created from the two dimensions shown in the figure. Figure 1.2 – An Example Spiral The last tool, Stock Maker, manages units of stock from which tapers may be made. For example, a stock unit might be defined as a 1” square stainless steel bar of a given weight, length and cost. Once a taper has been created using Taper Maker, a stock unit can be assigned to the taper, and Stock Maker will estimate how much of the stock is required to create the taper. Stock Maker will also accumulate estimates of stock requirements across multiple tapers. Figure 1.3 illustrates the estimated stock requirement for a single taper. In this example, 7 1/8” of 1” square stock is estimated to provide sufficient volume to make the 16 5/16” finished taper. Figure 1.3 – Stock Requirement Estimated Using Stock Maker Figure 1.4 displays accumulated stock requirements for twelve tapers assigned to three stocks made from two alloys. Figure 1.4 – Accumulated Stock Requirements Figures 1.5, 1.6 and 1.7 provide additional examples where these plugins have been used. Figure 1.5 – Grill (After Albert Paley) Figure 1.6 – Gate – ©2006 Hammerfest Forge. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Hamerfest Forge. Figure 1.7 – Stair Railing – ©2007 Hammerfest Forge. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Hamerfest Forge. 2.0 INSTALLATION Taper Maker, Curve Maker and Stock Maker are installed in the same manner as other SketchUp plugins. (The following instructions assume that you have already installed SketchUp on your computer. SketchUp is available on the internet at http:// sketchup.google.com/download.html.) Step 1: If you want to use all three plugins, copy the following files into SketchUp’s Plugins folder: curve_maker.rb taper_maker.rb stock_maker.rb If you do not want to use one of the three plugins (e.g. Curve Maker), you can either a) not copy the appropriate .rb file (e.g. curve_maker.rb) into the plugins folder or b) you can “deactivate” the plugin as described below. Step 2: Create a subfolder named “ctsMaker” in the Plugins folder and copy the following files into the “ctsMaker” subfolder: ctsLangEN.strings ctsMaker.rbs curve_menu.rb taper_menu.rb stock_menu.rb On Mac OS X: SketchUp’s Plugins folder is a subfolder of MacintoshHD>Library>Application Support>Google SketchUp 6>SketchUp. On Windows 2000/XP: SketchUp’s Plugins folder is a subfolder of C:\Program Files\Google\Google SketchUp 6. If SketchUp is running when you install the plugins, you must quit SketchUp and restart it. SketchUp cannot load plugins dynamically. It is only aware of whatever plugins are in the Plugins folder when it starts up. It does not become aware of plugins whenever they are added to the Plugins folder. Once installed (and SketchUp is restarted), the plugins “register” themselves with SketchUp. This enables you to “activate” or “deactivate” each plugin independently in the Extensions section of SketchUp’s Preferences dialog. That is, the plugin submenus will appear on SketchUp’s Plugins menu only when they are activated. If, for example, you only want to use the Taper Maker plugin, you can deactivate the Curve Maker and Stock Maker plugins (uncheck the appropriate check boxes) after installing them. 3.0 TAPER MAKER Taper Maker tapers one of several pre-defined cross-section shapes (face profiles) along the length of a path (line). Figure 3.1 shows a square cross-section that is 1” x 1” at the start of a spiral path and tapers to 1/4” x 1/4” at the end. The currently available cross-section shapes include square, diamond, rectangle, hexagon, octagon and round. Figure 3.1 – A Taper Created by Taper Maker Before drawing a taper, you must first select a connected path of edges along which the taper is to be constructed. Next, choose the “Draw a Taper” option from the Taper Maker submenu on SketchUp’s Plugins menu (Plugins > Taper Maker > Draw a Taper). The dialog box in Figure 3.2 will appear. Figure 3.2 Initial Draw a Taper Dialog Select the desired section (taper shape) from the drop-down list. Options are, well, optional (see Section 3.7 below). Click OK. Valid taper shapes are: square, diamond, rectangle, hexagon, octagon or round. A second dialog box will open prompting you for input data appropriate for the taper shape selected in the first dialog box. Those inputs are described in detail below. 3.1 SQUARE AND DIAMOND Taper Maker needs to know the dimension (thickness = width) of the square cross- section at the beginning of the path and at the end of the path. Shapes can taper from larger dimensions to smaller dimensions or smaller to larger. In addition, Taper Maker needs to know if the selected path should be the center of the taper or a boundary of the taper. Figure 3.3 specifies a square taper that is 1/2” square at the beginning of the path and 1/4” square at the end. Figure 3.3 Example Data Dialog for Square and Diamond Taper Shapes Names for tapers are optional, but highly recommended. In preparing reports, Taper Maker assumes that all tapers with the same (non-blank) name - and assigned to the same stock unit - have the same dimensions. Unique tapers should have unique names; all identical copies of a taper should have the same name. Dimensions can be entered as decimal or fractional values, and explicit units of measure for inches (“), feet (‘), millimeters (mm), centimeters (cm), and meters (m) can be appended to data. If the unit of measure is not specified, the current default “Length Units” setting (on the “Units” page of the Model Info dialog) will apply. Naming the taper is optional. is replaced by two corners connected by a line. Figure 3.4 gives an example of a square taper with and without a bevel angle of 8.0. Bevel angle measures the circular angle between the two points that replace the corner in the taper profile. Using bevel angles increases the size and complexity of the drawing and significantly increases the time required to draw. Bevel angle is not considered in estimating stock requirements. Figure 3.4 – A Taper Without and With Beveled Edges Data for a diamond shape is entered as if for a square, but the square shape is rotated 45 degrees when drawn. Once the data have been entered, Taper Maker will ask you for more information on how to draw the taper. Because the “from” and “to” ends of a path are arbitrary, Taper Maker draws a sample cross-section using the “from” dimension at one end of the path and the “to” dimension at the opposite end of the path and asks you to verify that the sample is correctly positioned with respect to the “from” and “to” ends. If you click “No”, the opposite ends of the path become the “from” and “to” ends. This interaction is illustrated in Figure 3.5. Figure 3.5 – Dialog to Establish the “From” and “To” Ends of the Path Left, right, top and bottom depend on context, so when one of those positions is entered, Taper Maker draws a sample cross-section to one side of the path (at the “from” end) and asks the user to verify that the sample is on the correct side. If you click “No”, the taper is drawn on the opposite side of the path from where the sample appears. This interaction is illustrated in Figure 3.6. Figure 3.6 – Dialog to Establish Path Position Paths can be closed (e.g. a circle, oval, etc.). Note that the path along which a taper is drawn does NOT have to have been created by Curve Maker. It may be created by any SketchUp line-drawing tool or by a combination of tools (including or excluding Curve Maker). 3.2 RECTANGLE AND OCTAGON When either one or both ends of a taper is a rectangle, the rectangular cross-section must be used. As with the previously described taper shapes, Taper Maker needs to know the dimensions of the cross-section at the beginning of the path and at the end of the path. In addition, Taper Maker needs to know if the selected path represents the center of the taper or a boundary of the taper. Names for tapers are optional, but highly recommended. In preparing reports, Taper Maker assumes that all tapers with the same (non-blank) name - and assigned to the same stock unit - uploads/Geographie/ taper-maker-curve-maker-and-stock-maker-plugins-for-sketchup.pdf