Archive for the ‘Design’ Category

Learn Blender for Woodworkers

Thursday, December 24th, 2020

I am going to start a class in January 2021 on how to use Blender for woodworkers. Blender is free software and it is incredibly powerful when it comes to rendering CAD images and even performing complex animation. Blender’s rendering prowess is on par with Pixar.

This class will be geared specifically for woodworkers. You will learn how to add textures, lights, reflections and shadows to your CAD render images. I will field any questions you have to the best of my ability.

You will need to know how to currently use CAD software (i.e. SketchUp). You will be able to render incredibly high definition CAD model images and videos that are sure to impress your clients and friends.

If you’d like to be notified when the class starts, show your interest by signing up below and I’ll let you know when the class starts.

I haven’t decided how much the tuition will be, but it will be inexpensive.

Sign up by visiting this link. No obligation.

Wine Hutch Model Added

Monday, December 21st, 2020

I added the wine hutch SketchUp model for free download from my Sketch library.  The drawers are faux in the model (only drawer fronts are shown), but the rest of the model is there.  You could use the model to extract all of the measurements that you need to build as you follow along in the build video.  Using ‘View Model’, you can view the model before downloading it.

This is the model that I designed and used for the build – and constantly referred to it.

 

 

Furniture Design Rant

Wednesday, September 4th, 2019

I knew a professor as a post-doc, that was only interested in your new drug designs if your synthesis utilized his synthetic methodologies (*process for making the drug). For him, drug discovery was more about the chemistry you used to make the drug than the drug itself. I always found this odd and saw it as a problem.

I see a parallel when it comes to making furniture. There appears to be a lot of woodworkers that are more interested in showcasing a particular joint than they are in the overall design of the piece. Have you ever come across a piece of furniture with beautiful hand-cut dovetails that looks boring or lacks imagination as a whole? Of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I see it routinely. Like the professor at the beginning of my rant, some are more interested in showcasing their hand cut dovetails or intricate joinery than the overall look of the final product.

This is where I hope to improve as I grow – by improving my skills as a good furniture designer; I’m NOT where I want to be yet. I’ve made a few design duds along the way that look good in CAD, but lose their appeal in real life.

This is a topic that I wish was more extensively covered in print media; not articles regurgitating Fibonacci numbers or making designs first from cardboard (trial and error), but practical design methodologies. Are you listening “print media”?