Someone reverse engineered SketchUp. Marc demos Hew, a free and open source desktop alternative, and talks through what it could mean for woodworkers. Plus Matt Cremona’s new Guild course, the Rockler crosscut sled, two flash sales, your questions on lathes, pricing your time, sanding and hand planes, and Greg on what it really means to be a hobbyist.
Announcements
- Matt Cremona’s Breakfast Bench: Built to Fit Guild course is fully released, and we extended the pre-order price a little longer. It is a foundational course on built-in furniture: reading architectural plans, tongue and groove V boards, grain selection for curved legs, finishing white oak, and scribing everything in so it fits with no gaps.
- Guild members can watch their courses on Apple TV and Roku now, and Nicole is working on Amazon Fire TV. Everything is laid out on the TWW apps page.
- The Mid-Century Modern Table video is up on YouTube. Lots of great comments about the cost breakdown and the 20 hours of design time.
- The free plans page now sends plans straight to your inbox, and there is a quiz to help you pick what to build next.
What’s on the bench
Marc milled a weathered, air dried walnut offcut from Dave (of our Norwood sawmill trip) into stock for a batch of serving trays. He also cut the parts on the Rockler crosscut sled he first saw at the Woodworkers for a Cause stream: lightweight, simple, slightly off 90 out of the box and dead on after one adjustment.
Saw This: Hew, an open source SketchUp clone
After Adobe’s software was reverse engineered, the same thing happened to SketchUp. Hew is a free, open source desktop app for Mac, Windows and Linux. Push/pull, components and keyboard shortcuts work the way SketchUp users expect, and it imports and exports SKP files. Marc found a few bugs and filed reports, and a cut list plugin is in development. The big questions: who maintains open source code over time, and how do we feel about the ethics? With SketchUp Pro at $399 a year and SketchUp Make gone, we want to hear your take in the comments.
The Long View with Greg
Greg Batt on selling your work: it can fund the next project, but it can cost you the freedom to choose what you build. As James Krenov put it, “I’m an amateur, and I always will be.” You are not just a hobbyist. Follow Greg at @ghbatt.
Your questions
- Choosing a lathe for big bowls: look at the swing (twice the distance from the spindle to the bed is your max diameter), or a lathe with a rotating headstock for outboard turning.
- Estimating project hours: mostly experience. Write down how long each step takes and extrapolate. Marc’s estimates in the Mid-Century Modern Table video include a lot of filming slowdown.
- Learning hand tools: Shannon Rogers’ Hand Tool School, Marc’s Hybrid Woodworking book (25% off with code HYBRID25 for a limited time), and Frank Strazza’s Guild hand tool course, 50% off in a flash sale.
- Drum sander or better sander? Even after a drum sander you still sand. Upgrade to a low vibration 6 inch random orbit sander with a good dust extractor first.
- Preppin’ Weapons: still in stock in blue, in the TWW Store.
- Hand planes under $100: look at Woodcraft’s WoodRiver line, Rockler’s Bench Dog, or restore an old Stanley from a yard sale.
- End grain blowout at a Soss hinge: square it up and glue in a patch, epoxy as a last resort, or (Marc’s choice) make a new piece.
- Respirators and beards: nothing that seals on skin seals through a beard. A powered air helmet like the Trend Air Shield is the real fix; Marc shaves down before heavy finishing days.
Curious about the Guild? Check out the free preview weekend schedule.
Chapters
- 00:00:00 Pre-show: why is the chat so quiet?
- 00:01:20 Welcome and today's topics
- 00:03:17 Oops, the stream was unlisted
- 00:04:12 Matt Cremona's Breakfast Bench course is out, pre-order price extended
- 00:05:02 Course preview: Breakfast Bench, Built to Fit
- 00:08:13 Guild courses on Apple TV and Roku, Fire TV next
- 00:09:20 The Mid-Century Modern Table video and your comments
- 00:10:47 New free plans page and the What Should I Build quiz
- 00:12:13 What's on the bench: air dried walnut serving trays
- 00:13:20 The Rockler crosscut sled, tested
- 00:15:59 Corded Kreg Edge sightings at Lowe's
- 00:16:23 Saw This: Hew, an open source SketchUp clone
- 00:16:55 The Adobe reverse engineering story
- 00:17:30 Why Marc soured on SketchUp
- 00:19:41 Hew demo: push/pull, components, SKP import
- 00:21:18 Limitations, bugs and who maintains open source
- 00:22:23 Is Hew free? The ethics question
- 00:23:20 Would Marc recommend Hew to Guild members?
- 00:25:17 Is $399 a year too much for SketchUp Pro?
- 00:26:36 iPad support and SketchUp Make 2017
- 00:27:37 The Long View with Greg: just a hobbyist?
- 00:31:02 Hobbyist vs pro, and Nicole's quilts
- 00:31:26 Where are the Guild vendor discounts?
- 00:32:08 Choosing a lathe for big bowls
- 00:33:10 How do you estimate project hours?
- 00:34:55 Carbon Method hand tool products: any news?
- 00:35:27 Where to learn hand planes, chisels and sharpening
- 00:36:11 A eulogy for a dead fly
- 00:36:56 Flash sale: Hybrid Woodworking book 25% off
- 00:37:48 Flash sale: Frank Strazza's hand tool course 50% off
- 00:38:28 Drum sander or a better random orbit sander?
- 00:40:49 A Guild course on metalworking?
- 00:41:23 Are Preppin' Weapons still in stock?
- 00:42:01 Why are hand planes so expensive? Options under $100
- 00:43:27 Fixing end grain blowout at a Soss hinge mortise
- 00:44:59 Option three: make a new piece
- 00:46:13 Restoring old Stanley planes
- 00:46:52 Is there a respirator that works with a beard?
- 00:48:42 Veritas seconds sale, Lie-Nielsen vs Veritas
- 00:49:39 Giveaway time (and a keyword YouTube didn't like)
- 00:52:16 First winner, new keyword: walnut
- 00:52:46 Flash sale recap and the new apps page
- 00:54:10 A MAKRS pad as a face sponge?
- 00:54:59 Thank you, Amy, for the Dougie painting
- 00:56:25 A rough week for Star Trek fans
- 00:57:18 Second winner
- 00:57:57 Halloween, razor blades and Night of the Demons
- 00:59:04 Have a great weekend