Using my previously made SketchUp model I made a full sizes printed template using the following steps:
1. Setting up a Parallel view:
The default view in SketchUp is “Perspective” which allows us to view things in 3D which looks ‘real’ due to the perspective view but for printing we want to be able to see the drawings in 2-D as if they were printed on a flat paper (which is what we about to do). In order to do this you need to go to the menus under “Camera” and select “Parallel Projection” (to go back to the default view just click ‘Perspective” in the same menu). Now if you have things in view they may start to look weird as you are trying to see a 3D view in 2D – confused yet?
Now since we are interested in printing a 2D image, seeing things in broken 3D won’t help much, so the next change is to go and select a 2D camera direction in “Camera” → “Standard Views” → “Top” (or “front” depending on how your drawing is oriented in the 3D space – either facing up, front, or sideways). This will give you a view like this (albeit with different geometries based on what you are trying to print:
NOTE: For printing purposes, SketchUp will print whatever is presented in the SU view which means that if you are zoomed out and have a lot of empty space around your model – SketchUp will print that empty space and your 1 page print could instead result in a 20 pages print of 19 empty papers, and 1 with actual geometry on it. So before printing anything from SU make sure your view is zoomed in on what you would like to print as close as possible without any empty areas around your model – change the dimensions of the screen if necessary (make it narrow, or wide to eliminate as much empty space as possible)
2. Setting up Printing 1-to-1 ratio:
In order to print your drawing/template in full size (1” in drawing is 1” on printed paper) go the menus under “File” → “Document Setup” and uncheck the “fit view to page” as this will print the entire view to 1 page which will be not fullsize. Also change the dimensions to be 1” in drawing equals 1” in model to set it to print fullsize prints as can be seen here:
notice also that it will tell you how many pages (according to your printer setup) it will require to print the model in view. If you have empty spaces (as mentioned above) you will see this number pretty high. As you adjust the zoom on your model to eliminate empty spaces around it in the view you may see this number go down.
3: Optional – Setting pages alignment graphics:
Since my printout requires 2 pages, I drew freehand (no need for measurements or precision here) some cross lines that would help me realign and tape the 2 pages properly so that the template will be true. Also I printed a 1”x1” square divided to 4 1/4” areas. This helps me take a ruler to the printed template and verify that the print is indeed fullsize and the measurements are true.
At this point I printed the template making sure to set the printer to NOT fit print into page or do any other stretching or any sorts.
Using spray glue I stuck the template on a leftover piece of pine and bandsaws it as close as I could to the lines:
I did a couple of templates before this one and used 3/4” plywood. I found the plywood to be harder to shape than the pine and decided to use the pine this time around since I had scraps of it lying around from building TWW rocking horse and I must say it was much easier to shape and work with.
Next step for me was to shape the wood to the cut lines slowly slowly using a belt sander:
and using a spindle to address the tight curves:
Looking back, I should have done the tight curves first and then eased off the transition to the flatter areas with the belt sander.
As for the straight edges I used the TS and a sled to make sure everything was inline and perpendicular to one another:
Now that the template was ready I milled some stock and roughly drew the template on it to give me some reference lines to drill the holes:
Before shaping the frame and taking it out of square (sort of) I wanted to drill all necessary holes first as it is easier to position a square board then a curved one. Using 1 board as a measurement setter I drill the holes using a 1/4” drill for the handles, the stretcher and the mortises for the cross bar then using the same drill setings drilled the other part as well:
With the holes out of the way it was time to cut the shape out. I put some carpet tape on the template (2 sided tape) and positioned both board and template upright so that the flat reference lines on the bottom of both are aligned (and perpendicular to the holes drilled earlier) and stuck them together:
It was then off to the bandsaw to remove as much material as close to the line as I felt comfortable followed by the router table with a template bit to transfer the shape to the frames. I had terrible blow outs which I suspect was due to the material and the unusual grain orientation, but I take full responsibility for this mishap, and if I work with this material again I would cut closer to the line with the bandsaw leaving less material for the router bit to engage with, or use a fence on the RT to take the bites in steps (I think I took less then 1/8” cut here which was still enough for it to cheap off the material.
no picture of that!
I did clean some off by sanding through it (luckily I made the template extra thick so had some material I could take off without compromising anything) and one area which was beyond cleanup I cut a square mortise and added a replacement block which I will later trim down to size/shape:
As for the cross support, I milled some mahogany to same thickness as the frame and sized accordingly to width and transferred the mortise lines to cut the tenons as well as rounding off the showing ends:
deepening the mortise to accommodate for the tenon on one side:
And the other:
...and I’m Done! next I will machine the blade to size, and some pins to hold the blade as well as a tightening rod for the top.
In case you are wondering the material thickness is 1-1/4” which is on the thick side, but I am still planing on shaping it down and rounding it over which will leave it slightly thinner where needed, but still hefty were it requires it to be.
Thanks for reading,
Peace.