Hi All

Had I been using my 'normal' CAD system, this would be a no-brainer (as you say in the US )
However, SU brings it's own problems to the table !

All I want to do is align the circle to the two corners indicated - something that is ultra simple in other CAD apps.

Apart from going back to the days of compasses and drawing the two circumference intersections from each corner then redrawing the circle, there has to be an easier way ???

TIA

Neil Attached files

 

I'm with you on having trouble switching from a "real" CAD platform to Sketchup... but I think i figured this one out for you.

First, align the circle to the midpoint of the line of the bottom of the "channel" as you've already done, it appears. Then, draw a line up from one top corner of the channel to intersect the circle. Then, select the circle, use the move tool, select that intersection point as the base point, and then drag it down to the corner.

RJ Attached files

 

RJ

Thanks - that certainly works - the only issue is with SU of course - unless you set the number of sides to be about 360, then you have to trust SU that it _IS_ really touching !

Thanks for the (a ?) solution !

I DO like SU, I just need to readjust my brain and go back to 'first principals' with this app - so far, there has been a good solution to each issue I have come up against.

The only one that continually bugs me is when trying to align circle centres (that'll be centers US ) SU doesn't always let you get to the circle centre and it is REALLY annoying sometimes. However, having spent upwards of 3000 GBP on some other-brand up-market CAD software, they have similar issues !

Cheers

Neil

 

I had trouble with aligning circle centers when I stated, also. For example, putting a shaft, bolt, washer, etc centered onto a hole or each other. What I do now is place a construction point at the center, inside the group or component. And it makes it very easy. What happened was one day, I downloaded a model of a stepper motor and it had a construction point on the shaft center. Not knowing how to make one, I soon was coping that magic construction point from one drawing to the next.

Then later on I found out there were plugins that will place a construction point. I now use this one: http://www.smustard.com/script/CenterPoint

-Kwok

 

to find the center of the circle, i just hold the mouse pointer on an edge for a few seconds then it always brings up the option for the center

 

Like RJ suggested but if you have a hard time with finding center you can highlight the object in question and use the attached plug in called center point!! It will find the center on your basic shapes!! Just remember to have the marker highlighted as it is not permanent to the object and then once aligned you can just erase it!!

John Attached files centerpoint.rb (3.2 KB)Â

 

I use the center point plugin so often I've assigned a keyboard short-cut to it. Shift+c.

 

Hi All

Thanks for all the good info !

D/L'd the centerpoint plugin that you all recommended - problem solved - why isn't this in sketchup ?

What was creepy was Kwok's mention of stepper motor shafts and bolts - that's EXACTLY what I was doing - putting bolts in a stepper and adding the shaft couplers ! It was driving me nuts not being able to just select a bunch of objects and 'align centre'. However, I actually prefer this method ! Just takes a while to shed the habits of a lifetime's CAD use

Jeff mentioned hovering over the circle edge - I had already used that method, but it was very inconsistent - most of my problems have been when using SU in 3D mode 'though - not in 2D where it probably works better.

Thanks again for all the help.

BTW, I updated my website after a few years and have a new tool on there that some of you guys might like to build - it's a thicknesser/disc sander - check it out. I haven't finished all the drawings yet (in SU ), but it's not rocket science - maybe we can get Mark & Trish to build a Phlat version under licence

Cheers

Neil