Downloading Rubies.

Hello folks, my name is Randy and I'm new to timber framing. I'll be attending Mark Davidsons workshops in a couple weeks, and have been learning what ever I can on my own. I downloaded the Sketchup program today and have been spending some time playing around with it. But for the life of me I can't seem to get the rubies to show in my plugin menu. I'm able to get them onto my computer but the folder doesn't seem to have anything in it, only two items that I can't open. Anyone have any suggestions. I'm fairly decent with computers but this has me stumped.
Thanks!

Hi Randy.

Unzip the rubies into sketchups plugins folder. If you're on Vista, put the rubies zip file on your desktop first, then double click it, then drag the files into the plugins folder. Then restart sketchup. CB.

Thanks Clark, I actually do have vista. I can now see the TF rubbies menu.

When I click on timber list, am I supposed to see a list of timbers to work with, because it just asks to save into a file then nothing happens after that. I can see all the timbers in the joinery, frameing folders. Am I supposed to drag those over manually from my desktop too?

Sorry for the rookie questions, pretty green at this stuff.

Thanks!

The timber list feature creates a materials list of the timbers you have in the current project - what you need to have sawn to build what's on the screen. The list of pre-designed timbers are in your component libraries. The timber list function generates a csv text file that you can open in Excel. CB.

PS: The next version will give you the option to save directly to excel, so that calculated values like board feet and column totals will actually be formulas that get updated when you tweak the list.

Thanks Again. I must have screwed up somehow because I don't see any timbers in my component library. Just the stuff that came with the program. Am I too add them myself?

Yes. You should have 2 zip files containing my component libraries (get them here if you don't ). Create a Sketchup folder somewhere in your own document space. Then make a sub-folder under that called components. Then two subfolders under that FS Timbers and FS Joinery, and unzip the respective zip files into them.

Then, in SU, open the component window, and select "add library to favorites", and browse to the FS Timbers folder and add it. Do the same for FS Joinery. Use my libraries as a guide for creating your own! My libraries reflect my own joinery style. You have yours. Don't adapt your joinery style to match my libraries. CB.

Thanks Clark, I'll give that all a try. Thanks for making this free. Its unbelievably helpfull!

Think I have it figured out now..

I made an english joint today and when I connected the pieces, they became one solid component and I can't seperate them. Is there a way to seperate them again.

Thanks.

Can't seem to post a picture.

The command to undo a "make component" operation is "explode". For the rubies to work correctly, the timber must be a top-level component, and the joint must be a sub-component of the timber.

Our board does not host photos, due to limited bandwidth and storage capacity. You need to post the photo elsewhere on the net, and then link to it here. I have my own web site, but others have been successful with photobucket. Search the forum and you'll find this has been described step-by-step. CB.