Having been hired into the timber framing comunity just after the Western Regional Conference, I missed the Clark Bremer workshop - and in need of help if I am to be using TF Rubies before the Conference in Cour d' Alene.
I can't get the mortices to show on the shop drawings. Any timber from the Example file prints just fine. And if I draw the mortices in it prints fine. -- Anyone have the time to help??
I have spent hoursssss on this.
Thanks
Klog

Are you working with components?

Hi Thanks for the response. I've tried so many things ... Let me extend a line of reasoning from your question. - Make each timber (with tenoned joints) a component and the recieving piece also; put them in the proper position; highlight both; edit components; perform an intersect; close component; and check it out? If not, what?
Thanks agaain
klog

Klog:

Sorry to be late in answering your question. I've been raising a frame the past 2 weeks (just a few days left).

I'll need more specific information to give you a specific answer. I can only give you this general advice:

- Your timbers must be components, and they must not be part of any other component or group.

- Your joints (tennons) must be sub components of a timber component.

- When you create a joint, you must set it to cut an opening, and you must set the cutting plane to be the plane where it will intersect with the mortised timber.

- After you have created a joint component, you must right click on it, and select "TF Create Joint".

Hope that helps. CB.

Thanks I'll get to work on it soon. You'll hear the "Eueka" from MN. ...

Clark
Thank you. It took a while to get it, but I think I have that part now. And in simple drawings - 2 or 3 timbers - the shop drawings have the mortices showing; but in several more complex drawings - more timbers and operations - I have been stymied in the shop drawings by an error "unable to determine the parent entity", and when I return to the main file, everything is highlighted (selected). Is this what "rename component instance" is used to prevent? And I don't get "create peg" yet either; hasn't made any sense in the instances when it is highlighted. Lastly, usually in the shop drawings of the vertical elements they get piled on top of each other and the N<S<E<W< symbols are really screwed up. As some other thread asked, "Where is NSEW in Sketchup"?
Clark, If I am stepping on proprietary toes "workshop toes" here please let me know. If so we will make other arrangements for the "lesson".
Thanks

K:

That error message usually comes from not having the component hierarchy correct:

- Your timbers must be components, and they must not be part of any other component or group.

- Your joints (tenons) must be sub components of a timber component. They cannot grouped in any other way.

If you want to send me the skippy (.skp) file, I can take a look at it, and see what's going on.

Rename component instance is something else. That's a tool I wrote to quickly give each timber it's own name, even if they are the same instance of a given component definition. This name will show up on the shop drawings, and on the timber list.

You can turn off the NSEW tags in you don't like them. Under plugins, TF Rubies, Configure, turn of the directional labels on shop drawings. Or, when you are in the shop drawings adding dimensions, just delete or move the ones you don't like. For the TF Rubies, north is the positive red axis.

I'll continue helping here, but private lessons, or a seminar are a lot faster for both of us :-) CB.

Clark
Thank you for the very quick response. I think I made the grouping mistake in those earlier files. I'm going to continue on with my - so far - successful three-timber drawing and keep to the rules and make it more complex. If I don't run into the problem, great,; I'll call it success by any name.
If I need still to continue this instruction, we'll make arrangements by telephone or email for private lessons.
Thanks again for creating the rubies - probably the biggest boon to the timber framing industry in many years.
Klog

K: I forgot to answer your question about pegs. Technically, TF Create Peg will work on any face, but what you really want to do is create a small circle inside the joint component (usually on the cheek of a tenon) and then right click it, and select TF Create Peg. Also, make sure you have the latest version of the rubies, which is 1.11 (use plugins | TF Rubies | About to check). If not, download the latest version here . CB.