1. Art Deco Clock Lettered Key Fob
Difficulty
Time
Approximately 20–25 minutes
© ZigZag Education, 2013

2. The skills you will learn in this tutorial are:
Art Deco Clock
The skills you will learn in this tutorial are:
Drawing Circles.
Using the text tool.
Moving grouped objects.
Scaling objects.
© ZigZag Education, 2013

3. Art Deco Clock
After you have clicked on the Sketch-Up icon you must first select your template.
2. Select Template and choose Metric Millimeters-3D. We are using this template because we are doing a product design.
Therefore, on some versions of SketchUp you will need to select Product Design & Woodwork, Millimetres.
Note: It is often necessary to start a new file to use the new template.
Go to File then New.
© ZigZag Education, 2013

4. 3. Now select the Circle tool.
Art Deco Clock
3. Now select the Circle tool.
4. Using the mouse, click to start the centre of the circle where all the lines meet, the origin. Click to finish.
5. The circle is a random size. We need to specify the size we want. Type 15 and press Enter to make its radius 15mm or 30mm in diameter. The circle will disappear, this is because it is so small. However it is still there.
6. Zooming in:
If you place the cursor over the rectangle and roll the middle wheel it will zoom in (or out) at that particular point. Another way to do this is by clicking the zoom extents tool
© ZigZag Education, 2013

5. Art Deco Clock
After zooming in you can now draw another circle with a radius of 10mm. Remember to draw any size circle and type in 10 on the lower right dimensions bar.
8. We are going to draw a Polo Mint. Using the select tool, click on the centre of the circle then right click and select Erase.
Select Tool
© ZigZag Education, 2013

6. The Top Tool Bar, Useful Tools.
Art Deco Clock
The Top Tool Bar, Useful Tools.
Note: If you make a mistake whilst using Sketch-up you can just go to Edit Undo from the drop-down menu, or press the Alt and Backspace keys. This is a useful tool as you can continue until you are right back at the start of your drawing.
The Orbit tool changes the angle that you are viewing your design from. You can also use the middle wheel of your mouse, by holding it down.
The Pan tool allows you to grab and move your object around the screen.
You can also pan by pressing the Shift key and holding down the mouse's middle wheel.
© ZigZag Education, 2013

7. 9. This is how your drawing should look now.
Art Deco Clock
9. This is how your drawing should look now.
10. We are now going to use the Push/Pull tool to extrude the Polo Mint, making it 3 dimensional.
12. By clicking on the View tab we can select the Tool Palette and then the Large Tool Set. This will give us more options including Text.
11. Type 3 into the bottom space bar, to your Polo Mint some thickness . This is how your drawing should look.
© ZigZag Education, 2013

8. 13. Select the height and change this to 25mm. Extrude this to 6mm.
Art Deco Clock
13. Select the height and change this to 25mm. Extrude this to 6mm.
14. You also have the option of altering the font.
15. Using the Text tool you now need to write your initials. Do not press the Place key yet as we need to alter the sizes.
16. Click to place the text and put this close to the polo mint
17. You may find that the text is not placed flat. In which case jiggle the curser around until it is. You may have to Re-import the lettering.
© ZigZag Education, 2013

9. Art Deco Clock
18. Click to place the text.
20. It is important that the bottom of the text and the bottom of the Polo are flush together.
19. You can use the move tool to position the lettering in approximately the right place. We will go on to make final adjustments shortly.
22. Drag Handles should now appear which we can use to alter the size of the text.
21. We are now going to scale the text. Select the scale tool from the Large Tool Bar.
© ZigZag Education, 2013

10. 25. The next stage is to export the document as a DXF or STL file.
Art Deco Clock
23. Using both the Scale and Move tools you can now adjust the size of the lettering. Try not to go too small with the lettering as the printer will struggle with very fine detail.
24. You can have a go at adding a ring to the fob for the clip to go through.
25. The next stage is to export the document as a DXF or STL file.
© ZigZag Education, 2013

11. 27. Export the design in millimetres.
Art Deco Clock
26. The whole of the model now needs to be exported. You need to click the yes dialogue box to ensure that the whole design is exported.
27. Export the design in millimetres.
28. Using The design should be exported as an stl file, or stereo lithography file. In stl files circles are approximated into straight lines. This is why it can also be known as Standard Tessellation Language
© ZigZag Education, 2013

12. Converting an stl. File to a G. Code.
Art Deco Clock
Converting an stl. File to a G. Code.
10. After opening Replicator you will probably see a previous model there. By clicking on new and importing your saved stl file you will see your design imported onto the virtual 3D printer platen.
It is important to ensure that the model is placed on top of the platen and in the centre.
Click these.
10. Click the yes button to save the model in Replicator
© ZigZag Education, 2013

13. Art Deco Clock
10. Settings for the operation of the 3D printer can be made here. Tick the Right Hand extruder. No other changes are needed.
10. Settings for the operation of the 3D printer can be made here. Tick the Right Hand extruder. The accelerator dialogue box will open OK this.
10. The G Code filenow needs to be converted to an X3G file. Click this box and save to the SD card. Alternatively if the computer is connected it can be printed straight away.
© ZigZag Education, 2013