Since this thing is going to be basically a piece of furniture, why not construct it out of wood. Makes for probably a thicker frame construction and possibly some diagonal bracing, but in the end it would be cheaper, easier to build and probably look nicer. It would also make it easier to customize the seat attachment.

Nick, my Computer Science degree focused on Virtual Reality and computer animation... I'm not exactly "new" to 3D modeling:

http://www.seccs.org/members/sperry/...ges/road01.jpg
http://www.seccs.org/members/sperry/vecs/

http://www.seccs.org/members/sperry/...ty_400x303.jpg
http://www.seccs.org/members/sperry/hfly/

Anyway, the design would use like 1/16" thick 1" mild steel tube, so I'd be able to weld it as easily as possible. The table tops would be high-density laminated particle board.

I've been thinking about sleeving the main frame at the mid-point so the whole thing can be broken into two parts for transportation. But, I'm not sure it's necessary. With the table tops off (they'd be removable) and the seat removed, it's only 6'x2'x18"... not all that big. However, it will be heavy... hence the wheels to allow you to roll it around. But the weight is what makes it stable. I want this thing to be rock solid... the whole reason I'm building it is because I hate having a rolling desk chair and wobbly table for the wheel.

This will definitely give you front/back stability, but how much lateral do you want / need? I wander if some sort of outrigger on either side might be in order. Guess it depends on if you lean into the turns.

I think 18" wide should be pretty stable... that's as wide as my desk chair, and it's got a much higher center of gravity.

Yeah, Sketchup rawks! Best freeware I've ever used. Phenolic intake manifold spacer:

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/197...espacerdj4.jpg

Yes it is very cool. I use it everyday. I love how you can get freehand effects on it.

Thats pretty. Too bad I don't have that program on my work computer.

Just put it on. It doesn't take up much space at all and you can get the free version before you decide to invest.

We have the pro version here, but for some reason I have the only computer without it. However, my computer is the only one here with Architectural Desktop on it.

.065" steel tubing is a good idea, but I dunno about using 1"x1" for the main frame rails. That's kind of flexy for that length. Maybe 1"wide x 2" tall... at least for the main rails? I also doubt it's going to be that heavy - 1" x 2" x .065" tubing is only 1.27 lbs/ft.

On a side note, this sketchup proggy is sweet!

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehou...d6136cf63d55b2

I think we might need a sketchup thread.

is that the new memorial for the twin towers or a cool cell phone?

I'll say....................I wish I could say I did this but I can't. Thought it was appropriate.

I'm curious... do you think that took the pro version to make (the sandbox)? It seems damn near impossible to create complex curved surfaces... look at the "crotch" of my building in sketchup... I had to manually triangulate the surface, it looks like ass.

Yes. The sandbox tools make the complex curves very easy. When I get a topographic survey from an engineer with all the contour lines set at elevation, I simply load those into sketchup-highlight them and use the sandbox tool. It automatically triangulates between all the contour lines to make the 3-D mesh. They did a similar thing in making the car by drawing the countours of the car and using the sandbox tool to triangulate between them.

Crap, sounds like I need a copy of the pro version... the arches in my last drawing took about 3/4 of the entire time spent on that model, and they look like crap. I had the control lines for the arches in about 10 minutes... but it took another 2 hours to figure out how to make them solid.

Bah, if you're going to bother with real, detailed solid modeling, learn a real program like SolidWorks or Pro-E. That's something you could actually put on your resume if you wanted.

http://files.solidworks.com/casestud.../ap_racing.jpg

Those pesky license costs can be avoided with a few scans through BitTorrent sites...

Yeah, thanks for pointin' that out, Cap'n Obvious! ;) But a single user license for Solidworks is about $4k, if'n ya wanna be legal and all. And it's like 2.8gig. It's on my resume but I'm not gonna spend $4k, nor do I have a machine that can handle it.

Naw, I just want something I can F around with. SolidWorks and Pro-E would just be frustrating since all I want to do is play.

I have almost zero Pro-E experience so I can't really tell you about it, but I've used SW daily for about 3 years now. It's actually not difficult to learn, especially if you just want to mess around.

I've found Sketch-up to be way more advanced in its abilities over many $4,000 programs. I have 3dVis and it sucks compared to sketchup. I use it everyday and it amazes me with every aspect of the program - ease of use, small file size, realtime modeling and no crashing.

As far as putting it on your resume. If I had to choose to hire someone with skills in solid works or sketch-up, for me, hands down it is the sketchup abilities I would want. Since it was purchased by Google, they have added ray tracing, several plug-ins as well as direct import / export to Google Earth.

The next version will surely add even more features.

What industry are you in?

Sorry should have clarified that - Architecture.

Obviously a higher level of engineering detail may or may not require another software. I have found that the accuracy we get out of the 3d model in sketchup exceeds Autocad. This is mainly due to eliminating drafter interpretations that often happen in 2d drawings.

I was just curious; I've never seen any engineering/solid modeling jobs calling for Sketchup experience. And yeah, AutoCAD sucks. I'm glad I don't have to use that clumsy POS anymore.