Modeling a Tapered Leg in SketchUp
Monday, May 1st, 2006As promised, here is a quick tutorial on how to model a tapered leg in SketchUp. First, start with a square the size of the leg. You don’t have to sketch the square to the exact size. After sketching it just type 1.25,1.25 and then hit ENTER. That will create a square that is 1.25″ on each side.
Second, using the Push/Pull tool, give the leg some length. Don’t make the leg the finished height. Instead, make it the length of the taper. For this example my taper is going to be 28.25″ long.
Third, using the Move/Copy tool, move the bottom edge of the leg in .625″. Be sure to stay snapped to the axis as shown.
Fourth, using the Move/Copy tool, move the adjacent bottom edge of the leg in .625″. Again, be sure to stay snapped to the axis as shown.
Finally, using the Push/Pull tool, increase the length of the top of the leg 5″. This creates a leg that is 33.25″ overall.
Now wasn’t that incredibly easy? Here is the finished leg. At this point you could add some mortises to the leg, but I’ll leave that to you. Happy sketching.
