SketchUp Make Tutorial: custom coin

Overview

In this tutorial, you will use Google's free 3D modeling software SketchUp Make to create a coin with your own custom text. You will then export it to STL format, readable by MHC's 3D printer. 

Steps

• 1. First, open SketchUp Make and click Start using SketchUp to create a new SketchUp file.

• 1. By default, the figure of a man will be included in your sketch to give you some idea of scale. However, we just want to get a feel for the software (and our 3D printer will scale automatically). Choose the Selection tool from the left side of the toolbar. 

• 1. Drag a rectangle that includes the figure of the man. 

• 1. Hover your mouse over the intersection of the (faint) blue, green and red axes to find the Origin of the design; a label will appear when you are in the right place.

• 1. Click and drag to create a circle centered at the origin; the radius doesn't matter too much, as we will scale at the end.

• 1. Now select the Push/Pull tool from the menu bar.

• 1. Click the circle; the whole interior should be highlighted with a dark blue. 

• 1. This will pop up a dialog that allows you to input your text and desired text height (default is 1"). Make sure that the Filled and Extruded boxes are checked. The rest of the default settings may be okay for you, so try typing your desired text and clicking the Place button. If you need to, click the Fonts button to edit more settings (including the width of the text).

  2. Important: If you are building a model that will become a chocolate mold, pick a font that has weight to it (e.g., Bauhaus 93). If you have thin lines, your chocolate will probably get stuck in the mold there. You can also try playing with some of the fonts that have symbols instead of letters; this page has a nice chart of wingdings characters (webdings does not appear to work with SketchUp).

• 1. You may wish to scale and move your text after placing it. To do so, click the Select tool from the toolbar, then click your text. It will be highlighted in a blue rectangle.

• 1. Once you've selected your text, look for the Scale tool from the toolbar.

• 1. After clicking the Scale tool, you will see green handles appear around your text. To play with the scale, click one of the handles; the upper right will scale proportionally.

• 1. You will notice the selected handle turn red (along with a matching complimentary handle).

• 1. As you move your mouse, you will see your text change size. 

• 1. When you are happy with it, click again to finalize the scaling. You will see the handles return to green.

• 1. A dialog will pop up -- be sure to uncheck the Export selected geometry only box!

• 1. Don't forget to save all your work!

Sample files below