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Sketchup Pergola (8): Modify the Detail at the End of a Beam

October 09, 2015

OMG, the Ogee is an angle!

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Another thing that can be done is to change the look of the beams in this Sketchup pergola.

The ogee ends can be changed to angles without too much work, which gives you options to show to your customers.

First, make a new beam to use as a template:
  • Select the beams, choose the move tool (M) and option drag them up 10 feet to give a set to work with.
  • Select three of the new beams and delete them.
  • Explode the remaining beam and make it a component.
  • Copy and move one of the vertical lines notching upward from the beam end. Move it 10 inches, so that it will be easy to move back later.
  • Copy and move the line again to the top of the beam.
  • Use the protractor to create a guide line to draw the angle (35 degrees in this case).
  • Create a guide line 20 inches in from the beam end
  • Slide the new geometry (the vertical and angles lines) over to the 20 in guide line.
  • Select the beam end and use the push/pull tool to delete the beam end.
  • Use the Push/Pull tool again to stretch the new beam end 20 inches back to the original length.

Now, copy the new end style to the other end of the beam
  • Copy the geometry at the end of the beam, slide it down to the opposite end.
  • While the geometry is still selected, use the scale tool to scale the beam end to its inverse shape.
  • Delete the curved geometry and move the angled end to the correct position.

Move the new beam into the pergola:
  • Move the beam down 10 feet. This places the new beam into the same position as the curved beam in the number 1 spot.
  • Copy the new beam (Option and move) into the number 2 spot, on the other side of the post.
  • Select the two new beams, copy, and move to the other set of posts.
  • Place the new beams on their own layer so that the two styles can be turned on and off.

You can do the same thing to all of the ceiling joists if you are so inclined …

—Matt Jackson is a master carpenter, remodeler, SketchUp Wiz, YouTuber, and contributing editor to ProTradeCraft. He lives and works in Rapid City, South Dakota.

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