Making a Sphere

[Spacehonkey]

How to make a seamless sphere at any size.

First I'll show you what will happen when you try to make a sphere that is to small. For some reason in SketchUp whenever you try to make small spheres it doesn't turn out that great. In my example I tried to make a 3/16" radius sphere. I will assume that everyone knows how to use the Tape Measure, Circle and Arc tools. So use these tools to get something similar to the picture below.

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j189/spacehonkey/Computer%20Mod/SketchUp%20Tutorial/smallsphere1.jpg

Now select the circle outline (not the surface face) then use the Follow Me tool, located in the Tools tab, then select the surface of the arc that you made. Now since the size of the circle is so small you will not get a complete sphere. Instead you will get something like this.

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j189/spacehonkey/Computer%20Mod/SketchUp%20Tutorial/smallsphere2.jpg

Now this is an easy fix. Instead of making a 3/16" radius sphere to begin with make one with a 1/2" or larger instead and then follow the same steps as above and then scale it down to the size you want.

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j189/spacehonkey/Computer%20Mod/SketchUp%20Tutorial/largesphere1.jpg

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j189/spacehonkey/Computer%20Mod/SketchUp%20Tutorial/largesphere2.jpg

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j189/spacehonkey/Computer%20Mod/SketchUp%20Tutorial/smallsphere3.jpg

Now in order to make the other half of the sphere all you need to do is copy and paste the original then flip the copy 180 degrees.

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j189/spacehonkey/Computer%20Mod/SketchUp%20Tutorial/2halfsphere1.jpg

Now select the bottom half and move it the top portion.

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j189/spacehonkey/Computer%20Mod/SketchUp%20Tutorial/2halfsphere2.jpg

Now select both the top and bottom pieces and group them together. Then right click on the group and select Soften/Smooth Edges adjust the Soft Edges scale to your desired degree and that's it. You now have a seamless sphere that you can scale up or down to whatever size you want.

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j189/spacehonkey/Computer%20Mod/SketchUp%20Tutorial/2halfsphere3.jpg