Modeling a Complete Project in Sketchup for Beginners Pt.1 - Sketchup for Woodworkers

This is part 1 of a 2 part series covering sketchup for woodworkers. We'll cover how to set up your workspace, how to build basic shapes, create components, and how to model a media console from scratch.

My Mouse (I guess it's discontinued. Here is the closest thing)

My more expensive Mouse that I use on my Desktop

CHAPTERS
00:00 - Introduction
02:26 - Setting Up the Workspace
03:58 - Creating Shapes & Navigating the Workspace
10:52 - BEGIN MODELING EXAMPLE PROJECT
12:42 - How To Use Components
14:59 - CONTINUE MODELING EXAMPLE PROJECT

[steveday]

Firstly I must add my thanks to Chris for a great resource. Thank you.

I too found the creation of two linked drawers at the 20:00 mark to be impossible for a while. But I finally cracked it. This is for Windows – maybe there’s a difference in assumptions on a Mac, but there are a couple of unstated steps that made the difference for me.
1) Draw the initial rectangle on the left cubby.
2) Give it thickness
3) Triple-click the face of it, and make it a component. Click outside the component to unselect it.
4) Double-click the drawer face to put the component in edit mode - now it will get a dotted “cage” around it.
5) Draw the dividing line from left edge to right edge of the front as Chris did.
6) Press P for the Push/Pull tool, click-and-hold on the lower-half, push it back as far as it will go (0.75 in this case), and let go of the mouse in whereupon the lower-half disappears. <SPACEBAR> to cancel the tool. Click outside the console to cancel edit mode.
7) Single-click on the upper-half, press M key, press <CTRL>, then move your pointer to the top left corner as Chris did, then click-hold-and-drag a copy of the top-half into the bottom-half. <SPACEBAR> to cancel the tool.
8) Now for the check at 20:55. Double-click on either half-drawer-front to put it into edit mode signified by the dotted cage. Press C for the circle tool, and draw on the front you had selected. As soon as you finish the first circle it appears on the other half-drawer-front. Success 😊 Don't forget to cancel the tool and edit-mode afterwards.

I hope this works for you as it eventually did for me. The key seems to be knowing when to be in edit-mode, and when not to be.

[timothydarmstrong]

Finally, someone explains this in a way I can understand. Thank you so much!

[rdsnapper]

So GOOD. Thank you. I have used sketchup for many larger, landscape scope projects. I thought it was enough to start modeling furniture, but I was wrong. Your video filled in the blanks. So grateful.

[Bespokespaces]

Thanks, Chris
I've been using Sketchup for three years now in my cabinet-making business and wish I'd seen your video back then! I get there in the end but the methods you use and in particular, the clear way you explain and demonstrate them is very helpful. This is a complicated subject for someone who is, in my situation, a cabinet maker but not very computer literate. I'm going to set aside time each week to study and practice the processes you demonstrate. So thank you.

[CastelliOnAir]

I'm using Sketchup from more then 10 years and you never stop learning. The / and * tools blows my mind! Thank you very much! 👍👍👍
(PS: I have sympathy for you who use the imperial system...there's a kind of masochism 🤣)

[MatthewEncina]

I’ve been wanting to learn this, (coming from other 3D software). Thanks for sharing this. you’re a great teacher!

[beck]

this is how every introductory tutorial should be, assuming the viewer knows absolutely nothing about the topic and skipping no steps even the ones that might look trivial. Well done!

[BLWoodworking]

Thanks so much for putting this tutorial together Foureyes! It’s extremely helpful, especially for someone that has struggled with Sketchup. Even better, so nice that you’ve geared this towards woodworkers. So many tutorials are for complex parts for machining, so it’s hard to apply to woodworking if you get lost at all in the process.

[reaganbryant]

I really appreciate you all for this video. I'm sure it doesn't perform well with the views and the clout, but it actually makes a HUGE difference. Thorough educational content like this is so beneficial, and though the metrics might not be favorable for you, it benefits those that are truly interested in the craft. Thank you again for your work and I'm excited for part 2.

[mistaben]

I'm a science teacher who left the building craft 25 years ago. Of course, I have a small shop and build furniture and sculptural things a lot. I can't tell you how many "how to" vids on SketchUp I've watched. And they never do what you did first thing: set up units and make something a set dimension! SketchUp for building furniture. YES! I've needed this tutorial for a long time and I'm so grateful for your content. Nice job Chris.

[infinitelyexhausted]

This was amazing, thanks. It would be *really* cool if you ultimately built what you're modelling now, showing how you use the model to define cut lists etc.

[niemakurwataklatwo]

Dude, you dont know how long we wait for IT, thanks from Poland ;)

[jmakes]

I'm not a beginner in Sketchup but if I was this is definitely the video I'd love to find; really clear, extremely well explained & I loved how each piece of knowledge built upon the last. Great job Chris!

[seankrake]

I’ve been using a ketchup for about 15 years. Some tips from someone who has a decent amount of experience:

Use components for things you will have multiples of, like table stretchers or legs, shelves, or panels. If you have one that needs to be different right click and make unique. It mill make a new identical component that can be edited without changing all the others.

Groups are nice to clump sets of components together.

Use the arrow keys to lock your lines to orthogonal directions. Up is blue, and left and right are red and green depending on how you look.

Don’t use ctrl+c ctrl+v to copy and paste. It doesn’t always use the point you want as the point you grab. Instead use move, press ctrl at any point before or during the move, and it will create a copy to move and leave the original. After placing you can type x2, x3, or any other number to make an array of several of that item. This is handy for making shelves and other repetitive things.

Using rotate and pressing ctrl you can do the same thing and make an angular array, which is helpful for copying things on a circular face, or making a circular pattern.

The auto grab points are handy, but be careful you pick the correct points. Sometimes it is better to use the arrow keys to lock your direction, and type the number to make sure you aren’t 3/64” off.

[donnygrahambuilds]

Dude - this is absolute GOLD. The number of hours/attempts I've made at trying to successfully fumble my way through SketchUp listening to some random guy with a terribly difficult accent showing me every single facet of SketchUp...nightmare. Super thankful to have something well presented, easy to follow, and catered toward someone like me who is just trying to improve the building process. Well done m'man!

[somethingblend]

I know you posted this video like 6 months ago and the likelihood that you'll see this is incredibly low, but I've wanted to learn this software for quite some time and it's been so daunting and intimidating to the point that I just kept putting it off and telling myself 'I'll do it later' and whatever else excuse came to mind. I just wanted to say thank you (which I don't feel does any justice) so insanely much. I've been a subscriber of yours for years now and I watch every single video you post. I've learned frankly an unfathomable amount from you and still am today. You've inspired me to take on projects that I absolutely never ever would have, and I'm still hoping to chase my own dream of building stuff for people for a living. I genuinely can't convey how much I appreciate all of your content and kindness and how thankful I am for how much you've helped me learn and grow.

Also, I'm proud to say that I've followed along with the entire part 1 video and my/your/our console looks amazing. I'm really pumped for part 2 (which has probably also been up for like 6 months. don't judge me.)

[therealwabbitamy]

This is everything I have been wanting! You said recently that you find yourself to be a great teacher, and I completely agree. Thank you for sharing your talents and experience with us!

[loukasdimitriou]

Couldn't believe my eyes when I saw you upload this video, thanks! I'm fairly new to the channel and I was amazed at the quality of modelling and illustrations you've been including in your videos, and I was hoping you'd share some insights. Great work Chris!

[timforgot]

This two part series is outstanding. Thanks for donating the considerable time and effort to make this available for folks.

[_tim]

OK wow. So way back in high school I learned how to model on a computer using AutoSketch, and back then being a 2D software package I had to draw absolutely every single line in my 3D models individually. There was no extrusion, no push pull button none of that, and I have been trying to model an entertainment unit in Sketchup by doing just that same method and taking forever while learning a new software. Drawing a box the total size and then forming a basic frame of the finished product has just blown my mind and sped my workflow up significantly. Amazing.