Warning Noob Question

OK, first I have NO experience with CAD. Second, I have a Mechanical Engineering background that is 5 decades old. Third, I am mostly interested in using SketchUp for the EASY layout of woodworking projects with various types and thicknesses of wood, with various styles of joinery (rabbits, dados, pocket holes, etc).
I say easy because I am looking for a sort of pick the material-size it to the project-put in the joinery and be done with it. So if I want to use a 2x4 I want to pick it off a list, have it modeled at the right dimensions (2x4 is 1.5 x3.5). If I want to put a dado in for a 1/4" (which is really .224") I want the software to handle it for me. OK, that sounds lazy I know but it is how I really want things to work.
Can SketchUp be set up this way? I am will to do the setup but I need to know that it can be done before investing the time and energy into it.
Thanks for putting up with a Noob question!!
GregDC

You can create components that you can save to insert for later use if that’s appropriate although it is not difficult to model the components as you go. Most of the furniture I model is more one-off stuff so I don’t use premade components for the wood parts. Adding details for joinery is straightforward and with the right work flow and tools, very easy. You’ll wish you could do the same in the shop with the real wood.

I have found I can use the processes I would go through in the shop as sort of a guide for the way I work in Sketchup while at the same time the modeling process informs the work flow in the shop. Something like the Greene and Greene-inspired bed is really quite easy once you’ve learned the basics.

Also, if you want to use very simple items like the 2x4 you mention, you could make it a Dynamic Component and just allow it to be altered in length (either by inputting a dimension or by stretching, say). The basic cross sectional dimensions would not change and if you added suitable textures, they would import with the DC each time.

As @DaveR has said, whether it is worth doing that rather than simply on the fly is for you to decide.

There’s a plugin on sketchucation plugin store that you may find helpful.

I helped Steve Baumgartner to design and program it (but he did all the hard bits!).

It’s customisable, so you can set up as many sizes as you want of standard softwood (1x2, 2x4, 2x6 etc) with either US/Canada or UK planing allowances, and any number of finished custom sizes. Three clicks to draw a piece of wood.

Wood Framing SketchUp Plugins | PluginStore | SketchUcation

Click on the blue [More info] button on that page for an introduction and instructions for use.

There are also a few plugins that could help you with drawing dovetails or other joints, but really, they are pretty straightforward to model with the native tools, and with the use of components for identical or mirror image parts.

Simon Bevan’s suggestion of Dynamic Components would also work, but DCs add a good deal to the bulk of your model.