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Woodworking Project Plans

woodworking plansDo you use plans when you build?  Do you need plans before you start a build?  I’m not really talking about a design that has materialized from your own head but really when you see a piece you want to build somewhere and decide to recreate it.

As a shameless, unabashed, and probably narcissistic woodworking podcaster/blogger (we need a fusion word for that like podgler or blogcaster) I get asked a lot for plan details of something I built.  My initial reaction is,

“Really?  I just shared a picture of it, isn’t that enough?”

Of course I would never say this out loud (cough, cough, you just did) because it is a jerky thing to say and that kind of attitude would turn people off to our craft.  I run an online woodworking school so there is no question too trivial and I always need to assume nothing when I answer a question.

But I have to admit, I struggle with this plan topic.  I don’t use plans, and find they get in the way.  I know I’m not the only one who reproduces furniture from an image whether physical or a mental picture.  To me this process is part of the fun of a new project.  Is it unusual?  Am I in a minority?

Is being able to work off something in your head or a photograph a learned trait that comes with experience or is it some kind of ingrained learning process like how some people learn aurally and some learn visually?

When I think back to when I started woodworking, I remember having a lot of questions about how one part was joined to the other, but through observation I was able to figure it out and visualize how the project goes together.  I bought some plans early on only to find myself deviating from them time and again until I just didn’t bother any more.  This leads me to believe that it is an experiential thing that can be taught.  So the question is, does it need to be taught?  I don’t see anything wrong with building from a plan as long as the woodworker understands why a certain joint was used and could make changes to the plan without compromising strength and durability.  My fear for the woodworker who NEEDS the plan is that they are building by rote.

This stretcher needs to be 5″ from the bottom of the leg and MUST be 3″ wide with a 1″ tenon and two pegs.

Why not lower the stretcher and what if you don’t want to peg the tenon?  Will you be able to make compromises and adjustments when your creativity, stock limitations, etc urge you to do so?

Queen Anne Side Table

I built this table when I saw one like in a museum. I couldn't measure it but fit it to my available stock and space in my house.

These days my plans are often a series of notes to remind myself not to screw up.  Usually those are ignored and I screw up anyway but that is beside the point.  I have forced myself to learn how to cobble something together in SketchUp because I found my Hand Tool School members wanted something to work with.  Still I begrudgingly add in details and focus mainly on getting the shape and size right.  In one lesson I was obstinate and spent time showing how to create templates directly from a photograph.  Still I had people asking me for a SketchUp drawing.  Hey, no worries I’m here to serve and will obligingly provide whatever someone needs to move them forward in their woodworking.  But at what point does that woodworker decide they no longer need a plan and just decides to built something they saw?

As a psuedo woodworking teacher I would love to learn how to instill this skill.  How can we divorce our thinking from drawings and measurements and rely upon all the parts of our knowledge to assemble a piece.  When you see a table you have not idea whether the stretchers are joined to the legs by mortise and tenon, sliding dovetail, screws, Dominos, etc.  Do we NEED to know that to build it?  You don’t know how the top was joined to the apron.  Does that prevent you from building it?  Most of all you don’t know how tall it is or how wide the aprons are.  Isn’t this why we became woodworkers in the first place: to build custom pieces that fit our needs exactly?

OK I’m quickly descending into a rant and I don’t want this to be the tone.  I really want to hear from you lovely readers about your own process.  There is never a right or wrong in woodworking, just a different view.

So if you rely on plans, why is this?  Do you take licenses?  What information do you feel you are missing if you don’t have a plan?

If you don’t use plans, do you find a time when you wish you had one?  How do you start your build process?  Has a lack of plan ever been a fatal flaw?

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Michael Stenner

When my wife makes dinner, she looks around the kitchen, grabs a few ingredients, and whips up something awesome. She’s CREATIVE. When I cook dinner, I follow a recipe. I don’t have the skill/experience/confidence to design a meal. I think it’s the same thing with woodworking. In the early days, it’s good to have plans as a safety net. You know this plan isn’t horrible, so if you just do what it says, it’ll be fine. I agree that it’s important to move away from that, but it requires knowledge and experience. Tweaking that tenon width is a lot like tweaking your bread recipe…. it could end in disaster, and you need to work your way up to that.

I rarely look at plans any more (in fact, I avoid them because I feel they suck me into a design rut), but if I’m doing something new (building a knockdown bed), I’ll check a few out just to make sure I don’t do something horribly stupid.

jason young

My design process usually starts with a google image search for ideas. When I amass a series of photos of pieces I like, I’ll try to break down the elements of each one that I like then try to come up with my own design on a sketch pad. Once I have something I like, I start drawing in in cad in 2D. I’m pretty proficient in CAD so I can make changes very quickly. Once I like the proportions in CAD I start a sketchup model and model the whole piece including the joinery. I like doing this so I can see any conflicts in the joinery before committing to wood. It also helps me to visualize the piece so I can see if the proportions still look good. Curiously, I’ve never built a scale model of the piece before hand, I simply take a tape measure and try to visualize how the piece will fit in the space. I keep telling myself I should build a model but so far I’ve yet to be disappointed using my methodology. Once I have the skecthup model built, I’ll usually print off the overall dimensions just to get started and then use relative dimensioning once I’m building. I’ll occasionally refer back to the model for tenon lengths etc. but I don’t build every piece from the model.

Dave Barrera

I agree with the above post. I think the ability to work without a plan is something that can come with experience, and now if I see a plan, I will most likely deviate from it for whatever reason (using a different joinery technique or desired aesthetic). However, one skill where I find myself lacking, is design and the development of proportions. This is one area where I like plans. While I may not follow them exactly, they at least give me a quick sense of dimension and if I want to make it larger or smaller, I can do so in the right proportions. I think once I have a better sense of the design aspect of the craft, I may stop looking at plans and make furniture based on what I’ve seen or what’s in my head.

Jonathan Szczepanski

Shannon –

I use plans and I don’t. I use rough plans to come up with a design to show a client, especially if there is a specific limiting factor in what they would need (e.g. It needs to fit this niche, I want this art for the panel, I want to be able to sit so that my elbows hit it just so, etc.). From that I can extrapolate the pieces that I need as I make them.

The other thing I use “plans” for is knowing the the process of construction – when do I make the mortice, can I make rabbet before or after the frame is complete, is it better to cut the curve before of after I make the mortice. So I find a rough plan helpful in strategizing my process, versus the dimensions I need to cut the pieces.

Jonathan
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Joe

While I may view plans, exploded drawings and sketchup, of a proposed projects, when I have something that I need to build I go from my head. I am trying to transition to using story sticks to avoid errors, but I often just have it all in my head with no sketch. I am not suggesting this for anyone.

For others I think there is a learning curve to the abstract seeing an image or piece of furniture and knowing where to add for a rail, or a gap. My girlfriend has never been able to visualize any project and has no ability to imagine what I am trying to describe to her, however simple i think it is. She needs pictures and drawings. In my previous career I spent a lot of time looking at house blueprints and can visualize the building from the plans & elevations. I don’t know what the answer is but I beleive that even for those who so not already think that way they can learn to see it. I had to for work. For a hobby, how do you get forced out of your comfort zone? I don’t have an answer. I expands your ability to build what fits, or what you want.

Beth Perry

SketchUp is my best friend when starting to visualize a new project. I draw it up as precisely as I can, including the joinery. I’ll start with a mental image of the direction that I want to go within the size and function parameters needed and then just start creating. If I’ve been careful, I can then use the measurements of each component piece to create my cut list.

Paul Ray

I think its a whole mindset. The more you micrometer things the more you need plans. My latest project. A set of nightstands was a sketch in a notebook, a reference to find the general dimensions. Those dimensions were transferred to a story stick. I let everything else fall in place.

Kelton

I usually start off by making a rough plan on graph paper to get the proportions accurate, and the joinery figured out. As I proceed in my project I will find things that I never thought about and I’ll go with it. I recently had a design change on the nightstand I’m working on and I had no troubles deviating from my original plan. I plan that my plan will never come out the same and I’m fine with that, in fact I’m happy that it didn’t come out the same, because that means I came up with something even better.
Kelton Goold
gooldworkshop.blogspot.com

Matt Gradwohl

Prototypes help you work out the tricky details, even if you have a plan.

Tonight on woodchat we’ll be discussing “Learning Design and Prototyping to Increase Confidence and Success” Watch what Rob Bois did here http://bit.ly/yeSV9G and be ready to discuss elements of design, 3D tools like sketchup, or foam and glue prototyping.

If you are interested in joining #woodchat tonight, we’d love to have you. Just login to http://tweetchat.com/room/woodchat with your twitter account at 6pm Pacific/9pm Eastern time and join the conversation.

Jamie Bacon

I’m so glad you blogged about this. I’ve been wanting to do it myself for a while now. I’m a look at a picture, sketch it out with dimensions that fit my needs and look proportionate, and then build it kinda guy. I used to get so frustrated when, for example, Chris Schwarz would post a picture of something he built, something as simple as a 3 or 4 board shelf for the shop, and people would immediately start asking if a sketch up model was available. REALLY?! Are we so lazy or unimaginative that we can’t figure this out without step by step instructions and measurements? Take a look at it, guesstimate some measurements and build the darn thing! You can even CHANGE it to suit YOUR needs. Feel free. Use your imagination. Come on people. Let’s not turn into drones that all crank out the same exact thing because that’s what sketch up tells us to do. Let’s be original. It’ll make for a more interesting world.