Caution with Purchased Furniture Plans

[Steve B Anderson]

This is only my second project to build and both were from purchased plans.

I like to draw up blue prints of every part in sketchup before starting the build (old machinist habit).

This helps me get a full understanding on each part, its dimensions, purpose and location.

 

And I am now adding another important reason for this doing and that is to check for errors.

I have found errors in both of these plans that would have caused real problems.

So I just wanted to throw this out there for any beginning woodworkers like myself that are using purchased plans.

 

Put in the time to study and check sizes, recalculate locations and spacing of components.

If I would have followed the plans of this Mission Night Stand there would have been an 3/16” gap between the bottom drawer and the lower front rail.

 

 

[Bob Lang]

Just curious, do you have any gap at the top or in between the two drawers? In any case, double-checking published plans is always a good idea before you build. It's really easy to make an error when dimensioning a drawing, especially if you're trying to include gaps between finished parts.

I always lay out the dimensions full size on a piece of wood before cutting, even if I'm working from my own drawing.

Bob Lang

[Steve B Anderson]

Hi Bob, 

Yes, there are 1/16" gaps between the drawer faces. I think they just had a typo on the plan of 7 7/16 instead of 7 5/16. On the previous plan I built the slots in the rails and stretchers for the panels were going to interfere with the tenons. Not a huge problem but this was not shown in the plans.

[Chet]

Not that it matters or changes anything but were both sets of plans from the same source.

[Guest]

I use plans as a way to get general dimensions and proportions, but never expect, nor need, them to be perfect.

Even if the plan is perfect, wood is an imperfect medium.  You could order 30% extra BF and still not have enough material to build a plan to perfect spec after cutting around defects and finding nice grain matches.  Often times the decision is "Should I Buy another board, or make this part 1/2" smaller and adjust everything else?".  It is just the nature of working with natural materials.

 

[Steve B Anderson]

1 hour ago, Chet K said:

Not that it matters or changes anything but were both sets of plans from the same source.

Two different sources. Fine Wood Working and Wood Plans online.

[Steve B Anderson]

33 minutes ago, Mike. said:

I use plans as a way to get general dimensions and proportions, but never expect, nor need, them to be perfect.

Even if the plan is perfect, wood is an imperfect medium.  You could order 30% extra BF and still not have enough material to build a plan to perfect spec after cutting around defects and finding nice grain matches.  Often times the decision is "Should I Buy another board, or make this part 1/2" smaller and adjust everything else?".  It is just the nature of working with natural materials.

 

I'm using plans now to build my skill level. Hope to be in the self designing club before too long. I do plan on modifying this night stand design to closer match a table I have on the chalk board.

[Doomwolf]

FWIW, this is not unique to woodworking. My Mom has taught quilting locally, and is pretty sure that the only way people who sell books of quilt plans can make an affordable product is to not take the time to proofread anything.

[Eric.]

Yep I'm with Mike.  I start with a rough sketch (and when I say sketch, I mean sketch...pencil and graph paper, baby) and figure out the overall dimensions, use the tape measure to cut the first few parts, then put the tape away (in a manner of speaking).  I never ever rely solely on numbers...which is the main reason I think the imperial vs. metric debate is so stupid.  I don't find numbers that important in my work.

[davewyo]

2 hours ago, Doomwolf said:

is pretty sure that the only way people who sell books of quilt plans can make an affordable product is to not take the time to proofread anything.

Every author I've spoken with says that they painstakingly pour over every word numerous times. They get their friends and spouses to take a look too. And when the book is printed there are inevitably mistakes. You either miss something glaringly obvious, or it gets messed up at the printer's shop.  Careful footnotes and finicky details (like fractions) are particularly insidious.

[Chet]

3 minutes ago, davewyo said:

Every author I've spoken with says that they painstakingly pour over every word numerous times. They get their friends and spouses to take a look too. And when the book is printed there are inevitably mistakes. You either miss something glaringly obvious, or it gets messed up at the printer's shop.  Careful footnotes and finicky details (like fractions) are particularly insidious.

Yes, it does happen.  I have a small awards & engraving business and no matter how many triple checks of my double checks I do, mistakes still happen and have to be re-done.

[Eric.]

I find nothing more disappointing than typos in books.  Taints the whole thing.  Makes me feel like the author has no credibility, even though it's probably not their fault sometimes.  That said, if I were ever to write and publish a book, I would personally make damn sure that every word in that thing is correct if I'm gonna put my name on it and expect people to pay money for it.

[Steve B Anderson]

Mistakes are going to happen when humans are involved. I have been in manufacturing all of my life and see it everyday in the shop.  

[Steve B Anderson]

Hell, Once I thought I was wrong . . . but I was mistaken  

[sheperd80]

Yep I'm with Mike.  I start with a rough sketch (and when I say sketch, I mean sketch...pencil and graph paper, baby) and figure out the overall dimensions, use the tape measure to cut the first few parts, then put the tape away (in a manner of speaking).  I never ever rely solely on numbers...which is the main reason I think the imperial vs. metric debate is so stupid.  I don't find numbers that important in my work.

 

This^

 

I dont build from other peoples plans, but if i did i would never just start cutting stuff to the listed dimensions. Especially not drawer fronts!

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

 

[Ronn W]

I designed, drew and checked drawings for my entire career - structural plans for buildlings.  I don't think that I have ever seen a set fo drawings that were perfect.  Granted a building is more complex than a piece of furniture but.....you get the idea.  Yea, it's humans doing the drawings and the checking and the buillding.

I usualliy do a detailed drawing of my projects first but,,,,,,,,,,,,,

On 6/16/2017 at 5:32 PM, Eric. said:

Yep I'm with Mike.  I start with a rough sketch (and when I say sketch, I mean sketch...pencil and graph paper, baby) and figure out the overall dimensions, use the tape measure to cut the first few parts, then put the tape away (in a manner of speaking).  I never ever rely solely on numbers...

I should try a piece without doing a detailed drawing first... I might learn something.

[Rapid Roger]

True story.

Back in 1970 or '71 I was a draftsman for a small firm and we got the job of detailing the structural steel for a large shopping mall in another city. We used the engineers drawings to detail each and every beam and column of a two story building with a mezzanine.

We had been working on these drawings for two or three months and sending our detailed drawings directly to the steel  fabricator who would ship the parts directly to the job site as they were finished.

I was detailing some of the last beams and columns at the mezzanine level when it suddenly occurred to me that there was no provision for a stairway or elevator to get to that floor! There wasn't even a way to get to the second floor from the first either!!

When I reported my findings to the boss, he called the engineer about the problem and they said........ "Yea, we just noticed that ourselves yesterday."

 

POO-POO OCCURS.