Where do you get your plans?

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

I'm looking for a reliable source of plans. I'm willing to pay for them.

Specifically, I'm looking for a floating panel blanket chest that I'm going to build as a wedding present. Either a raised panel or flat.

I often get my plans from Rockler, though I'm not in love with their chest plans. I also sometimes get them from wood magazine.

But outside of these obvious sources I'm kind of at a loss. Web searches are a crap shoot.

I can probably design this one myself but I like to at least be able to reference a plan, more for the proportion of sizes of pieces than anything else.

So I'm just looking for recommendations for sources of free, or paid, plans.

 

Thanks in advance

[Chestnut]

I know a lot of people get plans from one of the wood working mags, i think it's fine wood working, Otherwise most of the stuff i do is from my own plans.

[Denette]

I usually just design it from scratch.  If I want a general sense of proportions, I'll look online at furniture for sale and its listed dimensions.

[treeslayer]

Design it your self, that way you’ve got the only one like it, that’s what I do 

[Art]

Lee Valley has some.  I've never used them, but they generally carry good stuff:

http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/page.aspx?p=46161&cat=1,46158

[pkinneb]

Typically I'll see something in a WW magazine or online and adjust to fit my needs. Although I need to step out side the comfort zone one of these days and design something myself...

[wtnhighlander]

Then there is Marc's blanket chest project, in the guild.

https://thewoodwhispererguild.com/product/gg-blanket-chest/

Not frame and panel, but good proportions.

[Tom King]

Having plans, and a cut list of parts would be a great convenience.  Unfortunately, I've never found any for anything that I could use, and spent way more time looking for plans than I have making some. 

That was in 1973, when I was looking for plans.  I had decided to build a house to see if I could sell one, and make any money.  The trouble with waterfront houses is that they have two fronts-a road front, and a waterfront.  I spent days, and maybe even weeks looking over plan books, and never found the first one that had a back that looked like a front.

Since then, I've built many cabinets, and some pieces of furniture, and always just drew some rough plans, and figured out parts as the job went along.   These days, if I draw something that I'm going to build, it's drawn to some large scale, often just on brown builders paper with rulers, pencil, and dividers on the outfeed table to the tablesaw.  

Proportions are important, and the first ratios I try are 1:6, and 1:5, and often some multiple of that-things like rail, and stile width relative to overall, and tapers on raised panels, and such.

[Chet]

I have used Fine Woodworkings plans and they are decent, But sometimes I was puzzled with what they were thinking.  I have used Rockler's once and didn't care for then at all.  

I think Marc's in the guild are excellent and come with the added benefit of the videos.  But most of the time I just sketch something out on paper with dimensions and create a cut list from that kind of as I go with the drawing.

[Martin-IT]

http://www.woodsmith.com/ has excellent plan, I build my first piece using their plan. They are very detailed and also, includes extra info about technique specific for the project.  If you do not want to subscribe, especially if you are looking for a specific project, they do sell them individually.

 

 

 

 

[sjeff70]

I like books which over time drew me to my favorite periods and cabinet makers.  You get so much from books.  Go to Amazon.com and search 'period furniture measured drawings' or something to that effect.  Buy used and get deep discounts. 

I know there's a Pennsylvania Dutch Chest in Bill Hylton's, 'Chest of Drawers'.  There's also a few in Lang's, 'Furniture in the Southern Style'.

 

[Immortan D]

I bought a plan for chair once. Still sitting on it.

[..Kev]

1 minute ago, Immortan D said:

I bought a plan for chair once. Still sitting on it.

The plans or the chair?

 

[Immortan D]

1 minute ago, ..Kev said:

The plans or the chair?

 

The plans

[gee-dub]

I too do my own but, Woodsmith has some of the best and most reliable detail in the plans I see in their mags.  finewoodworking is probably second with Wood Mag having corrections in the following issue on a regular basis.  Not much help when the mag only comes out 6 times a year.

[Coop]

On 5/12/2019 at 10:42 AM, wtnhighlander said:

Then there is Marc's blanket chest project, in the guild.

https://thewoodwhispererguild.com/product/gg-blanket-chest/

Not frame and panel, but good proportions.

+1

[JohnDi]

I built Norms. I think I still have the plans if you would like them.

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

That would be great, @JohnDi. Thank you! I'll D

2 hours ago, JohnDi said:

I built Norms. I think I still have the plans if you would like them.

M you my email address

[Ronn W]

I have a strange take on this.    I like to desing my own.  I often used photos that I find on-line as inspiraton and then draw my own design, but have never purchased any plans. Now,  I am wanting to build a Pechovich inspired wall cabinet but found that my final design is so much like his (he has such a great sense of design) that I feel like I have cheated somehow.   Maybe I wil put his intials on the bottom along with my signature.???