CJC5151 Posted May 31, 2011 Report Share Posted May 31, 2011 I always use some sort of a plan. Now adays it easy because I meet with a customer get an idea for their tastes and get a general dimention. I go home draw something up and present it to them. when they agree on it i follow my plan/design that the customer agreed on. When I first started I would follow plans from other woodworkers mor because I wanted to learn or practice a particualr technique. Sure i liked the end result also (or the wife did atleast) but I think there is alot of comfort in using a proven plan especially when trying a new technique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bois Posted June 1, 2011 Report Share Posted June 1, 2011 One thing I will say about doing your own designs is that it gets you far more engaged with the joinery methods, construction, assembly, etc. I've built from published plans in the past, but mostly do my own designs these days. Right now I'm working through some really thought provoking design decisions, and I have this chest of drawers so deeply understood in my mind at this point I could walk you through every step of how I'm going to construct and cut the joinery, exactly what order everything will get assembled, and how every component will be cut from the stock before I even get started. It's an incredibly enjoyable part of woodworking - all the little brain teasers, decisions, and trade-offs that you just don't experience with an existing plan. Working through your own designs forces you to completely understand the why, not just the how. I'm not going to fault someone that has no desire to do their own designs, but for me personally that would be depriving me of some of the most thought provoking, interesting, and challenging parts of the craft. I just posted my first episode of my video series on this current project, and already it has sparked an interesting dialog over the merits of having the tails on the top or the sides of a case piece, which I never would have even given much thought to had I been building this from a plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emccrory Posted June 2, 2011 Report Share Posted June 2, 2011 Well said! I treat magazine plans as the mentor I have never had. I can build a box or a "Shaker-style" table without much thought, but to get pretty details and "flair" requires experience--the experience that commercial plans can provide. The plans from magazines rarely fit the space I have, so I have to rework them anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mds2 Posted June 2, 2011 Report Share Posted June 2, 2011 As an extremely novice woodworker, I currently rely on plans quite a bit. Not really for how to design things, but how to construct them. I have a background in architecture and for the last 10 years I have been working for a software company that designs 3D modeling software. I don't have any problems conceptualizing how things will look. I have been studying many plans from magazines in an effort to solve problems that I will undoubtedly run into, even if they are for things that I wont build. My grandfather has been a woodworker for close to 75 years and I recently picked up the craft as a hobby. Every new project I start gets more and more of my touches and tweaks and vary further from the plans. But for now I feel I do need to use plans for the mere fact that I dont want to waste a ton of wood learning things a harder way than what I need to. Work smarter not harder. I only started into this about a month ago and it is something that I really enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samhell Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 I don't use plans for anything... maybe I should. I'll look at something and get a rough idea of what I want and change things in my head. I'll write down measurements and calculations but I don't remember ever using an actual plan to build anything. It kind of makes me feel like I'm ripping someone off for some reason... I would definitely use plans to build a house or whatever, but not small things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David L Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 If your just cutting a piece of wood 20 x 20 you wouldn't need a plan. If your building a box that is 12x12x12 by 1/2" with a 1/4" routered edge all around on each pc then it wouldn't hurt to grab a pencil and a pc of paper and write the sizes down. Depending on how you made it there would be 2 or 3 different cut sizes involved and by using a simple sketch it eliminates any confusion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joestyles Posted June 3, 2011 Report Share Posted June 3, 2011 This is a great discussion! It shows me that we all have an opinion on this subject. It has also helped me to identify something about the personal nature of my own approach to this craft. I have two distinct people in me when it comes to the shop. One is a very creative and artistic personality that thrives on free flowing idea and concepts is very visually oriented has an ability to conceive an idea and to try to place it into the real world in any manner that seems likely at the time. This free spirit is a bit dangerous at times and has had more than one close call while trying to bring a object d art into being. The other is a lot more pragmatic he does not do a lot of creative thinking in the artistic design sense what he does is try to figure out how to do it the best way his goals are to see things run efficiently and safely. He likes to have things set up and well planned even if he has to design the plan for the process. There is some conflict in this dichotomy it does not arise from the differences but from not acknowledging those differences and accommodating them. On the days when the planner stays at home I have more fun in the shop but get less done. I am more likely to do something dumb that day too. On the days when the free spirit stays home I get more done but not as much fun is had. I know the preceding may read a bit odd to some but the light bulb has gone on here because on the days when both of them show up to the shop and work together things are very dynamic. I am at my best when the free spirit and the pragmatist are in agreement. The free thinker can be very creative in designing processes and the pragmatist can help to shape and guide creation so as to make the creation more likely to become reality. The pragmatist in me loves those neatly laid out plans with detailed cutting lists and the step by step nature of such plans. My free spirit does not like the restrictions such plans tend to impose so compromise is in order. I realized that many times in the past these two have struggled with each other on these types of plans. Now that I know this is happening something else has happened. I don't fight it anymore. I use it to my advantage. Thanks for that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNehlsEnd Posted June 7, 2011 Report Share Posted June 7, 2011 I realize I may be a little late jumping on the wagon here and haven't read all the replies to your post. I to have been party to discussions on other forums. I won't say that I don't use plans, but do use them as a reference tool. Many times I have seen where the plans have had errors in them. Anymore I just tend to look at a picture and work from that. Those who consider plans the holy grail to woodworking, in my opinion miss the mark to the creativity and individuality of there own work. Not saying its right or wrong, just my view. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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