So how many of ya don't....

[Mike Jones NM]

really plan out your projects?
Just about everything I do is done with no real plans.
I look at the material and form the plan in my head. About the only thing that goes down on paper is measurements.
I guess it helps that I seldom take custom orders. I build what I want/like and offer it for sale or just give it away to someone who has done me a favor or who I think can make use of it. I guess it helps that I don't do this (yet) for a living.
As an example I am currently making a set of doors. I have this mental picture in my mind of what I want. The total "plan" consists of the size they need to be.
I work with rough lumber so even the thickness tends to be rather random. I pick my material, plane it down smooth, measure the material and then plane all my boards to match the thinest I have avaliable in that batch.
Kind of strange I guess but most of the time it works out well. Though on occasson I do end up with some fancy firewood:D

[Bill Huber]

I am 180 degrees for you.....:D

I plan and plan, draw it out in Visio and play around with different ways of doing it and then plan some more.

Then I print out all my Visio plans and start the project and I still screw up ........

Some times I think I plan to much.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

I try to plan out as much as possible noting what kind of joints I'll be using and basic measurments. I hate surprises down the road.

[Bill Arnold]

Like Bill and Alan, I draw plans for nearly everything I build. The only exceptions might be a shop fixture or jig. I use Visio to draw the entire project so I can determine specific dimensions of various components and decide what type of joinery I'll use.

;)

[scott spencer]

The bigger and more critical the project is, the more likely I am to plan it well. I plan for about 1/2 of them. Planning takes longer over all, but saves head scratching time in the shop. Like you, looking at what stock I have available heavily influences what I end up doing. I usually deviate so far from the original plan that most of my drawings are used to show other people what I'm making. :D

I swear that choosing the boards is the most difficult part for me. It took some time to accumulate all that wood that's loaded in my racks...it's taken me longer to get to where I don't fret about using up a perfectly good piece of wood from my "stash"! :rolleyes: ...especially a nice board. Guess maybe I get too emotionally attached to my collection! :D Honestly though...most of my wood was acquired for free, and there's usually a story and an adventure associated with it. :)

[Doug Shepard]

I sketch at least the basic dimensions out and figure out what kind of joinery. That helps me figure out what I'm going to need for material. I still use 10 sq per inch graph paper a lot, but am trying to do more things using Sketchup instead. Really tricky things sometimes get a full size drawing done on ply or MDF so I can transfer marks directly from them.

[Matt Calder]

Mike,

As a statistician, I want to point out that you have a classic sampling bias problem. You are asking "how much planning do you do in your projects?" from a population of people who spend significant time reading about woodworking on their computers. Your average winging-it woodworker (of which I am one) probably is less likely to peruse these pages than someone who CADs and does mockups for a cutting board.

Matt

[Ron Blaise]

Then modify them to suit :D . I don't think I have ever had a project that I didn't decide to change something here or there. I find it saves a lot of grief to plan ahead though and any changes are usually minor.

[David Tiell]

I'm like you, Mike. I hardly ever use plans or draw things out. Yeah, it certainly makes the project more interesting and challenging, but I enjoy trying to solve the issues as they rear their heads.

[David G Baker]

When I was much younger I would spend hours at a drafting board planning out every project to the finest detail. One day I woke up to the fact that I could have finished most of my projects in less time than it took to draw it out so I now work from rough sketches unless it has to be submitted for a building permit. I still spend hours thinking about many projects prior to starting.
If I am trying to build something artistic I don't plan, I just let it happen. Sometimes it does, but more often than not it ends up on the scrap pile.

[Chuck Lenz]

I plan out just about all my projects, if I didn't I'd wished I did. I think this is the part that people don't understand when they ask you to make something for them. There can be alot of time spent on planing, going to the lumber yard and picking out lumber, and seting up tools before I even get a start on a project. I don't take requests for custom work anymore. It's not worth my time.

[Don Bullock]

My plans are all in my head. I don't draw them out. When I want to make something I look at the wood in my shop or the wood at the lumber yard and I see my finished product in the wood. While that picture may change as I get into the project it doesn't change much. Usually the only thing that I write down is some basic measurements, but even those may change as I work through the project.

I must add, however, that recently I have purchased some plans for some furniture I plan to build. I thought I'd try to see if that works for me, but I'm already making modifications to the plans in my mind based on the wood I have for those projects. I'll know more about whether the plans help me after I actually get started on those projects.

[Ken Glass]

I go both ways. Most of the time I see a drawing of a piece and just go for it with some layout for best material use and dimensions. . Then other times I will download a free or nearly free design I like, and build from there. I rarely pay for plans except in larger sets such as Bedroom outfits and complicated shapes and pieces. I guess I'm just too cheap. Occasionally I mess up, but usually its when I try to follow a actual plan.

[Art Mann]

My first job as a professional, I had a really good boss who taught me a lot. One of his favorite sayings was, " Always remember the five 'P"s. Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance". I have never forgotten that advice.

[Jim Becker]

I do not "over plan", but generally do some planning, even if it's just some scratches on a napkin. For many of the projects I'm now working on and will be working on for some time, I already have in my head what needs done. So I'll do some quick sketches, either on paper or in SketchUp! (go figure... :) ) to work out some of the more interesting things. I also make and work with story sticks which in itself reflects a good planning practice, at least relative to keeping things consistent.

Example...as I'm about done with the vanities, it's time to move on to the next cabinetry project for the addition which will be the cabinets for in the toilet room of the master bath. After I get the oil on the cherry vanities today, I'm going to take measurements off the actual rough structure to determine the size of my carcass boxes and start cutting components to build them. They will be stacked boxes so I don't have any one assembly that is large and hard to handle. Face frames will have final installation in situ once the room is rocked so I can scribe to the walls. The actual carcass boxes will be smaller than the space and be arranged so I can use normal Euro inset hinges rather than depending upon special face frame hardware. I will not need to do a lot of "figuring" in advance, but do need to plan enough to insure that the assembly fits in the room exactly as intended. You can see from this sketch what I'm shooting for in the end...

71968

This picture plus the field measurements and a small amount of figuring is all I really need to do this project.

[Raymond Fries]

I like to draw everything out just to make sure that I have thought it through. As others have said earlier, I do not like surprises.

Somehow the drawings help with making sure I do evereything in the correct order which helps save time. IMHO

[David DeCristoforo]

If I am building for a client, I plan and draw every detail of the project. I dimension everything down to the nub. I make samples of all of the details. Then I do detailed full scale layouts and build from them. Everything is approved by the client before any wood is cut. When I deliver the work, I don't want any surprises. I don't want to hear things like "Oh...is that what it's going to look like?" or "That's not finished is it?".

When I'm building for myself or "on spec", well that's a different story altogether. I often go into a project with only the most general idea of what I want to make. I love the "make it as you go" approach and much of my most "successful" work has been spawned by this "free form" process. Granted, this approach has yielded some "not so great" stuff but, for me, it really allows the creative juices to flow.

[Fred Voorhees]

I'll generally sketch up a good idea of what it is I would like to do and get the measurements down. I've rarely worked from plans.

[Bruce Page]

I’m with Bill Huber, if I’m building something substantial I’ll draw it up in AutoCAD - usually down to the smallest detail. I admire the people that can just “wing it” but I’m not one of them.

Here’s an example of my anal-ness..

I made a plunge base for my Bosch colt a couple of years ago. I’d still be working on it if I hadn’t made detailed drawings.

[Steve Clardy]

I do a pretty good job of some hen scratching on a sheet of paper ;)
[Or a board, whatever's handy]
Just a random size/heighth/width, etc. + some notes for details.


Then I build from there. I've never done a detailed drawing before I build.

[keith ouellette]

I have a lack of focus. :confused: I can see a project all planned out in my head one minute and then something else is there the next. Making a plan is agonizing for me (I'm talking headachs and somtimes blurred vision) as I am always loosing my focus and have to pour all my energy into the plan just to calculate my measurements. I really envy people that can just through things together in the blink of an eye. It has to be a simple project to be able to work plan free.

[Vic Damone]

I seem to get into trouble whether I do or I don't. I'm sure using some sort of software would help with the DOH! factor as opposed to my sketch planning but frankly the DOH! can be amusing.

On the other hand I DO read directions.

Vic

[Dan McGuire]

I am in the process of building a kitchen table. I told my wife I was going to do it, purchased the rough lumber stacked in the garage and she had the audacity to ask me what it was going to look like. I said I don't know, reasonably rectangular and about yea high. I finally sketched out a reasonable likeness on a scrap piece of plywood put some approximate dimensions down and got started. I am to the point of final sanding and should have it finished in the next couple of weeks. I know where I want to go and what the final product should look like, but if something does not go according to "plan" I get mad, so to keep the hobby light and enjoyable I don't use plans.

[Pat Germain]

I’m with Bill Huber, if I’m building something substantial I’ll draw it up in AutoCAD - usually down to the smallest detail. I admire the people that can just “wing it” but I’m not one of them.

Here’s an example of my anal-ness..

I made a plunge base for my Bosch colt a couple of years ago. I’d still be working on it if I hadn’t made detailed drawings.

Holy hand-crafting, Bruce! That plunge base is a work of art.

[Bruce Page]

Thanks Pat.
There are more pics here at the Creek. Google search: shop made plunge base and they should come up.

[Joe Jensen]

I never do plans. I play with proportions and sketch ideas. Then I work with the wood I have. I make so many errors, that if I used plans, I'd be cutting forever :cool:

[Al Willits]

Having not yet mastered sketch up or any of the other design programs, I look for plans that are close to what I want to build, and go with them, not the most creative, but it usually works.
I also rarely get though a project with out changing it slightly, whether from minor errors or just see something I thing I would like to change.

I have a couple that I've done from scratch, but there done with pencil and not the computer, but I'll try and keep them to scale at least, and they have been pretty basic projects, storage cabinets mostly....:)

Al....more of that learning curve

[Greg Cole]

I find ideas in the usual places and generally adapt the sample/idea to my (or the recipients) style and also change things to fit my construction techniques and skill set. LOML likes to toss around catalogs & magazines to help me with "ideas" for the next project but I am sick of Pottery Barn mag's.....
I do not make many sketches or plans for anything. I've tried to make a detailed sketch of a couple projects but I abandon them before I get 1/2 way done, so why bother and antagonize over abstracts. I select overall dimensions etc and will make detailed notes about joinery (mortise & tenon sizes etc...) and details but no sketches-plans per say. I deal with machinery, CAD drawings & layouts etc at work... not one to make my hobby emulate my employment :D .
I too hoard my lumber for periods of time before something pops up in my head as I stare at the piles of lumber. LOML asks "what I am going to make" with any lumber pile I bring home and I always have the same answer "I have no idea.... yet". Kinda like the 60 BF of 4/4 & 8/4 curly maple.... 100 bf of red elm..... 40 bf of spalted maple that's 10" wide......
And then there's this itch to buy a pile of QSWO I am trying to ignore :rolleyes: .

Greg

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Depends on the project.

Sometime all I need are some complex angles to be worked out first.