Too much time spent designing. HELP

[Floyd Cox]

Am I the only one that does this?

I built a relatively simple toy chest for my grandson last Christmas, which probably took 6 – 8 hours to build, yet I sat at the computer for a good 20 hours off and on designing this. I think sometimes I postpone the actual project because am in a comfort zone at the computer, when in reality the projects are so stinking simple, sometimes I should just get started on them after an hour or two; if there is an actual need for designing something so simple in the first place.

[Myk Rian]

I rarely use a plan. I'll sit back and think about it as I go along.
The only real plan I did use was for my tool chest.

[Bruce Page]

I really admire people that can design & build on the fly. I’m not one of them, I design & draw out almost everything in AutoCAD.

[Steven Lee, NC]

I tried designing with sketchup once and it came out looking pretty good but I realized that my trying to get every detail right was a waste of time and I was spending way to much time in front of the pc instead of making sawdust. A few sketches on graph paper to get the look I want are all I do now and most things I do are proportional and if I want to add an extra length to something to reach an easy to measure value, ie 13/16 vs 1 I'll do so on the spot. I have yet to build anything that had to fit an exact measurement.

If I had a plotter that could print out life size templates to follow that would be another story but i don't.

[Dave Richards]

I design all my projects in SketchUp but I know when to stop with the details and go to the shop. Sometimes all I need are a few lines and basic dimensions. If you looked at those SketchUp models and the final project, you probably wouldn't recognize they are related. Some times I have to add more details and it's good that I do because I can work out the complexities before making the first mote of sawdust. I know a guy who also does a lot of design work for his projects using SketchUp. He really likes pocket screws and puts in every single screw he'll use in his SketchUp model. I always find that overkill but to each his own.

No matter what tool you use for designing projects, you have to know when to quit designing and go build.

[Joe Jensen]

Are you playing with proportions and how the product looks visually or with defining a parts list and doing the CAD work necessary to get there. I work in high tech and love computers. I originally thought that CAD would be ideal for me, but what I find is that it takes me longer to do the CAD work than to build the project. Before cheap CAD programs I used computer drawing programs to play with proportions. I'm a sketch the design and the approximate dimensions, and then start building. I adapts as I go. Say I'm making an end table with some amazing figured walnut that will be 18" wide. When I resaw the slab I end up with two pieces that will yield 17 3/4" not 18" I just adapt and build a slightly smaller table that is 17 3/4
wide.

[Harold Burrell]

I did a pretty extensive sketchup plan for a sideboard for my wife. Now that I am finally building it, I am finding that my plan had "flaws".

Oh, the measurements and all were okay. It just wasn't solid enough for my liking. It has some joinery issues...

[Jeff Duncan]

My thought is pretty simple and straightforward, the more time spent planning, the less time spent building.....or worse yet, re-building

good luck,
JeffD

[Sam Murdoch]

Simply put - you can build it twice (or 3 or 4 or 5 times depending on the complexity) in your head/paper/computer or twice (3,4,5 Xs) in the shop. I'd rather do the thinking and head scratching in advance - solve the hardware issues (so often neglected until the last minute) and proportions, for example, so that I can have fun while building. Do I find unresolved issues once I actually start to build? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, but usually if I need to make a change the project gets better as I upgrade or simplify from the benefit of the preplanning. That's a better route than needing to make corrections or having to accept crap because you didn't resolve proportions or hardware or other details ahead of time. I think .

[Art Mann]

If the piece is going to be complex, I will always do a near complete Sketchup model ahead of time. I like to see how a project is going to look before I build it. I also like to have the dimensions of the various parts before I start. Sometimes I get a little carried away with details but I enjoy designing things on computer and that is just part of the fun.

[Mike Cutler]

Floyd

I'd say you're doing it the better way. I envy your patience.
20 hours of design and 8 hours of build, or 8 hours of design and 20 hours of scratching your head and figuring it out on the fly. In the end the time would still be close.

[Dave Zellers]

For me everything gets drawn in 2D CAD and sometimes in SU. Lots of issues show up and are dealt with in the drawing phase. If sheet goods are involved, the pieces are carefully laid out for minimum waste.

A kitchen drawing has to be strictly adhered to but single items and the like usually undergo changes on the workbench. Part of the fun of creating things.

Sometimes however I will put a ton of effort into designing every last detail and lose some of the enthusiasm for building it because I feel like I already have.

[dan sherman]

I use Sketchup a lot, for two reasons. One, it lets me work out design concepts without wasting material. Two, it saves me a crap ton of money when I go to buy stock, because I take an oversize parts list with me.

[John TenEyck]

I'm pretty sure I save an hour in the shop for every hour I spend designing/drawing, at least for any project that takes more than a few hours to build. Everybody has their own process; I used to use pencil and paper, then AutoCad LT, now SketchUp. SketchUp is by far the best for me. It's easier for me to evaluate options and refine a design now, rather than accept something less optimal because it's too much effort to redraw it.

John

[Peter Quinn]

I prefer to design on the computer with Sketchup in most cases, however you do it I see design as a vital part of the process and not at all a waste of time. I will certainly simplify some of the details where appropriate, in other cases every detail gets drawn precisely. I recently built a french casement for myself, probably had 75 hours into the design process, maybe more, but not more than 25 hours total in the build. Double weather seals, had to fit an fairly tight rough opening, I would have been lost and sunk if I started designing that on the fly. Even a simple toy chest has to function, it has moving parts, safety concerns, proportions to consider, and it has to hold the toys! I know guys that have made uppers kitchen cabinets a bit too shallow to hold dinner plates…….built without a plan. You could do a full scale drawing on paper, story poles, scale mock ups, computer, long hand scale drawings. But it must be done. I suppose going into the shop and cutting a pile of wood up and designing on the fly has some intuitive appeal, a "Git er done" charm, but thats rarely the way fine work is accomplished. Thats more of a prototype brainstorm slam approach to me, I could't see committing fine hardwoods to that approach.