Do You Create Your Own Plans or Do You Have a Quality Source For Them?

[Ronald Blue]

Back Story, granddaughter wants me to build a glass top makeup desk. I've found some simple ones that are like that. But they only have three drawers on top. She wants many more. She has a lot of "stuff". Suggestions on good sources if they exist? Or do you do your own design work? I know to steer clear of "Ted's Plans". I don't mind buying them if something that will work is available. Or if there are some I can modify to make it work.

[Ben Rivel]

Sounds like a good opportunity to start learning 3D CAD and design specifically what youre after.

But to answer your question, I CAD out EVERYTHING I build before I do it. Ensures that I know exactly what Im going for and reduces mistakes.

[Paul F Franklin]

I have yet to come across plans for anything that is exactly right for me, so I do my own designs, usually in sketchup, usually to point of having working, dimensioned drawings for at least the major stuff. Of course nothing ever ends up exactly to the dimensions in the plans, but it's a starting point for the build.

But I often use plans, or just photos published in a mag or book or online as inspiration or a starting point for a design, and then take it from there. For one thing, if I'm attracted to a design or a photo it usually means the piece has pleasing proportions (at least to my eye) and that's a valuable starting point for any design. Often I'll combine features from multiple pieces into my design. And often I'll tweak the joinery to suit my tools and skill set.

[Doug Dawson]

I have yet to come across plans for anything that is exactly right for me, so I do my own designs, usually in sketchup, usually to point of having working, dimensioned drawings for at least the major stuff. Of course nothing ever ends up exactly to the dimensions in the plans, but it's a starting point for the build.

But I often use plans, or just photos published in a mag or book or online as inspiration or a starting point for a design, and then take it from there. For one thing, if I'm attracted to a design or a photo it usually means the piece has pleasing proportions (at least to my eye) and that's a valuable starting point for any design. Often I'll combine features from multiple pieces into my design. And often I'll tweak the joinery to suit my tools and skill set.

The wood is going to tell me what it wants to be. The divergence of that intention from whatever somebody is asking of you, can be somewhat amusing.

Typically I’ll start with a rough perspective sketch in pencil, with very rough dimensions added. (That way a desk is less likely to turn into an armoire, because I don’t need an armoire.) Then, as the piece comes together, I’ll adjust things to suit the wood and the eye.

[Lisa Starr]

I draw my own plans in LibreCad. That said, if I see a photo or sketch of something that I find particularly appealing, I've often resorted to scaling it to get the basic proportions.

[Timothy Thorpe Allen]

Plans? What are those? I just make things up as I go....

[Tom Bain]

I may look at plans for inspiration or certain details, but I always do my own for anything complex. Usually start with rough sketches on paper, and then it all goes into Sketchup to generate detailed drawing and dimensions.

[Frederick Skelly]

I usually draw out what I'm going to build. I seldom do full up plans though. I draw and size the overall piece and then do detail drawings of complex parts. I use Dad's old t-square and triangles.

[Lee Schierer]

For most projects I draw out plans using a 2D card program. I print drawings with dimensions for use in my shop. I feel that a plan saves time and reduces scrap.

[David Buchhauser]

Back Story, granddaughter wants me to build a glass top makeup desk. I've found some simple ones that are like that. But they only have three drawers on top. She wants many more. She has a lot of "stuff". Suggestions on good sources if they exist? Or do you do your own design work? I know to steer clear of "Ted's Plans". I don't mind buying them if something that will work is available. Or if there are some I can modify to make it work.

Perhaps you can find a set of plans that is similar to your idea, then modify them to suit your needs. This does not necessarily need to be cad drawings, just a sketch with dimensions to work from. I have done this plenty of times before. Good luck.
David

[Ronald Blue]

Is Sketchup relatively easy to learn? I've not used it. I've caught on to Vectric fairly quickly for my CNC router. So this old dog can learn some new tricks.

[Jim Becker]

Plans? What plans? LOL. Seriously, I'll sketch something out to determine major dimensions most of the time. I have from time to time used SketchUp to help visualize something and lately, I'll actually leverage my Vectric software for some drawing because I'm combining components from the CNC with things done off the CNC, such as my recent bench projects. There have been a few times that I have used other folks plans, such as some projects years ago from Thos Moser's book or Norm Abram's NYW plans, but most of the time I envision what I want, establish general parameters and move forward from there.

[Stan Calow]

Except for very simple things, I have learned that when I try to wing it, I'll run into problems, miss details, or get proportions wrong. So I prefer to work from magazine articles or plans from the woodworking magazine websites. If I'm thinking of making something new, I'll look online through the articles and plans at Fine Woodworking, Popular Woodworking, and Woodsmith, for something close, and modify as necessary. I'll sketch some details out, but the plans help me avoid mistakes.

[glenn bradley]

My process is usually pencil and scratch pad to start. Once an idea starts to gel I will go to SketchUp which takes care of finalizing all my dimensions, joinery angles and curves. If I am working in a style (or construction method) I am comfortable with I will only SketchUp an overall view and a few exploded views of any critical joinery areas. For things I haven't done, or haven't done for a while I will build a full front, side, back, etc. orthogonal set of drawings plus the joinery details.

Woodsmith, Wood and Fine Woodworking magazines have pretty decent plans. Not necessarily specific to what you want to build, that's up to you but, they have good detail drawings of joinery and carcass constructs. These along with your own imagination can get you to a design you want with construction methods that will survive the seasons. I have never done full size drawings but, want to give that a try to see if the advantages are there for me.

[Ronald Blue]

Except for very simple things, I have learned that when I try to wing it, I'll run into problems, miss details, or get proportions wrong. So I prefer to work from magazine articles or plans from the woodworking magazine websites. If I'm thinking of making something new, I'll look online through the articles and plans at Fine Woodworking, Popular Woodworking, and Woodsmith, for something close, and modify as necessary. I'll sketch some details out, but the plans help me avoid mistakes.

That's me. I tend to not think of all the factors when a project get's more complex and then I have to figure out a work around or in some instances start over. That's why I figure a "road map" would be best for me. Plus while I think I'm capable of most anything I set out to accomplish I don't have ton's of woodworking experience like the majority here have. Now if it's mechanical stuff I have a lot of expertise there. Not vehicles but machinery(heavy equipment). But disassembly/reassembly is different than building from scratch also. I originally was a machinist/tool and die maker and worked from blue prints often. Sometimes I try to be to precise in woodworking and sometimes I am not precise enough.