Working from plans

[Jim Murphy]

I'm building a hand tool chest (out of junk wood) from an article with plans in a "free issue" of Woodsmith that arrived unsolicited in the mailbox. Now, I shan't disparage that for which I have paid nothing, but it has been a bit of an effort to work with the plan. This particular plan contains no cut list. Sure, I can sit down and develop the list, but golly, isn't that part of the deal (and that is what this post is about... the deal with plans).

The plans have circled characters (pointers to details) which have NO corresponding info in the plan (article). That's frustrating, and unheard of in the construction trade.

There are some details. They don't correspond with the circled letters in the plan view. That's frustrating, and indicative of designer incompetence in the construction trade.

There is no procedure set forth. Construction plans (for a McDonalds, or a Federal Detention Center, for example) have no step by step procedure, but that's a different breed of cat.

Today, I have switched between dado and WWII about five times already, because I'm following the text in the article. The article built the entire case before any discussion of drawers. Tomorrow I have to set up the dado and then revert back to the WWII to deal with drawer slots.

Were I to work from an ideal set of plans, I think (and remember, I'm a rookie/newbie) I would look first to the cut list. I would resaw, joint and plane everything to thickness and then rip and crosscut to dimension. With a stack of ready material, I would change out the blade, slash out the grooves/dadoes, and then begin assembly. I would hope that my instructions would tell me to make ALL the cuts with the 1/2" dado at 3/16" deep, then raise the dado to 1/4", make them, then change dado width, make the cuts, and then put the WWII back on. I would dry fit and then I get the Titebond out.

Now, my ordeal may be a result of my inexperience. Next time, I shall prepare my own cut list (if it's absent), develop my own protocol (if it's absent), and save several hours of frustration (let me say here that anything I do in the shop is pleasure, although it would have been more pleasant had I not changed blades so often.)

So here's the topic for discourse: if you work with PURCHASED plans, do you find that

a: cheap ones suck
b: most suck
c: good plans provide a Betty Crocker approach, as I laid out above
d: YMMV
e: We don' need no steenkin' plans

Elaboration, as distinguished from a simple "color the appropriate circle", would be helpful.

Thanks,

Jim

 

[NCPete]

jim, usually the cutlists for their plans are in a 'companion' article on-line?

 

[junquecol]

The "freebe" that you received in the mail is a teaser. Look at the mast head page and see if it has an issue#, or date. Probably not, if it is like the issue that I got. I have a complete set of Woodsmith/ Shop Notes. Cuts lists are sometimes an on line extra. Free of course. I find their plans to be complete and well illustrated. I use these teasers to extend my subscription at half price though. You know, Two years for the price of one. I never have understood why magazines think a new subscriber is worth more than a current one.

 

[Travis Porter]

For me, it is D, YMMV.

I have had the same issue with Woodsmith and other plans at times. IIRC, they do at times post cut lists on their web site. Additionally, IIRC, they used to put the cut lists in the magazine.

To your point, when I have followed their plans, I have had to switch blades, switch set ups, come back and make a 2" wide board 3 different times for example, etc. Then, some of the "nuances" outright SUCK. For example, I believe it was issue 40 or 50 they had the woodworking bench in it. They had a cabinet to go underneath that they put a 3/4" square piece of maple on the front edge attached with a 1/4" hardboard tenon. I made the cabinet twice and still did not get the tenons and such to work out right.

I do not mean to pick on Woodsmith, as I have had the issue with other plans as well. Joints not as strong or as robust as they should be, and not allowing for grain movement properly.

My attitude now is to use it as a guide. I modify as appropriate, cut out as many parts as I can up front, and do the joinery with what I am comfortable with or what I feel is best. Occassionally, I will do the joinery as they describe to try something new, but I am now of the mindset if I am skeptical, I do it a different way.

 

[cpowell]

Jim, I have not had much success cutting out all of the pieces and then assembling on any project with some degree of complexity, however you can generally dimension everything and have it acclimating while you work.

I have worked with plans that are spot on and others that may have an error or two...some only give a few dimensions and assume you know what order to build. It can be frustrating. I agree that cut lists really make life easier...well, a whole lot easier. ;-)

I purchased bed and dresser plans online from PlansNow that were detailed and very accurate, and gave helpful tips for difficult cuts. They even gave details for building jigs that would make construction easier. Even so, some of the dimensions were referenced from points that were not ideal when using a tape. Not a big deal really.

I got that same teaser magazine and it had some good information. I saw the plans for the hand tool chest. I believe it would be more useful to me than Shop Notes, which I carried for two years.

I'd be curious to find out if the cut list is available online free. That would be great.

Chuck

 

[Mark Anderson]

E. we don't need no stinkin plans

how ever a second table saw might come in handy.

i have built houses of of plans ranging from $200 on up to more tha i want to know, and even one off of daily updated coctail napkins that were drawn up way after happy hour, and yes you get what you pay for in the plan dept.

 

[GregSmith]

I got that issue as well. This is the second one I've gotten and the first one (a year ago?) had the cut lists on the mailing cover or whatever you call that thing they staple to the actual magazine. I found the cut lists on their website for issue 151. I think this is the one you're making Jim.

I like plans myself, but I agree that they leave out some details. I'd like to get away from using plans, so if they leave out something, I should be able to figure it out myself - which means that I end up flipping through books or magazines or websites to solve the problem. I admire those guys that reproduce a piece of furniture when their only resource is a picture from a magazine.:eusa_clap

Greg

 

[Jim Murphy]

Yup, Greg, that's the one. Thanks for the link to the cutlist.

If I had been resourceful enough to have found that cutlist, I would have made the center drawer wider than the two outside, rather than what I did, which was make 3 the same size. Didn't realize it until they were glued up and dried, and I stacked them on the lower drawer. So now I get to go back through the jointing, resawing, planing, ripping and crosscutting so I can set up the jigs again to cut the odd sized drawer rabbets. And then the dado AGAIN to cut the drawer slide grooves. Yeah, I'm sorta irked at myself :eusa_doh:.

Plus, I'm making this out of KD poplar and can't believe the number of ways the glued-up panels are warping. I even alternated the rings this time :lol: . And since I cut the dados on the finished side instead of the inside, that reinforces my decision to make mistakes in junk rather than nice wood. However, the QSWO would probably have behaved better in the warp and bow department.

Mark, don't even get me started on architectural plans. There's a plaque in my office: "Just because somebody can draw something on blue paper don't mean you can build it." Kinda like "Fit in Field" appears when the artichoke can't do the math.

Maybe I better get ready to watch Norm. He never screws up. Perhaps that's because he works from measured "drarwrings."

Jim

 

[Travis Porter]

Measured drawrings - LOL.

Strange about the poplar warping. Are you putting too much clamping pressure maybe?

 

[sapwood]

None of the above for me. I look at plans and don't understand them
So I usually just start on something and see how it goes. Besides, there's always a screwup that demands a modification :lol:

Roger

 

[zimman20]

None of the above for me. I look at plans and don't understand them
So I usually just start on something and see how it goes. Besides, there's always a screwup that demands a modification :lol:

Roger

You and me, both. I abhor attempting to work from a plan and have a great deal of difficulty attempting to do so. :-?

I do much better when a drawr ( :-D ) it out for myself. ;-)