do you draw you own plans?

[Dale Lesak]

I have only made two things from professional plans, they were for the BIL and his plans. both were yard items and both fell apart in two years. I would have never have made them that way. I always do my own plans / design on Delta CAD. work out all the joinery and fasteners. double check every thing. and then see if I can find any design flaws. (Why it won't work) Then I start building, at the cost of wood you can't afford a lot of mistakes. I have sketch up, e cabinet's, auto desk and Delta CAD. Delta is the easy-est to use, and can do up a set of plans in 1/4 of the time it used to take me with pencil and paper. Dale

[keith ouellette]

I have read every word with a lot of interest. I hope a lot more people reply. I am fascinated that a few people enjoy the planning phase. I guess its because this part gets me so agravated.

[John Young]

I have designed and drawn all of my woodworking project. As a mechanical engineer, I have learned that proper planning is the key to success. The whole build process tends to go much smoother. Drawn plans also allow you to better visualize the finished project and tweak dimensions and proportions. It is a lot easier for me to make changes on paper versus cutting wood again and again.

[Mark Singer]

uh hu! i do. have since day uno!

[Mike Armstrong]

I've always done some sketches of just about any furniture piece or cabinet I'm going to make. Being comfortable as a semi-geek type, I started using CutList a few years back, especially when trying to figure optimum yield and layouts for sheet material.

About a year ago, I took an eCabinet Systems software class and saw how easy it can be plan a big project (altho the software has a steep learning curve) Now I'm in the middle of a year long cabinetmaking class and able to combine the software program with the "real world" knowledge and experience of a long-time cabinetmaker/instructor.

The focus of this semester is Euro style cabinets and developing a standardized, systematic approach to the design using some "rules" like the Blum Pearls. Combine all that with being able to send the digital file for an entire kitchen design to a CNC guy to cut/drill/rout all the sheet material, outsourcing drawers and doors, and I have a new found love for cabinetmaking.

Mike

[Bruce Page]

I draw out most of my stuff in AutoCAD.
Sorry Keith but it does take a certain degree of curiosity and stick-to-it-ness to learn. On the plus side, it does get easier with practice.

[Charles Wiggins]

I have drafted (if you could call my chicken scratch drafting) the plans for the few things I built. I am making the plans for my router table / saw wing/ cabinet now. I have the attention span of a wound up toddler and it makes everything very difficult for me to do. Concentration is not in my vocabulary.

Aside from the lack of attention span do any of you make your own plans?
Do you find it difficult?
Does it get easier the more you do it?

Plans? What plans? Wee dunt need no steenking plans.

Honestly, I haven't done much that was so complicated that it required more than a sketch with a few key measurements calculated (mostly to mitigate my own infantile attention span), and I find that things change a lot during the process anyway.

[Dan Barr]

I think those that say that they "change things as they go" and that they "don't see a need for plans"; that makes perfect sense. without plans, i would expect to change as i go too.

for some things, i do just that. i'll have some small scraps and end up building something without plans.

any deliberate project though, gets drafted first, reviewed at least twice, and then built last. I also dont like to change as i go when i have a particular thing in mind or the piece is for a client. im not going to leave it up to "if i get lucky and it all works out".

ciao,

dan

[Paul Coffin]

I am an engineer by trade so I use cad every day at work. I always cad up my woodworking projects. It is so much easier to find and fix the problems with your design before you make an expensive or time consuming mistake in wood. It also helps with purchasing just enough material.

Paul

[Ed Brady]

When I was a youngster my dad bought me a tabletop drafting board with a little cable operated parallel rule incorporated -- plus some drafting tools. I still have it all and still rarely use it. My dad hoped I'd become a mechanical engineer but I disappointed him and became an EE. No fine tolerances to worry about.

Anyway, when I learned of Sketchup I thought that would be the thing for me. I tried it, but was too impatient to get down to the shop. Seriously, I do drawings or sketches with enough detail to make sure everything will fit and to determine my bill of materials. For example, I recently drew the top of round table with a brass porthole in the center.

Most stuff I keep in my head and I make notes on the white board in my shop and maybe a detail of a joint while I'm making it. I tend to spend some time with my cut plans since that is where many of my mistakes seem to happen.

Very interesting questions and I am enjoying the responses. Could this be a left brain/right brain thing?

EDB

[Ed Brady]

Keith, I forgot to mention that Norm did use a story board (or stick) in the current kitchen series.

EDB

[Steve Rozmiarek]

When I was a youngster my dad bought me a tabletop drafting board with a little cable operated parallel rule incorporated -- plus some drafting tools. I still have it all and still rarely use it. My dad hoped I'd become a mechanical engineer but I disappointed him and became an EE. No fine tolerances to worry about.

Anyway, when I learned of Sketchup I thought that would be the thing for me. I tried it, but was too impatient to get down to the shop. Seriously, I do drawings or sketches with enough detail to make sure everything will fit and to determine my bill of materials. For example, I recently drew the top of round table with a brass porthole in the center.

Most stuff I keep in my head and I make notes on the white board in my shop and maybe a detail of a joint while I'm making it. I tend to spend some time with my cut plans since that is where many of my mistakes seem to happen.

Very interesting questions and I am enjoying the responses. Could this be a left brain/right brain thing?

EDB

Highly agree with the whiteboard, love those things! Great match for the shop. Get the one magnets will stick to, and you can hang plans and things really easily.

[Charles Wiggins]

any deliberate project though, gets drafted first, reviewed at least twice, and then built last. I also dont like to change as i go when i have a particular thing in mind or the piece is for a client. im not going to leave it up to "if i get lucky and it all works out".

An important point, for sure. I've been much more meticulous when working for someone else. Even so, the things I was doing weren't all that complicated (frames, boxes, props, set decorations). But right now, I'm the only client I've got.

[Rob Will]

I draw just about everything on an old version of TurboCAD (V1.02 circa 1993). Good stuff for a basic user like me. Newer versions are way too complicated.

Even if you don't intend to build directly off of the plan, a CAD drawing of some sort with "drag and drop" is a good way to work out proportions and get some of the key dimensions.

Rob

[Dan Barr]

Me too,

all of my "for me" or experimental or "just for fun" stuff doesnt get planned or drafted.

ciao,

dan