All woodworking plans and projects are not necessarily created equal and there are many, many options and thousands upon thousands of plans to peruse and classify. So how do you find the right woodworking plans and projects for you?
What are the first things I should do?
The first thing to do, of course, is decide exactly what it is you are looking for. How many details do you want or need? How many plan options do you want to deal with, what is the intended use of the finished product, how complicated will it be to make, what specialized tools will I need to be able to build it, etc.? If you’ve been able to answer most of the questions above, you may have narrowed your search to some extent. So where do you start looking for the plans and projects that will get you off to the right start, in the right direction?
Where do I start my search?
The obvious starting points are the printed woodworking publications found at your local bookstore. Your local woodworking supply store may also have or recommend plans or posts showing various woodworking plans and projects that may have some experience and advice on how to build, what materials you will need, and some advice on the reality of making such items. . Then, of course, there is the Internet, which is packed with useful and useless information on all kinds of subjects, including woodworking. You will find many options available for the woodworking plans and projects on offer and many of these are advertised as free. Personally, I’d be a bit wary of attention-grabbing free promotions. While we all like something for nothing, it’s usually about giving you a useless, outdated, or completely unsuitable plan for its intended purpose.
What about all those woodworking plans and projects on offer?
Typically, to get the plan you are looking for, many of the plans on offer are part of a very large package of many thousands of plans of different types and descriptions. While this in itself is not a bad thing, it can lead to overwhelming download and storage problems and a host of potentially started and only half finished projects. However, if you moderate the magnitude of what you get for what you have to pay, you wonder how they can be a viable business model with up to 16,000 plans and projects on offer for as little as $ 37, which is, frankly, ridiculously cheap. So your loss is your gain, make the most of it.