I came across this website while browsing on google for free woodworking plans. Head over and hopefully you find something that you like! If you end up making something, leave a comment to let me know how it turned out!
Woodworking Plans
These guys seem to be pretty good, their plans look accurate and fairly concise which is something I love. Check them out, and remember to check back here for more woodworking information and tips!
For a limited time only, Ted is knocking twenty bucks off his database. He's losing money on this one, so take advantage of it while you can! Click here to recieve your discount
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
The Importance of Safety When Woodworking
It goes without saying that safety is paramount to woodworking. All to often I see people using power tools to cut or shape wood while wearing no form of eye protection. If there is one thing that is glaringly obvious, it is that common sense isn't so common. More important than anything, eye wear will ensure your eyes are safe so that you can enjoy years of vision ahead of you. This is a quick post, but I had to get it off my chest.
Eye wear isn't even expensive, any specialty or big box store is going to have plenty of safety glasses to chose from. Things like safety glasses are always cheap, too. Why? They want you to buy them! A woodworker won't be a customer for very long if they suddenly have no eye sight. Please, for the sake of not only your self but your family as well, use proper eye protection when working with power tools!
Eye wear isn't even expensive, any specialty or big box store is going to have plenty of safety glasses to chose from. Things like safety glasses are always cheap, too. Why? They want you to buy them! A woodworker won't be a customer for very long if they suddenly have no eye sight. Please, for the sake of not only your self but your family as well, use proper eye protection when working with power tools!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Different Types of Wood
There are countless types of wood available to woodworkers, in both the softwood and hardwood categories. I've listed a few in today's update that I love to use for my own projects. Hardwoods are featured first, as they are (naturally) my favorite wood to use. Expensive as all heck, but worth the investment as far as I'm concerned.
Hardwoods:
Birch: I love using birch in my furniture projects. I find it works very well for larger things like benches, seats and couch bases. As far as hardwoods go, Birch is relatively inexpensive, and can be found at most home renovation type stores. It is a "hard" hardwood, and offers interesting grain patterns that look great when bare with no paint or stain, especially when used on indoor projects.
Mahogany: As a woodworker who loves to make furniture (it's one of my guilty pleasures), I love Mahogany almost as much as birch. About the only downside to mahogany is the price tag. To put it simply, this stuff is expensive! It also loves stain, and looks amazing when stained. If yo want to leave it raw and natural, that's okay, too! Mahogany does not enjoy a never-ending supply, however, and is slowly disappearing from the planet. If you're into sustainability, you might want to look into some other hardwoods.
Softwoods
Pine: Pine is another favorite of mine, mostly because it's very inexpensive and can be found at nearly every home improvement store you can imagine. Pine is something I enjoy using not only because of its price tag, but because it's great for furniture as well. It takes well to wood stain, and is very durable. I have used it on various outdoor projects, and it shows no signs of rotting.
Cedar: Cedar is often red in color, and enjoys large supplies that show no signs of slowing down. Cedar is often used in woodworking projects that are going to be outdoors, as it is very durable and holds up to the elements well and has a high resistance to rotting. It can be found in most home renovation stores for relatively low prices.
That concludes today's update. Check back later for more info about the other various woods available, as well as their properties and (gulp) prices. If you are just starting out, I recommend using softwoods simply because they are cheaper. Your first few projects are never going to be pretty, and they certainly won't win any awards, so its a good idea to learn inexpensively.
Hardwoods:
Birch: I love using birch in my furniture projects. I find it works very well for larger things like benches, seats and couch bases. As far as hardwoods go, Birch is relatively inexpensive, and can be found at most home renovation type stores. It is a "hard" hardwood, and offers interesting grain patterns that look great when bare with no paint or stain, especially when used on indoor projects.
Mahogany: As a woodworker who loves to make furniture (it's one of my guilty pleasures), I love Mahogany almost as much as birch. About the only downside to mahogany is the price tag. To put it simply, this stuff is expensive! It also loves stain, and looks amazing when stained. If yo want to leave it raw and natural, that's okay, too! Mahogany does not enjoy a never-ending supply, however, and is slowly disappearing from the planet. If you're into sustainability, you might want to look into some other hardwoods.
Softwoods
Pine: Pine is another favorite of mine, mostly because it's very inexpensive and can be found at nearly every home improvement store you can imagine. Pine is something I enjoy using not only because of its price tag, but because it's great for furniture as well. It takes well to wood stain, and is very durable. I have used it on various outdoor projects, and it shows no signs of rotting.
Cedar: Cedar is often red in color, and enjoys large supplies that show no signs of slowing down. Cedar is often used in woodworking projects that are going to be outdoors, as it is very durable and holds up to the elements well and has a high resistance to rotting. It can be found in most home renovation stores for relatively low prices.
That concludes today's update. Check back later for more info about the other various woods available, as well as their properties and (gulp) prices. If you are just starting out, I recommend using softwoods simply because they are cheaper. Your first few projects are never going to be pretty, and they certainly won't win any awards, so its a good idea to learn inexpensively.
Monday, May 2, 2011
The pros and cons of Teds Woodworking
As much as I wish I could say Teds Working site is perfect in every way, I can't. At least not with any honesty. I've added some pros and cons about Ted's site in this post today, as well as some other woodworking plans and information. I hope you find it helpful!
When it comes to starting a woodworking project from scratch, you can't just dive into it head first. Obviously you need to have a concise and accurate materials list, as well as an idea about the size and scope of the finished project. You can't go and build a huge table, for example, if you don't have anywhere to put it! You also need to be certain that the plan is accurate, and that the measurements will be precise and exact. There is nothing worse than preparing to connect two pieces only to discover that the provided measurements were out, leaving you with a big headache.
One of the pros of Teds Woodworking is that he designed the plans himself. He didn't just scour the Internet and download all the plans he could find, he has, at one point or another, designed and built every single one of the projects on his website. Because he also built them, he is sure that the measurements are correct, and that the instructions and material lists are exact and precise as well. Score a big one for Ted on that one; Poor woodworking plans will ruin even the most talented woodworker.
Another excellent addition is more than 150 hi-resolution videos that are also included in his website. Some of them are geared towards beginners, while others are geared towards season and even professional woodworkers. A few of the videos discuss the different types of wood out there, as well as the theory behind woodworking and designing/building projects. Other videos feature in depth instructions on how to build different types of projects, like benches, desks and more. Score another one for Ted, no other side has had such easy to follow videos.
As far as drawbacks are concerned, the only one I encountered during my (admittedly frequent) visits to Ted's website is that occasionally, a plan is out of place, or in the wrong section. On one hand, you'd think that he would have noticed that when making his website. But on the other hand, you think about the time and dedication required to put over 16,000 plans on his website and an occasional slip up on Teds part starts to make sense. I haven't discovered anything else wrong with Teds Woodworking thus far, the plans are always precise and accurate, I haven't had any other issues.
The fact that Teds Woodworking is only $67 seems like Ted is being shortchanged on this one. I have spent more on books that have only a few hundred plans inside of them, so I'm definitely kicking myself over that one. And unlike books with a few hundred plans, Ted's Woodworking features over 16,000 individual projects. The cost to value ratio is pretty much through the roof on this one.
Head over to Teds Working to see what I'm talking about.
When it comes to starting a woodworking project from scratch, you can't just dive into it head first. Obviously you need to have a concise and accurate materials list, as well as an idea about the size and scope of the finished project. You can't go and build a huge table, for example, if you don't have anywhere to put it! You also need to be certain that the plan is accurate, and that the measurements will be precise and exact. There is nothing worse than preparing to connect two pieces only to discover that the provided measurements were out, leaving you with a big headache.
One of the pros of Teds Woodworking is that he designed the plans himself. He didn't just scour the Internet and download all the plans he could find, he has, at one point or another, designed and built every single one of the projects on his website. Because he also built them, he is sure that the measurements are correct, and that the instructions and material lists are exact and precise as well. Score a big one for Ted on that one; Poor woodworking plans will ruin even the most talented woodworker.
Another excellent addition is more than 150 hi-resolution videos that are also included in his website. Some of them are geared towards beginners, while others are geared towards season and even professional woodworkers. A few of the videos discuss the different types of wood out there, as well as the theory behind woodworking and designing/building projects. Other videos feature in depth instructions on how to build different types of projects, like benches, desks and more. Score another one for Ted, no other side has had such easy to follow videos.
As far as drawbacks are concerned, the only one I encountered during my (admittedly frequent) visits to Ted's website is that occasionally, a plan is out of place, or in the wrong section. On one hand, you'd think that he would have noticed that when making his website. But on the other hand, you think about the time and dedication required to put over 16,000 plans on his website and an occasional slip up on Teds part starts to make sense. I haven't discovered anything else wrong with Teds Woodworking thus far, the plans are always precise and accurate, I haven't had any other issues.
The fact that Teds Woodworking is only $67 seems like Ted is being shortchanged on this one. I have spent more on books that have only a few hundred plans inside of them, so I'm definitely kicking myself over that one. And unlike books with a few hundred plans, Ted's Woodworking features over 16,000 individual projects. The cost to value ratio is pretty much through the roof on this one.
Head over to Teds Working to see what I'm talking about.
Easy woodworking plans
I recently got into an augment with a gentleman about woodworking plans, or to be more specific, easy woodworking plans. He was of the opinion that no seasoned woodworker would find joy in building something simple like a bench or a chair. I felt (and still feel) that it's not about the complexity of the project, but the joy of completing something, regardless of what it is.
Lately I have been a little bit disappointed with most of the woodworking magazines that I subscribe to. They always have interesting plans and blueprints, of course. There is just one thing missing: Easy to read, concise plans. Maybe I'm complaining about something that I shouldn't be complaining about, or maybe there is something to my argument. More often than not, the plans are to small to get a good idea about scale, and in some cases, I've found the measurements to be all wrong. As in, completely wrong, leaving me stuck, scratching my head in the middle of a project. There is nothing more frustrating than having to start over from an earlier point. It also increases project costs, which is always bad news.
Since the Internet became mainstream, literally hundreds of thousands of woodworking sites have gone online, all offering their own take on the hobby. Some of them are very good, while others are painful to read. Sadly, even most websites about woodworking suffer from the same problem as the magazines: Low quality plans that are missing steps, feature wrong measurements, or are full of errors. Suffice to say, it's a frustrating affair. There is really only one website I've come across that actually has expertly done plans, with concise instructions, material lists and measurements. The site is called Teds Woodworking, and it blew my socks off the first time I logged on. There is over 16,000 different woodworking plans, more projects then one woodworker could ever hope to undertake, that's for sure.
The best part about Ted's site is the fact that everything is categorized properly. His site also features a fully functional database, that allows you to search for individual words, making finding specific woodworking projects a snap. I'm currently working on a project that I downloaded from Ted's Woodworking site, it should be finished soon so I will post pictures of it here on my blog.
Take care!
Lately I have been a little bit disappointed with most of the woodworking magazines that I subscribe to. They always have interesting plans and blueprints, of course. There is just one thing missing: Easy to read, concise plans. Maybe I'm complaining about something that I shouldn't be complaining about, or maybe there is something to my argument. More often than not, the plans are to small to get a good idea about scale, and in some cases, I've found the measurements to be all wrong. As in, completely wrong, leaving me stuck, scratching my head in the middle of a project. There is nothing more frustrating than having to start over from an earlier point. It also increases project costs, which is always bad news.
Since the Internet became mainstream, literally hundreds of thousands of woodworking sites have gone online, all offering their own take on the hobby. Some of them are very good, while others are painful to read. Sadly, even most websites about woodworking suffer from the same problem as the magazines: Low quality plans that are missing steps, feature wrong measurements, or are full of errors. Suffice to say, it's a frustrating affair. There is really only one website I've come across that actually has expertly done plans, with concise instructions, material lists and measurements. The site is called Teds Woodworking, and it blew my socks off the first time I logged on. There is over 16,000 different woodworking plans, more projects then one woodworker could ever hope to undertake, that's for sure.
The best part about Ted's site is the fact that everything is categorized properly. His site also features a fully functional database, that allows you to search for individual words, making finding specific woodworking projects a snap. I'm currently working on a project that I downloaded from Ted's Woodworking site, it should be finished soon so I will post pictures of it here on my blog.
Take care!
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