Patron Version Video: Who Needs Plans?
Added 2024-07-06 11:00:06 +0000 UTCFriends:
Last week's medical drama has cooled down quite a bit. The little girl got a new liver (courtesy of her Aunt, who gave her a piece) and she is improving slowly but steadily. Her kidney function is stronger and her clotting is better. Things are moving in the right direction.
A warm and grateful thanks to everyone for their words of support and kindness during the ordeal. We're not out of the woods yet, but being part of a community like this certainly helps.
On to business. I sell a lot of plans, but I've always felt conflicted about it. I rarely build projects from other people's plans and I think design is an essential part of our craft. I've wanted to make a video about building without plans for years. This week I finally did it. I made a simple donation box and I did a full-scale drawing right on my bench to get started. This video details my whole process for designing on-the-fly, and it's not hard. You can do this.
Of course, this is Patron Version Video, so it's longer and it has exclusive Patron Tips for your viewing pleasure.
And we're continuing on with the Build Along Series. The next installment will be up on Wednesday.
Hope everyone is doing well!
--Rex
Comments
Sorry I'm late in commenting. I've been offline for about a month and I'm just getting caught up. I used to follow plans, or at least take them as a strong suggestion on how to do things. Then I had a dog that could jump over any dog or baby gate. I decided to try making a gate on the fly using PVC pipe and connectors. I got the stuff home and started measuring, sketching, and cutting. Instead of gluing the pipe together, I used sheet metal screws. In one night I had a DOG-PROOF 4' tall gate that met all government regulations for safety... except for a latch to keep it closed. Sitting there, looking at the gate I felt dejected. I realized that the screws made the gate somewhat flexible. I had a eureka moment. I swapped out a corner connector with a "T" connector, then made a wooden "J" shaped receiver for the end. You lift the gate about 1/2" and it settles right into the crook. My German shepherd was finally stymied and I had a newfound confidence to tackle other projects. But I still pore over every project plan for inspiration. I'd love to see a Furniture Forensics where you design a project using the antique as inspiration, fixing the errors you recognize in the old design.
Michael Bennett
2024-08-04 04:10:49 +0000 UTCThe plans are nice to have
Ean Lake
2024-07-11 23:26:39 +0000 UTCI loved this video. Surprisingly I have a very hard time following plans, I spend to much time looking ahead at what might need to be done and no enough time paying attention to the actual step by step process that needs to happen. Because of this fact. Most things I build I make it up as a go along. My favorite is building things for my daughter. She lives in an old apartment with lots of odd spaces that most furniture doesn't fit correctly into (to big, to small, to short, to deep), so she will say "You know. I could really use a (name piece of furniture), and it needs to in this space (she provides me with dimensions), and I want it to look like this (sends pictures of examples of what she wants). " She really is a great client to work for, except she doesn't pay well at all. Thanks for sharing.
Brendan Langord
2024-07-11 21:52:29 +0000 UTCGreat video 👍 I have a habit of drawing every idea I have in one of my several drawing pads that I have in every room of the house, and of course the workshop. Winging it gives you so much more scope for revising your own plans as you go, you may have to waste some wood, but it's all part of the learning curve. I really liked the way you're pushing people out of their comfort zones and onto a more creative path. 👍👊
Lee Nightingale
2024-07-10 13:29:04 +0000 UTCI fully appreciate the need for plans. Imagine building a bridge without them! I'm good at 3D visualization, so for simple things I can see in my mind's eye how things need to fit together. Is it possible that those that need plans, or maybe a subset of those people, haven't developed the 3D visualization skill? Regardless, your provision of plans is a real service to those that want them and they really complement the skill building in your videos.
Brian Taylor
2024-07-10 09:51:13 +0000 UTCTotally! Part of my concern surely is perfectionism. In this case, I don't know which difficulties are inherent to the practice of drafting/designing and which are the result of lack of skill with the tools available. Perhaps it's analogous to being a novelist or programmer who can't type: You can get by with hunt-and-peck and you don't need to be able to type 100 WPM (unless you're Jack Kerouac) but enough skill leaves significantly more cognitive capacity for your primary task.
Wil Cooley
2024-07-09 19:17:45 +0000 UTCFunny, I just told Nate that....and he's already fixed it!
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 13:02:51 +0000 UTCI find building from plans pretty constricting unless it's something very mechanical like a machine tool jig. Otherwise, I like a more free-form approach.
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 13:02:33 +0000 UTCI think that's a very mature way to look at using plans. Very pragmatic!
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 13:01:28 +0000 UTCIt's funny: we often draw a project in CAD to get the measurements...and then we throw it away and draw it again based on what I ACTUALLY build. Happens all the time.
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 13:01:02 +0000 UTCIt sure does! The ordeal isn't over yet, but we're getting there.
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 13:00:06 +0000 UTCAnd we would all love to see you back!
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 12:59:46 +0000 UTCI think it's totally fine to just use plans as a starting point. Lots of people do that.
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 12:59:17 +0000 UTCIt is nice to have plans as a starting point....and then disregard them if necessary. I've been there many times.
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 12:55:33 +0000 UTCI think finding an approach that works is all that matters. If you end up with a functional piece of furniture in a reasonable amount of time, who cares how you did it?
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 12:54:58 +0000 UTCAlice, that's so nice of you to say. I've got a young daughter, so I'm really glad to hear I'm not condescending. (But my daughter would tell you I'm a dad-joke monster around the house.)
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 12:53:35 +0000 UTCAgreed! Just simple 2d drawings are so much better than nothing. Most of us need a little guide to build from.
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 12:52:05 +0000 UTCYou're very right about those nails! This white pine is soft, but I'm a big fan of the pre-drill approach.
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 12:51:15 +0000 UTCI think being able to draw is very helpful for woodwork. We use CAD because it's so flexible and leads naturally into plans, but I'm terrible at CAD, so a little sketch is perfect for me.
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 12:50:30 +0000 UTCNot only that, I saw the donor at a birthday party this weekend and she was already up and around! She's a nurse, so she can't work for the next 2 months, but she's living life.
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 12:47:00 +0000 UTCI hope those plans help you to have a fruitful retirement! They will all be waiting for you.
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 12:46:20 +0000 UTCI'm really delighted that you liked both!
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 12:45:41 +0000 UTCI've been in that position, too. It's another reason I use so much pine. It's cheap if you screw up!
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 12:45:22 +0000 UTCI'm really glad you liked it!
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 12:44:35 +0000 UTCThat's very kind of you!
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 12:44:27 +0000 UTCIt really seems like people either need plans or don't particularly like them. It's often one or the other.
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 12:44:16 +0000 UTCWell, we'll need to fix that right away!
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 12:36:32 +0000 UTCI know you are. I'm grateful.
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 12:35:28 +0000 UTCI appreciate that a lot! Seems like you and I are already on the same page about this stuff.
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 12:35:15 +0000 UTCWow. That's a very moving story and something I wasn't expecting this morning. You're right. Family is the most important and I've been keeping that in mind. Thanks for sharing so much. I'm certainly not the only one who read that post.
Rex Krueger
2024-07-09 12:34:27 +0000 UTCTypo in the patreon URL on the screen at the end! It says patron.com instead of patreon.com
Kenneth Carlile
2024-07-07 22:47:08 +0000 UTCI absolutely loved this video. I especially liked the part where you said, "Don't pretend you don't do it!"🤣 I'm not ashamed to admit that I absolutely definitely do it all the time. Also most of the things that I've built I didn't have printed out plans for. I've either did like you did in the video and drew them out on some paper or just went with something off of the top of my head. To be honest I enjoyed those types of builds more than the ones with plans. Thank you.
Jennessa Lynam
2024-07-07 18:15:39 +0000 UTCGood to hear your family is doing better. As many have stated already: Family first! I use plans it two ways: 1) Within my skillset: To get inspiration, ideas and alternative approaches 2) Outside my skillset: To learn how to approach or resolve something Keep’em’coming, please!
Jon Johansen
2024-07-07 17:09:21 +0000 UTCGood point, Alice! I know that most females shy away from gaming communities - and obviously woodworking as well - due to macho males telling them they have no business doing what they love. Great seeing you here, and I hope this is a chauvinist-free zone for you and other non-male woodworkers 🤓
Jon Johansen
2024-07-07 17:07:38 +0000 UTCI find plans are just a starting point even my own plans. Things will change as you get into a build, have a new idea, hit a problem or make a mistake. Also if you work from plans you then need to update them to include the changes. Even my current wooden PC buid to some extent I am winging it and making things up on the fly. However that is a build for some key areas that does need plans as it has to interface with the computer parts that go inside the box.
Martin Wolfe
2024-07-07 01:32:20 +0000 UTCGlad to hear the operation was a success. Family comes first
John Kiernan
2024-07-07 00:44:33 +0000 UTCSo good to hear the little one's health is heading in the right direction. Another inspirational video Rex. I have been quit on the chat for quit a while. I have been struggling with time and other obstacles. Bit hoping to get back into the community soon.
Shane Thomas
2024-07-06 23:20:51 +0000 UTCI've never made a project from plans before. I tried with the mission stool, but ended up chucking them away because they only stressed me out. I wing it every time. My projects often end up as something different from what I set out to make, but I'm ok with that.
Kevin Moore
2024-07-06 23:18:17 +0000 UTCThanks for the suggestions. Apparently already had an engineer's scale but didn't realize it; always wondered what those other units were that weren't imperial or metric...
Wil Cooley
2024-07-06 22:00:06 +0000 UTCGlad your family member is healing. Plans. Joined Patron so I would not have to by them. Nothing I built using yours, or anyone else’s plans, looks like theirs. Plans are only a starting point for me. Always glad to have them though.
Chris St. Cyr
2024-07-06 19:34:28 +0000 UTCWill, Tom McLaughlin has a video on Epic Woodworking to build a square and drafting board. I took four years of drafting/machine shop in high school. For what most hobby woodworkers, copying what Rex did on his bench is good enough. Buy an engineer’s or architect’s scale if you are drawing smaller than life size. They are inexpensive. A 30-60-90, a 45-45-90, and a protractor will round out a basic set. FYI, never worked as a draftsman or in a machine shop as an adult. 32 years in law enforcement (crime scene and accident sketches were close to drafting), 41 in theNational Guard, and now running a nonprofit to help crime victims so know where my advice comes from!
Chris St. Cyr
2024-07-06 19:29:37 +0000 UTCGlad to hear your kin appear to be moving in the right direction. I am another who doesn't particularly follow plans; when I use them at all, it's usually as a starting point because invariably something won't match -- my stock will be the wrong width or thickness, I'll want it to fit differently, etc. Plans are most useful when I can easily determine critical features -- ratios, an unsquare angle that matters, etc. I sometimes think it's because I'm too cheap to buy all the right materials or too undisciplined to follow instructions, but then I see people asking for "plans" for things like a rustic branch-section-on-a-stick mallet or complain about being unable to assemble IKEA furniture and I realize I'm just fine. I am a programmer by day and now that I'm in my fifth decade, have little interest in sitting at a computer any longer than necessary. I tried to learn SketchUp a few years back but got bored with fiddling with lines on the screen. I'd like to learn drafting on paper but there are as one might expect I have found no courses or classes; books are even pretty scarce. So I wing it with quad and isometric paper, which has worked so far.
Wil Cooley
2024-07-06 17:57:34 +0000 UTCThe thing that has brought me back again and again isnt dependency on plans, its being able to get this information without feeling bad. Im not interested in being yelled at, condescended, guilted, dad joked to death, i just want to know how to make the thing out of wood. You deliver that every video. Plus your plans are very helpful, im building my low bench based on the quick stack plans and its coming along great.
Alice
2024-07-06 17:31:02 +0000 UTCI never work from someone else’s plans. I’m not a bird house builder or even a picnic table assembler. The stuff I build are problem solvers like when I had a bunch of network gear sitting randomly in a cluster. I fire up my CAD program and conceptualize what I need. Make a cut list and before you can say Patreon it’s cut and glued. (The latter is a massive overstatement. I usually get the edge allowance off for one side or another.) My CAD program is 2D but I learned technical drawing with Tee Squares and triangles. You learn to visualize what you’re designing in your mind. It’s a skill that comes in handy as you progress through the build phase.
Richard C von Brecht
2024-07-06 15:08:48 +0000 UTCThat workbench drawing brings back memories. I have left hundreds of carpentry detail drawing on the insides of walls. So many structural and architectural/finish details are just suggested on the blueprints and left to the carpenter to work out on site. Remember to blunt the ends on those finish nails if you're worried about splitting, even using a clipped finish nail to predrill the piece being nailed if it is thin and fragile;)
John Griswold
2024-07-06 14:55:43 +0000 UTCVery glad to hear that your relative got the necessary medical treatment she needed. Hopefully she will make a quick recovery and enjoy summer like kids are supposed to. Also I'm glad to see you do a "free hand" design work. I love the use of your bench top for full scale layout. Since I haven't done anything with CAD since the mid 2000s, I now rely on my HS drafting skills to just do some rough scale drawings. It's mostly just to get my final dimensions laid out and proportions right.
Stephen Ellis
2024-07-06 14:42:19 +0000 UTCMan, the liver is such an interesting organ! That's so cool she was able to get a living donor transplant.
TwoRavens
2024-07-06 14:10:08 +0000 UTCRex, first it's great to hear the good family news. Second, this was an excellent video on what your thought process was during the build (yes, people air design with their fingers). And as far as your plans, I started watching you during COVID, and was not at work. Since going back to work, I need to save up your plans for when I retire in a few years. So all of this works for me. Thanks for all you do.
Kevin S Thomas
2024-07-06 14:02:14 +0000 UTCA great project and a wonderful video!!!
Marc Barash
2024-07-06 12:35:27 +0000 UTCIf I was making this, I would make notes and sketches as I go along in case I have to build Version 2. I think you only got away with this because you have enough experience to know about things like nailing only one side to the back, then both sides to the front, and finally the last back. I would have messed up there. I used to plan necklaces on the assumption that I would have to start over from scratch. I would choose durable beads and buy twice as much bead cord as necessary.
Madeleine Yeh
2024-07-06 12:31:38 +0000 UTCGreat video, Rex!
Johnny
2024-07-06 12:30:26 +0000 UTCI’m glad to hear everything is working out with the family member you all are still in our prayers. Also I love the design
Wayne Miller
2024-07-06 12:18:11 +0000 UTCReally good video. I'm a 'no plan' guy. Better put, I take inspiration for projects from people like you, formulate a mental plan, maybe make a sketch or 2, and dive in. I've made a few of your projects, just by winging it. I completely understand that may not suit some people, though.
Brian Taylor
2024-07-06 11:37:33 +0000 UTCIt's good to hear that things look brighter for the family! Thanks for continuing encouraging us, Rex! And you're a better idiot than most of us idiots :). PS: small typo in the Patreon link that appears at the end of the video: "patreon.com.rexkrueger" instead of "…/rexkrueger"
Borjan Tchakaloff
2024-07-06 11:33:30 +0000 UTCGlad to hear of the positive progress for your extended family. Will keep you all in our prayers going forward for a rapid conclusion. Thanks Rex we are here for you.
GFHWoodWerks (Gregory)
2024-07-06 11:30:25 +0000 UTCOff the top, you’re not an idiot or I wouldn’t be watching you! I loved this as its been my approach forca long time! I am now in a phase where working from plans is quite enjoyable as those projects seem more polished. But I agree with something like boxes can be made off the cuff and to the untrained eye look pretty darned good! Thanks again for a great video!
Gerald Eddy
2024-07-06 11:25:28 +0000 UTCYes we need you. Stay strong and help us as you can. Family first always even extended family. I’ve learnt a lot over 70 years especially about the importance of talking to our close loved ones. I know very little about my mother other than what happened in my life time. She was a wonderful caring person to everyone. Everyone who met her always admired how easy going, friendly and kind she was. Something I encourage everyone whose parents especially are still alive and mentally acute. Talk to them about their life, childhood, education. Forst love, breakup whatever comes to mind. Write down the information especially dates if you get them so you can pass that on to your children and theirs in the future. I don’t really care much about my father he was a real piece of work. Loved humiliating me especially in front of neighbours. Saying “Peter your no worth 2 bob” that’s 2 cents in todays money, totally meaning I had no worth. It’s basically stuck with me mentally my whole life. Yes I cried a little when he died suddenly of a heart attack in 1979. I had to verify the body it wasn’t something I wanted my mother to have to go through. I was a trained Nitse so I was used to death, not really. You never get used to that. I remember everyone I had helped to have a eaceful ending where I could legally of course. Though Drs did help terminal attends live as comfortable as they could without actually killing them. Hope the little girl grows up to be as healthy as she can be and pits her life to good use. Just like the Captain told Private Ryan to do before he passed on on the movie based on real life I believe. Stay safe and healthy Rex.
Peter R Schuck
2024-07-06 11:23:26 +0000 UTC
