Greg D. wrote:

Back to the question - do you find that having a range of tools and
tooling change your initial design idea as you go?

Nope.

I make a design and I plan beforehand the construction details based
on the tools I have available. I try as much as possible to stick to
the plan (and it's dimensions) because if I'd been hired to produce a
piece of furniture made by a designer, he/shw would accept 31 15/16"
when the dimension he/she wants is 32".

I guess that after you've made eight or ten of each of the basic
pieces
of furniture - shelf unit, cabinet, table, chair, chest of drawers
etc. you'd
have the construction methods pretty much down - and the tools, skill
and knowledge to use them properly. You probably have also developed
a sense of design that customers will pay for.

But if you do woodworking for fun, rather than to support yourself,
you
often don't make more than four - pushing it - five of any one type
of
type of piece. Since there's no designer or client to satisfy,
there's more
room to wing it - start with the basics - function, height, width,
depth,
and maybe the wood to use. As the piece is built things can be added
- or subtracted if that seems like it'd make the piece "work".
Having
the tools and tooling to make those changes - easily - makes it more
likely to be implimented rather than just thought about.


Sometimes, not very often, I may change the design if I made a mistake
and I don't want to start the piece over or if I realize a different
detail would be nicer.

Being familiar with the options for the details takes experience -
somethings some of us amateurs haven't developed yet.

But it sure is fun winging it.

charlie b