George,
I'm more highly educated this morning than yesterday, having read
responses in this thread. When I built my workbench and wall cabinets,
I first sat at my pc and worked in Excel to calculate dimensions, esp.
since there were dados and rabbets involved. Even so, one cabinet came
out a bit wider than I had designed, due to one oversight while doing
the calcs. But all in all, those 3 projects went pretty well,
considering how newbie I am at this. During construction of a drawer
for my Unisaw, I forget to dado for the bottom, which I realized just as
I glued it together. After much discussion, I ended up Roo gluing and
stapling the bottom to the underside edge of the drawer sides, since it
is a light duty drawer. Had I had more step by step plans, I would most
likely have avoid that snafu. As my projects become more complex, I'm
gonna hit a wall where I can't conceptualize the "whole package" any
longer. For the time being I've been able to get away with winging it.

dave

George wrote:

Plans are the three "Rs" of woodworking. They are the distilled experience
of their creator and generations of woodworkers before. You're using
someone's plans even if you don't place a drawing on a board to guide you,
the only difference is the paper they're rendered on. The principle is
called vicarious experience - education.

BTW, if you don't make a plan, at least to note basic dimensions, you're
going to have a lot more things to complain about here - like wasting wood.

"Bay Area Dave" wrote in message
. com...

Everyone keeps asking for plans, plans, plans. Doesn't anybody have a
clue of what THEY want to make, rather than copying someone else's
ideas? I'm constantly amazed at the things people ask for plans for.
They even PAY for plans! The fun in building something for me is coming
up with a design, and then implementing it. If I said I was as painter,
I sure as heck wouldn't get a paint by numbers kit and just paint within
the lines. That's NOT a hobby. OR is it?? Am I all wet?? Do I have the
wrong idea about what woodworking is about?

This little rant is designed NOT to hurt anyone's feelings: I JUST WANT
TO START A DIALOG ON THE SUBJECT, AS I JUST DON'T GET IT!

Perhaps the reason that people need plans is they can't think in three
dimensions?? Is that it?

Dave