"Bill" wrote in message ...

I know there are quite a few software people here. Even if you're not
one of them, I hope you'll still get involved in this thread!
In software engineering, we learn to put a lot of effort into design
(and the more of it we do, the better we appreciate that approach, I
think).

Question: Assuming you a a hobby-ist and not someone running a small
business, do you spend a large percentage of your time in woodworking in
designing your projects? Do you think of designing as "part of the
work" or "part of the fun"?

I don't really want to interject my own answer here, but I rather enjoy
drawing things out with SketchUp (and I feel confident the quality of my
woodworking will be the better for it). In my teenage years, the last
time I had the resources to work with wood, I would get to the cutting
in minutes--in fact, I probably often started by looking at the
woodpile...lol. Feel free to put your own spin on the question.

Bill

Designing is part of the fun but as for drawing the plan out, it depends.
If it's another table, nightstand, etc that I've already done several of
then I already have the design/plan in my head and just need to vary the
dimensions.
Simple things like shop jigs I design in my head as I go.
First time projects or those having exact dimensions usually get designed
on paper or sketchup.
Anything with expensive wood *always* gets complete design plans
first and sometimes even a cheap wood prototype. I have been known
to make an error or two on paper and even in sketchup.
Art