If you are a woodworker in need of Do-It-Yourself Woodworking Plans, you've come to the right place. They are available at the end of this article. You can read on or simply scroll down to the links now.
If you are taking up woodworking as a hobby, I encourage you. Woodworking is an excellent hobby. Not only is it fun, but it results in functional and decorative items that you, your family and your friends can use around the house, and it can become a lucrative business.
Before you try this hobby, however, I want to dispel the popular misconception that you will always save a lot of money by doing it yourself. I built oak dressers and toy boxes for my four grandchildren. They turned out beautifully, and they will probably be passed down for generations, but I could have bought perfectly acceptable dressers for a little over half the cost of building them. I do not want to disappoint; you can have many reasons for getting into this pastime, but if saving money is the main one, you will most likely be disappointed for a number of reasons.
• Materials are expensive. All grades of manufactured wooden furniture are available on the market. A common practice of manufacturers is to reduce costs by using inferior materials where they will not show. Particle board, which is restructured sawdust, is a common material used in furniture for this purpose. It has very little strength; it's damaged by even a little bit of water; and it's ugly. Woodworkers usually opt for quality, which means that they reject this type of material and the mindset that allows its use; therefore, your cost goes up.
• Buying one item at a time is expensive. Even manufacturers who use all top-quality materials can save money through bulk purchases. For example, a sheet of plywood that costs you $ 40 can be bought for $ 30 or even $ 20 if purchased in large quantities of 100 or 1,000 sheets. Bulk purchasing has another less obvious benefit: If your project requires only 5 feet of an 8 foot long board, for example, the extra 3-foot section will probably become scrap; whereas, the manufacturer can use it in the next unit.
• Manufacturers use an assembly line or assembly procedure. For almost every cut made on a table saw, you will have to reset the fence. Resetting the fence takes time and is another opportunity for human error. A manufacturer's operator will set up the saw to cut a specific part, and then cut out hundreds or thousands of parts all exactly the same size. With the use of this process, the workman becomes exceptionally fast at turning out perfect pieces.
• Tools are expensive. If you need a particular tool in order to complete your project properly, the cost of that tool has to be considered. The manufacturer can spread that cost over hundreds or thousands of units.
• Your time is valuable. You've heard the phrase, "Time is Money." If you are doing woodworking to save money, consider the value of your time, because you could probably make more money in your job or profession than you will save on your project by doing it yourself. If you are doing woodworking for fun and to have a sense of accomplishment, then the value of your time is not the issue.
Sometimes, to save money, we get into a situation that costs more in the long run. The quality of the tools you purchase is an excellent example. I have never been disappointed by paying extra for the best tool available, but I have often been disappointed by cheap tools. Quality tools are the least expensive in the long run.
Your plans are also an example of the importance of quality. Plans are the results on paper after all mistakes have been corrected. Without a good plan, you have to make your mistakes on hardwood, and that costs time and money. Invest in clearly written, fully illustrated plans with complete sets of instructions, like the ones in the links below.
All in all, you may spend more time and money on your woodworking project, but you will have the supreme satisfaction of having completed a quality project that you, your family or whoever else might be the recipient, will treasure for a lifetime.
