Where do you get quality plans?

[Beanwood]

I've just been interrupted on Youtube by an ad for Ted McGrath's thousands of woodworking plans, and instructions on how to use them, which apparently are the best thing since sliced bread.
It/They're american, so will no doubt be using american timbers and tools (Dado stacks etc), but it got me to wonder - where do you generally get good qualty plans from?

Is there a 'better' place, or do you always design yourself using sketchup or similar, or just make it up as you go along.

(I'd like to find a set for a basic greenhouse if anyone knows of any.)

 

[Jacob]

The older woodwork text books often have design details for ordinary stuff. I imagine back numbers of "The Woodworker" would be good but I don't know if there's a good enough index anywhere.
Other than that - take a look at a greenhouse you fancy and take measurements, photos, notes.

 

[TRITON]

Is there a 'better' place, or do you always design yourself using sketchup or similar, or just make it up as you go along.

Personally I make it up as I go along. But this has a huge downside in that you will encounter problems, that you then must find a workaround for, which can affect the overall look or use you initially intended.

The design process is to draw your basic idea, then using tracing paper to go over that, adding or subtracting features you feel are prominent(I suppose sketchup is the modern tracing paper) and also it allows for your final design to be worked out into a cutting list.
Knowing you need X amount of this length/thickness/etc allows for you to work out exactly what you need. To lay that against the material you've spent good money on, and cuts down on wastage.

 

[Cordy]

I avoid Ted McGrath like the plague

 

[RobinBHM]

I've just been interrupted on Youtube by an ad for Ted McGrath's thousands of woodworking plans, and instructions on how to use them, which apparently are the best thing since sliced bread.
It/They're american, so will no doubt be using american timbers and tools (Dado stacks etc), but it got me to wonder - where do you generally get good qualty plans from?

Is there a 'better' place, or do you always design yourself using sketchup or similar, or just make it up as you go along.

(I'd like to find a set for a basic greenhouse if anyone knows of any.)

I dont know of any plans for a greenhouse design -however if you post a "greenhouse thread on here, Im sure you will quickly get some good construction details.

it would help knowing what machinery etc you have as that will decide on the framing is done.

 

[Beanwood]

I avoid Ted McGrath like the plague

I can imagine why, as he seems a bit 'hard sell', but do you avoid him for any particular reason?

I dont know of any plans for a greenhouse design -however if you post a "greenhouse thread on here, Im sure you will quickly get some good construction details.

it would help knowing what machinery etc you have as that will decide on the framing is done.

Thanks Robin, I have the usual equipment for a complete 'all the gear and no idea' amateur - Table, mitre, track, hand and band saws. 3 Routers (1 in a table), Couple of hand planes, pillar drill with morice bits, planer thicknesser, squares, levels etc.

 

[marcros]

Have a search on here. I think that there were some wooden greenhouse plans referenced on here in the past few montgs- I think it was an old magazine.

 

[Cabinetman]

This may not be exactly what you want but it will show you the basics, good old Dad his woodworker annual from 1952, Christ that’s three years older than I am ha ha there was another paragraph but it only was talking about airbricks

 

[RobinBHM]

I can imagine why, as he seems a bit 'hard sell', but do you avoid him for any particular reason?


Thanks Robin, I have the usual equipment for a complete 'all the gear and no idea' amateur - Table, mitre, track, hand and band saws. 3 Routers (1 in a table), Couple of hand planes, pillar drill with morice bits, planer thicknesser, squares, levels etc.

Ah ok. You have all the kit needed to make a greenhouse.

The key part is the framework, which you could either make as PAR and plant on a bead to form a glass rebate, or you could rebate your frame section and then you would need to make offset shoulder tenons for the joints.

Planting on beads makes it easy to do different size beads for direct glazed or door window sashes.

Make your frame section big enough to suit your door thickness. If you want a door 45mm thick, then your frame profile might be say 65mm deep with a 20mm bead on the door

To keep the setout simple, I would suggest you put a loose post in each corner, then make the frames from that. It avoids the complication of frames overlapping at the corners. And you have a suitable fixing point for downpipes.

I used to build orangeries and I found the easiest way to do the setout was to sketch a plan view with just the section of the frame jambs....then it's easy to set out frames working out direct glazed and door and opening windows spaces.

Have you thought about timber choice yet?

The main choices are: softwood, western red cedar, Siberian Larch, Douglas fir, southern yellow pine, maybe iroko.

 

[Jameshow]

There was a thread on here about green houses.

Cheers James

 

[Cabinetman]

And the original question was where do I get my plans from,? From the only person that knows exactly what it is I want to start with- me. I’ve seen some plans in my time and thought every single one of them was appalling. Once you have an idea of the sort of thing you want use Google images, pick out the nice features then it’s a case of using your experience to tell you what section of timber to use so that it isn’t clumsy or flimsy, and sketch it out on a piece of paper so that the proportions are right, did an experiment at college, a whole bunch of us students Were told to draw a 6 inch line and then divide it up into two pleasing proportions, so obviously it wasn’t in the middle and it wasn’t near one end it just had to look about right, and do you know we were all within 6 mm of each other, Golden Square and all that. Ian

 

[TRITON]

I think another wee point is when you design on paper, you always come up with other ideas. Using a drawing program its probably only going to be for that one project. I've note boks full of sketches, many of which are ideas born of other projects. Easy to turn a page and sketch something that popped into your head.

 

[Sandyn]

I think I have only used a plan once for making a bat box. I design on the go. I do sketches as I go along to record dimensions. I just make things up as I go along. Organic!!

 

[Britman]

How about this one?

 

[Terrytpot]

How about this one?

lol..."PLANS" not "PLANES"

 

[Britman]

sorry

 

[Beanwood]

And the original question was where do I get my plans from,?

Yes, thanks - it was exactly that, which I immediately complicated by giving an example of one I'm considering right now - i.e. a greenhouse

How about this one?

Did you even read ANY of the previous replies, and wonder how they were all so off the mark?

Thanks to those of you that pointed out greenhouse plans have been mentioned in recent months - my bad for not using the search function better. There was a great plan from a magazine on one of the previous threads - defined as a 'Mega Project' which worried me to start with, then getting as far as sentence 3 before "The dimensions given are for guidance only". I was hoping for accurate dimensions

Can I perhaps reframe the question - is there a reliable somewhere to get detailed plans, or is it pot luck? I can appreciate many of you have the vision and skills to have an idea, knock up a quick sketch and turn it into something useful you can then plan cut lists from. But I know my limitations - I don't have an artistic bone in my body (According to SWMBO!) - and I'm fairly confident I'd make design errors if I tried to make something as complex as a greenhouse (Fine lines, three/four way joints etc) without some guidance.

So I was just after a well respected resource that has various plans, that I can peruse, and use for my next project - which may, or may not be, a greenhouse

Or am I hoping for something that doesn't exist outside of Ted McGraths "$67 and I'll give you every plan you ever hoped for" offering?

 

[marcros]

general question, but is it Ted McGrath who is famed for taking plans from various places online., whether covered by copyright or not and selling them to unsuspecting people?

 

[harryc]

general question, but is it Ted McGrath who is famed for taking plans from various places online., whether covered by copyright or not and selling them to unsuspecting people?

I don’t think there is a Ted McGrath as such but yes guilty of stealing.

 

[SimonStevensCanes]

I'd like to find a set for a basic greenhouse if anyone knows of any.

theres a new Yankee workshop episode with a (presumably cedar) greenhouse. wife bought me the dvd years ago. I’d love to tackle it one day