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Building from a Plan |
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Have you ever found the ideal project to build, but felt you
didn’t have the equipment or skills needed to complete it?
You can easily overcome this problem and tackle any project
by looking at the plan as a succession of little steps that
combine technique with tools in an orderly and planned process.
By breaking down these steps into their component parts, you
can identify what you can’t do (because you lack either the
tools or the skill) and find better ways to do what you can.
In addition to doing things you thought were impossible, you
will find new ways to complete the project.
It’s likely that the author or designer of the plan built the
project using his or her own set of tools and skills and may
have even built more than one before creating the plan. This
gave the designer the chance to test and then modify ideas.
Unfortunately, the article or plan is designed with a specific
set of tools, equipment and skills in mind. However, just because
you lack one or more of these elements, doesn’t mean you can’t
make the project.
Perhaps the most important part of working from a plan is ensuring
you can make each part with the tools you own. Does it call
for bandsawing stock 8” thick, likely two full inches thicker
than your equipment can handle? Does it assume you have a mortising
machine or lots of time for detailed handwork? If you have neither
the tools nor the time, you need to rework the process.
Before abandoning the project and deeming it impossible, remember
that there is more than one way to do almost anything. Take
a good look at your tools and the finished product pictured
in the plan. If it can’t be done the standard way, rework the
process to make it work for you.
For the plan that calls for bandsawing stock 8” thick, what
happens if you make the piece 6” thick? If it is only cosmetic,
great, and if it means changing some other dimensions, then
go ahead if it still works. If neither is appropriate, cut two
4” pieces and glue them together to give you the full 8” piece
the plan calls for. You would have sanded the bandsaw marks
off anyway, so the extra sanding because of the glue joint won’t
cause much extra work. To make this lack of equipment look like
a design element, glue a contrasting veneer between the two
4” pieces.
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Other Articles from this Issue |
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