The plans that you can purchase from the website advertise that they are CAD drawn plans. I don’t see how else they would be other than hand drawn. 🙂 If you purchase a plan can you get the cad files? It would be nice to customize pieces in the office instead of doing it in the shop.
Replies
I don't know if you can get the CAD file for plans for projects or not but they would be helpful. I purchased the plans for the workbench and am currently building it. The plans came on one large sheet of paper and are poor to say the least. Most of critical areas are in 1/4 scale with no measurements! Get out a rule which reads in 32nds, a magnifing glass, calculator and try to figure out which side of the thick lines they are starting from. After fighting it for a few days, I broke out my drafting table and redrew almost everything - critical areas in full scale. Hopefully now I can get something done without wasting any more wood.
Also, if you do purchase plans, check every measurement they do show and every instruction they give. There is more than one serious error on the plans I got. If my experience is typical of all their plans (which I do not know) I would have to say their plans are minimalistic at the best and certainly not of the quality I would expect from an outfit like Fine Woodworking.
Steve
That was my fear. Way back when I bought plans from the New Yankee Workshop of a chair and they had multiple pieces set to diffrent scales and so on. Also they were on a paper with a textured background so I couldn't scan them in to modify them.
Thanks for the warning, at least now I know what to expect.
I bought the country hutch plan and there were so many mistakes I sent it back. I talked with Mr. White but then he never even returned my calls. There were gross measurement errors and it was just as you state no measurements that you really need. Garbage not worth the paper there printed on. Mr white informed me that because there coppied there not true to scale either. Some of the mistakes were because it wasnt actually to scale and the fact checker messed it up more than it was. I sent a letter too and no one got back to me. What a joke. I was triing to help others from waisting wood on a cut list thats wrong.
That just gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling! :(
Ohh well... then I would suppose true cad drawings are way out of the question! :)
Any ideas where i can get plans in cad?
Im sure there out there. I can look for you see what I can find. John Wjite at FWW said also these plans are new and there triing it out to see how it goes.
What piece are you wanting a cad file for? Oh yeah this was another good one from John White. He said "If I could build the country hutch then I didnt need the plans" Hmmmm I made a cut list from the article figuring everything out from the few measurements they gave you. I came across a spot that was wrong so I decided to get the plans to save time. When I got the plans it was wrong there too. What really makes me mad is they put an update of one mistake in this months issue yet there are more they missed. I too expected perfection from FWW. The detailed instructions that come with the plan is a copy of the article wooo hooo. I thought they would build the piece from the plans to test it before they sold the plans...not the case. John White should have made ammends because there is more he said you wouldn't believe...
We are aware that the Country Hutch plan had some errors. We deeply regret that and have sent every customer who bought the plan an email, apologizing for the error and providing them with correct information. Additionally, we will begin mailing replacement plans to every customer next week.
We are not perfect, but we stand by our products and do everything we can to ensure that our customers are satisfied. This particular plan was completed during a period when we were short staffed -- I know, not a solid excuse -- and since then we're back up to full steam and have implemented yet another round of fact-checking.
As far as offering the plans as CAD files, we bounced that idea around but have decided for now not to do that. If there is enough demand for such a product, we will reconsider.
--Anatole BurkinPublisherFine Woodworking
Well Considering its been over 2 months now that no one has contacted I doubt any one formally will. I sent a letter 1 month ago and originally talked to John White almost 3 months ago with not even I letter or email saying you would look into it. I sent my plans back after not hearing from John for one month. I would enjoy seeing the new cut list and updated plans to see if you found everything I did. I was up to 15 errors just in the base. Im sure there were that many in the top too.
Send me the list of what you found wrong and we'll work with it to verify the problems. I'll hold off on sending out reprints to other customers until we get this one ironed out.
Are you kidding me. I sent you an email and you reply here. What a joke, your office dirrected my call to John White about errors on this plan. He hasnt gotten back to me nor has anyone responded to the already outlined problems I sent to you in the mail. Now you want me to tell you again all of the problems on your plan. . Heres one for you see if you can figure it out and get back to me. Whats wrong with the panels?
I would like to know why John never called me back when he said he would and why your office never responded to my letter I sent to you? Now the problems with the plan was due to understaffing. Whats the problem with you customer service and your promises? And who exactly is this Im talking with?
I replied to your email directly last week and you never responded. The last post was directed at a comment here in the forum. You got a problem, talk to me offline, 800-926-8776.
I certainly would be interested in plans if there was an option to get them in some sort of cad. The obvious benefit would be for customizing a piece. Another would be for plotting full size parts for use as templates.
That was my fear. Way back when I bought plans from the New Yankee Workshop of a chair and they had multiple pieces set to diffrent scales and so on. Also they were on a paper with a textured background so I couldn't scan them in to modify them.
Rcoman,
Your description fits the plans for NYW dining side chair. If so, I bought those plans and was redrawing full scale so I could make templates, as I planned to make a full set for my dining room. I found a couple of questionable dimensions, so I sent an email to Norm... a year ago this coming Friday to be exact, and still no reply. Below is what I sent to him; maybe you can tell me whether I have misinterpreted, or if there really is a problem? Note that I've abandoned this design (on principle), but would still like to know whether or not I misinterpreted the plans. In the case that it is the same chair as you'd bought the plans for, below is the text from my inquiry.
Back Rail: 1. Should the 5-1/2" dimension near the top really be 5-3/4"? I couldn't get it to work out any other way.
Please advise.
2. The "lip" on the 1/4" quarterround is 1/16" wide (per the section view) along the front, but is 1/8" on the sides per the "Pattern For Top Of Back Rail". Am not sure this is a problem; was this difference intentional?
Please advise.
Location of Dowel Holes for Front Leg:
1. Should the 9/32" locating dimension for the Side Stretcher dowel holes really be 11/32"? (Comment below under "General" notwithstanding; that's another issue that, if used, will require some redimensioning.)
Please advise.
General:
Drilling the Stretcher for dowels:
1. Am using the front end of Side Stretcher as an example (this is not the only incident in this plan): If the holes are drilled 1/2" deep, perpendicular to The Cut (assuming this means the end cut), the bottom of the hole is .009" away from the face of the Stretcher, and tear through would happen in an instant. To avoid this risk, am inclined to locate the holes a bit further toward the inside of the Stretcher.
Your comments?
Suggestion: (Rcoman, as best I can recall, I later realized that one of the below statements with respect to LH/RH is incorrect, but I don't recall which one. Toots.)
"Pattern For Back Post/Leg" shows the RH post/leg.
"Cut For Bottom Of Back Leg & Dowel Holes for Side Stretcher" shows the RH leg.
"Pattern For Curved Post" shows the LH post.
1. Might it be a good idea to show the "Pattern For Curved Post" in the RH view?
Your comments?
Am not completely finished making the patterns, and I don't know if I will have more questions, but I would like a 'jump' on the answers so that I can finish fairly soon.
Now my quest is for plans for Hepplewhite or Chippendale chairs.
Any input is appreciated.
Toots
Wow, this is really great input for those guys and I am surprised they don't welcome the comments? As some of you know I have actually started a website for free plans and with that being mentioned I would love to have this type of input if someone came across such errors! The thought of not offering a cad drawing is also confusing?? Heck, the drawing should be done as part of the process. Not to mention that if you had the cad drawing then you might be able to work out some of the issues yourself?? Kinda funny really but sad at the same time. Hopefully my library will continue grow so maybe some day you all will have the plans you want at my site?
RJ
http://www.awlfreeplans.com
Edited 7/3/2007 5:15 pm by rjones69
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