PDF Format Reproduction Furniture Plans
I’ve been selling printed plans for building reproductions of Arts & Crafts period furniture since 2002, shortly after the publication of my book “Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture”. Almost from the beginning I’ve been asked to create plans in PDF format that can be downloaded and printed. I am happy to introduce that very thing. Available plans appear below, and more are in the works.
Most of these projects are entirely new, but some are projects from my book. Each project has been researched and the drawings began as 3D models. This ensures that all the pieces fit, and all the drawing views agree. There is also a complete cutlist and an estimate of how much material you will need for construction. The advantage of these new plans is that the individual drawings are much easier to understand.
The drawings in my books, and in the printed plans I sell are almost entirely “mechanical” drawings in orthographic projection. That is the traditional way of presenting technical drawings; the point of view is from directly above, in front of, or to the side of the object. It takes a bit of experience to interpret the drawing, and you have to compare several views to get a handle on how all the parts fit together.
Several years ago, I switched from drafting in two dimensions to modeling in three with SketchUp. It made me faster and more accurate, and I found myself printing “non-traditional” drawings for my own use in the shop. Thanks to new technology, most of the drawings in this new series of reproduction furniture plans are in three dimensions as seen in the image above left. Traditional views are still included, but there are times when tradition should give way to better methods.
