How do you design a project, what's your process?????

Gord,

I’m by no means an original thinker, but I have a couple of things that I go through depending on the piece I’m making.

If it’s a larger piece, that is a blanket chest or built in, I use a combination of graph paper and sketchup. I initially draw a concept on graph paper, and then build it in sketchup to get an idea of dimensions and proportions. At that point, I use a cutlist program to make sure that I’m maximizing the materials that I have…ie. minimizing waste. I’m not frugal, I just don’t have the shop space to store a whole pile of cutoffs.

For smaller pieces like boxes, I grab some wood off the pile, dimension it to about what looks right. I lay the pieces together on the bench to get an idea of proportion and feel. Then I make it a tad smaller in certain ways to accommodate, or leave it alone and pick some joinery. I can usually adjust dimensions at that point with some hand planes, if I don’t like it, or just whack the joinery off and start again with a somewhat smaller version. I don’t tend to make smaller things that are meant for anything specific so it affords me some leeway in construction that I might not have if it had an intended application.

Generally with me, the smaller the piece, the more I just let the wood decide. The larger the piece, I go pretty heavy multimedia.

I’m just a hobbyist with limited shop time.

Cheers!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Hi Gord,

Welcome aboard. I posted a related question a few weeks ago that you might find interesting.
http://lumberjocks.com/topics/983

Regards,

-- Bob, Carver Massachusetts, Sawdust Maker http://www.capecodbaychallenge.org

Hi Gord,
I can’t remember how I replied to Bob’s query. To me form follows function so the first thing is what will it do. Then the next question is where will it live. A Louis 14th coffee table will not fit with Green and Green end tables.Since I don’t follow anyone elses plans. I take the ideas and go to the drawing pad. First, thumbnail sketches. I try it any way I think might work. After size and style are determined it is time to get decorative. Art work, leather, horn, ivory, silver or what ever. I prefer to use a set of design elements throughout a piece. Sometimes a piece just grows. I then do a scale drawing. With this i even draw in the moldings to scale(if posssible). These are also my cutlist and working drawings. Sometimes at this stage things turn out to not work the way I thought. I can usually tell if the design will work both physically and aestheticly from these scale drawings. By the time I start cutting the material the piece is finished in my head and I know every move I will make. I’ve tried to” just do it” and every time I wind up in a wreck. I need to draw my own road map and follow it to the end.
For kitchens I use CabinetCruncher to make cut lists and material lists.
Tom

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

I listen and follow the voices in my head! OK, I know where the exit is… :o)

Seriously, first sketches on whathever is on hand. I usually carry a small notebook and a pencil in one of my pockets. Once at home, a careful measured drawing and from then on it depends on the project: full scales, mock-ups, sometimes you work from pictures and let your mind flow…

I’ve played with SketchUp in the past but is now when I’m starting to really feel comfortable with it, and all is due to the excellent series of tutorials posted by the big Bob in his blog.

I know, it’s very vague but, to me, every project asks for something different…

-- Jojo, shopless in Kyoto · http://www.japanese-woodworking-tools.com/

I have a couple pieces of wood here that were purchased because of the wood .. they are sitting quietly waiting for the right moment to tell me what they will become.

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Hi Gord

For the most part I get my ideas from magazines, books, images from outside of my head, If I see something I like on a drive I take a digital picture. Anything I like I cut out and add to my ever growing scrap book.

Then I might combine parts of one project with parts of another taking the good from one and the good from several others to come up with a concept. From there I make small sketches and once I like what I see I often use large 1” square grid paper (24” x 36”) and use a scale of 1”=1’.

I will often just clamp parts together and sit back and look at it, see if I like it?

There are times when I see a piece of wood and something just “pops” in my head, I can see beyond the simple plank, beyond the hand hewn timber or the burl and an idea is born.

All too often I hear “what are you going to do with that?”...........”burn it”.......”ya right!”. Recently I was at a cottage where they were thining the Lilac trees, roots and all and burning them. I pulled what wasnt burnt from the pile and heard the same ol thing…...”thats firewood”. After peeling the bark off, being careful to cut just the root shoots off…..........the wood is gorgeous, purple, fragrent, figured and they made great hall table legs albeit a little on the eclectic side and whats even better….............the wood was free.

It would be rare to make small scale proto pieces albeit I have done it for customtrim work where the client just couldnt picture the end result.

Regards

-- http://www.furnituremann.ca/

Because wood has such a visual/sensual attraction for most people I find myself constantly scanning books , magazines and images on the Internet for old and new applications of art and technology.
I have recently begun keeping a computer record of pieces that interest me and I now keep a log in my cluttered shop to jot down dimensions and my project notes.
Once I settle on a project the hunt begins for materials.
First in my trove of boards, bit and pieces then out to the lumber suppliers.
I may carry a design in my shirt pocket for as much as a 3 months before I actually get the materials and hardware together so there is generally some thought put into the design.
Working the wood is highly technical today to I can hide my meager talents behind precision shop tools.
For the most part the building goes rather quickly and I am always disappointed when it ends.
As I do this work for a hobby I have no deadline and no third party to please so I can get the greatest return on my time by making things that I like.
I do actually design the finish for the project in advance of selecting the woods as this makes the fabrication a lot simpler than trying to match the wood during and after the milling of same.
I can’t count the number of project I have seen that hang up on the finish.
I would like to learn sketchup but time is against me right now.
I take my camera with me a lot.
It is the very best way to gather info and to share it with others.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Hi All,

Special thans to Bob Babcock…......................thanks for the great link. There’s a lot of great reading there.

I’ve always been interested in how the creative mind works and now I’ve got a lot great ideas.
Thanks one and all for taking the time to post your thoughts.

All the best
Gord

I get asked that question asked a fair bit and i never really give it much thought .

I like to look at old pictures of the past and see how things were done back then.
I have always been fond of Victorian style mainly because of the time and detail they spent back then so i try to use some of them ideas when i design my birdhouses or any other type of structure .

I am always looking to create what hasn’t been done… I am a outside the box thinker too… Way out

-- John in Cranbrook http://www.extremebirdhouse.com ....http://community.webshots.com/user/cranbrook2

and we’re glad that you are a way out” thinker, John. Your work is amazing

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

I use SketchUp on non cabinet type jobs but my main program for cabinetry is Cabinet Planner. www.cabinetplanner.com

I picked up this program off of Ebay for less than 100.00 and the program gets free upgrades for life!

Currently a 3D rendering has been added.

I like the program because after I draw up a job, the calc function gives me a the exact materials I need as well as a pricing function. The program can be set up for a variety of cabinet styles such as Euro,Face Frame,and full on Custom combined cabinets.

One of the best purchases I’ve made for running a more efficient business.

-- http://www.jgcw.biz

I listen to the customers ideas and then wait till i’m alone with a pencil in my hand before i can really get my creative spirit moving.

The personality of the people i’m working with seems to have an effect on this. You have the type who wants to hire you to design it, but you start wondering why since he obviously thinks he’s fully capable of doing this himself. Then you have the type that knows you’re the expert and trust your judgement and creativity to handle it.

The latter is the one that i find a pleasure to work for, and more likely to call up the creativity angels from some ethereal abyss to bless their project.

-- miles125, Alabama.."Architecture is frozen music""