Ping John

Here is a place that has some plans for sale. It is geared toward the home woodworker and sells both plans and hardware and tools so it is kind of a one stop shop for the hobby woodworker. Most of their stuff is not heavily dependent on having highly developed handwork skills, so anybody with a bit of understanding about which end of the hammer to hold can wade through a project with a fair chance of success. See if there is something that will work for his ideas, and if not ,then let me know and I will look at some of my books and see if I can come up with something. Just remember, when you switch on any power cutting tool, that tool doesn't have a conscience and will bite you if you give it the chance.

Here is another site that has a lot of books for various woodworking ideas. You would probably want to look at the book before you bought it so that means a trip to Barnes & Noble, but that is fun in and of itself. At least you can get an idea about what the books are offering from this website, and go from there.

John

If all else fails, something to think about is, most urban centers have an outlet for unfinished solid wood furniture. If you stay away from the particle board type stuff and look for solid wood construction. You might be pleasantly surprised at what you can find. It will cut down on the overall cost of acquiring the piece, and give a sense of self accomplishment to the project, and everybody comes away from the deal with all their fingers intact.

John

Thanks John.

I hadn't thought of Rockler for some reason. I had checked out Yankee workshop and Wood Mag. and that was all I could think of for some reason. That highland woodworking site has some interesting books. I think a trip to the book store may be in order. I really like the craftsman, shaker and mission styles. I noticed several books that just may be good if he decides he really wants to do more of it. We shall see.

Have you heard anything about Woodcraftplans.com? They have a mission style dresser I like the looks of, but I don't know how well written their plans are.

We have done the unfinished items before and they have worked really well in the past, but DH is ready to give building a try.

Thanks for the help John!!

I haven't looked at Woodcraft plans, as I do all of my own designing. I have heard the name of the magazine but I rarely pick up any magazines, other than sewing magazines. I have a number of books that are devoted to shaker furniture that have detailed drawings in them but they use techniques that are 17th-18th century and are of the hand tool constructed nature. I imagine you could adapt the style to conform to the modern construction methods, but it might take somebody who is at least familiar with old time techniques. Let me know if that would be helpful and I will point you in that direction.

John

If you are lucky enough to have one of their stores around they have really helpful staff. I refinished a very old sideboard and the nice guy in my Rockler store helped me match the old stain for a bit of molding that had to be replaced. He helped with the color and how to even repair the piece. I still can't believe how much his help made a difference. They have lots of parts and tools that are just fun to see. Fine Woodworker magazine is pretty readily available but not sure the caliber of their patterns. The local adult ed program in San Diego had a great woodworking class in the evenings that I took. Lots of the older gents took the class every time just for access to the great tools. It was heavy on safety and since I kind of like all my fingers that seemed not a bad thing. . TAria

John wrote:

Thanks so much for your help John. I think we will see where we get with Rockler and a book store. I checked out the store locations on the Rockler site. They have a couple that are within a reasonable distance so perhaps we could even plan a trip to the store. I'm sure DH won't have any objections to that. Again thanks for the help John.