Start here.
You need one board, a saw, a drill, and an afternoon. Here's how the plans work and where to begin.
How every plan is laid out
Each project page has the same parts in the same order. A drawing of the finished piece. A cut diagram showing every piece laid out on the board, to scale, with the saw kerf accounted for, so you know before you buy that it fits. A cut list with letters that match the drawing. Step drawings showing how the pieces go together. Then the written instructions, and a short list of what tends to go wrong and how to fix it.
All measurements are in inches and are actual, not nominal. A 2x4 is 1½ by 3½ inches. A 1x6 is ¾ by 5½. Plywood sold as ¾ inch is usually 23⁄32. The plans account for this; the names are just what the store calls them.
What to buy
The project page tells you the board. Three things to check at the store:
- Length. Plans assume a full 8-foot board, which is 96 inches. The precut studs stacked next to the 2x4s are 92⅝ inches and won't work for the plans that use most of the board.
- Straightness. Sight down the board from one end. Reject twist. A gentle bow is fine for anything cut into short pieces.
- Knots. Fine in a planter, not fine in a mallet head or a tine of a boot jack. The plan says where they matter.
Beyond the board, most projects need wood glue and a box of screws in the lengths listed. That's usually the whole shopping list.
Tools
A saw, a drill with a countersink bit, a square, a tape measure, two clamps, and sandpaper cover almost everything here. The tools page goes through each one and what to look for. You don't need a table saw. Most plans have no rip cuts at all, and the few that do are short enough for a hand saw.
Build these three first
- Bench hook. Thirteen inches of 1x6, three pieces, half an hour. After this you can crosscut square by hand without clamping anything, which makes every later project faster.
- Shop mallet. Twenty-seven inches of 2x4. Teaches gluing up a lamination and shaping with a rasp, and you'll use it to knock the next project together.
- Step stool. A full 2x4. Glue-ups, screws into end grain, and something you'll keep. If it comes out square, you're ready for anything on the site.
A few habits worth starting with
- Cut the pieces in the order shown on the cut diagram, and write the letter on each one as it comes off the saw.
- When a plan has several pieces the same length, cut them with the same setup and check them against each other. Matching lengths make square boxes.
- Drill pilot holes near the end of a board and in any 1x stock. It takes ten seconds and avoids the split that ruins the piece.
- Glue does the holding. Screws hold the joint while the glue dries. Use both.