Who doesn’t want to engage in a fun yet productive hobby during the weekends and relieve themselves of all the week-long pent up stress?
And in my opinion, when it comes to the field of stress-busting hobbies, there honestly is nothing quite like handcrafted woodworking projects.
The glamour of natural timber is indeed a timeless one. And there’s something uniquely satisfying and calming about crafting toys and furniture with one’s own hands.
But people try to avoid woodworking projects as they feel that they don’t have the required experience or skill set for it. I had the same opinion as well, but that was before I encountered Teds Woodworking program.
I’ve had my eye on Ted’s 16,000 woodworking plans for some time.
It seemed too good to be true. Even though I’m not an avid woodworker, I figured if I made one or a few of the projects from the kit it would be money well spent.
My curiosity got the best of me. I bit the bullet and bought it. They offer a refund so I figured if it was totally worthless I could ask for my money back.
Is is too good to be true
Not really. It’s pretty good. It’s not perfect, but it’s good.
Some of the plans are so bad but are included just to beef up the sales pitch of “16,000” plans.
And then some of the plans are great. Some are okay. I’m not surprised it’s not perfect. It’s a massive collection and mishmash of different plans for all kinds of products.
Here’s the mindset you should have if you buy Ted’s Woodworking.
Accept the fact you won’t like every plan.
In fact, accept you will probably not do 90% or more of them for any number of reasons such as the plans are bad and/or they aren’t projects you wish to build.
BUT, the few plans that you do like and that are decent quality, if you build them, will be make the cost of this digital collection of woodworking plans worth it.
Not Sure If It's For You? Try These 50 FREE Woodworking Plans And See For Yourself
Will I ask for my money back
IMHO No. At least for me!
It’s worth the price I paid. Sure, I could ask for a refund and probably get it and still keep the plans (they’re digital in PDF form); however, that’s not my style.
I don't know about you, but....
If I deem something worth the money I paid, I don’t ask for a refund. I’m pretty confident I’ll get my money’s worth in the long run.
Moreover, I’m assured in my Ted’s Woodworking member section that I’ll get access to new plans that are added in the future. (Of course I have no idea if this will happen.)
Is Ted’s Woodworking just a bunch of ripped off plans
Some people online have suggested that Ted’s Woodworking plans are blatantly ripped off from a myriad of sources and put together into a mega digital “plans product”.
In other words, they allege Ted’s Woodworking is a massive copyright infringement.
Is Ted’s Woodworking a copyright infringement product (i.e. a scam)?
You want the real answer?
I don’t know.
It’s possible, but I don’t know so I’m not going to speculate. After all, any digital product could be, right?
I do know this product has been available for years which means if it was a huge copyright rip off, it seems to me the product would have been shut down by now.
Of course, just because the product hasn’t been shut down doesn’t mean there isn’t copyright infringement… but I frankly can’t say one way or another.
It’s very possible Ted obtained a license to sell each plan and/or the plans are in public domain and/or Ted came up with some of the plans. I have no idea, but I never investigated with a fine-toothed comb either (who has time for that)?
Who should buy Ted’s Woodworking
This is for people who like DIY projects. Most of the plans are labeled “beginner”, “intermediate” or “advanced” which is helpful.
Even if you’ve never built anything or done any woodworking, this is a pretty good set of plans to get going with because there are beginner projects included.
You can build all kinds of stuff for your home. (See the list of plan categories below)
At the end of the day, if you do the odd DIY project or dabble in woodworking, this is a decent set of plans to have in your inventory.
About the Product
I haven’t counted to see if there are 16,000 plans, but I confirm there are a lot of them.
Fortunately they are well organized so you can find exactly what you’re looking for.
Here’s are the plan categories:
There are quite a few plans in each category.
Plan Diagram Examples
Here are just a few examples of the plans (so you can see what to expect):
Example Loft Bed Plan from Ted’s Woodworking
Gazebo
Outdoor Umbrella Table and Benches
Example of Outdoor Umbrella Table Plan in Teds Woodworki
Diagram plan of Outdoor Umbrella Table in Teds Woodworking
Privacy Fence
Privacy Fence from Teds Woodworking
Leaf Table
Leaf Table Plan from Teds Woodworking
You get the idea. Obviously some plans are better than others. There are some really old plans that don’t look very good but then there are some really good plans.
Product Delivery
Ted’s Woodworking is delivered as a PDF download. It’s actually a series of PDF downloads (see plan categories above).
However, you can also order the DVD edition but it costs an extra $19.95 (I didn’t pay $19.95 for the DVD version).
Pros:
Some great woodworking plans: Obviously if a plan is something you want to build and the plan is detailed enough so that you can complete the project it’s good.
However, some of the projects are old and the plans are poor quality… so bad you’ll probably just ignore them.
On the PLUS side, there are many excellent projects worth building. For example, the loft bed plan above is excellent (one of many).
Well Organized: I was relieved after buying Ted’s Woodworking that I didn’t have to sift through thousands of PDF pages. Instead, Ted at least put some effort into organizing the plans in many categories. This made finding some decent plans very easy.
In fact, the members’ area is really easy to use and well organized.
Good value for money: One or two completed projects from this product makes it worth the money. I have no doubt I’ll get my money’s worth in the long run and I’ve yet to check out every single plan included. I’ve found enough quality projects that I’m satisfied with the product value given it’s fairly low cost.
Cost: It’s not very expensive. Since it’s a digital download, you don’t have to pay for an expensive book, which is fantastic.
Inspiration: One benefit of there being so many plans is simply by combing through the plans I came up with new project ideas I hadn’t thought of before.
Cons:
Some terrible plans: Unfortunately some of the plans are terrible which means you have to spend some time filtering through the bad plans. I would prefer a product with fewer plans with each one be high quality.
Woodworking Videos: These are a joke. Fortunately it’s just a bonus so I didn’t care. I think these weaken the product. The videos are primarily from YouTube. Ted simply combed through YouTube looking for woodworking videos and put them in the members’ area. I checked out a few of the videos and they weren’t worth watching.
Conclusion:
Overall, I’m satisfied. I found several projects worth doing and the plans were sufficiently detailed that I’d be able to build them.
It’s a great inventory to have on hand even though I have no immediate need. If ever I wish to build something, I have a good set of plans to check out.
If you're not sure about Ted's plans, (and I get you), then...
