For those of you who are into the art and hobby of woodworking, you know the importance of a woodworking plan in a project. It doesn’t matter if you are working on a chair or a bench, the plan will make or break your entire DIY project. You rely on the plan to give you the exact measurements for each part of the project. If one or more of the measurements are wrong, the whole thing can go haywire and all your efforts can be wasted. So, what are the important elements of a good woodworking plan?

Important Elements of Woodworking Plan
FREE plans are good because they are free. You can opt for free woodworking plan as long as the plan is proper and correct. Regardless of whether you are using free or paid plan, you must make sure the plan is free from error. You need to consider the following elements when you use a plan for your woodworking project.

Photo or Real Picture of Final Woodwork
This photo or real picture feature is very helpful for a woodworker, especially for the beginners. If you are able to see what the woodworking project looks like, it will definitely help you form a mental picture of your final work. In some ways, the mental picture will help you work faster and clearer in your project.

3D Plans
Today’s computer technology and advanced software should be able to give nice and vivid 3D view of the project. The 3D view enable you to picture the project from different angles and should also help you to have a concrete idea of the item you will be building. The ability to visualize the item in 3D during the building process is definitely going to help you in completing the project faster.

Clear and Legible Measurements
Make sure you have a DIY plan which you can see the measurements clearly and legibly. You definitely don’t want a plan that looks like someone simply scribbles the measurements on the plan. A good plan should have easy to read measurements, even for the smaller dimension components. You should not need to strain to read the numbers.

Systematic Step-By-Step Instructions
If the plan comes with step-by-step instructions, you don’t need any guess work in your building process. The instructions will lay down the order of things to be done. The working process can be slow and delayed if you are not sure which are the tasks you should complete first.

A Printable Plan
The plan you have should be printable in A4 size, even for the individual view. You should not squeeze all the views in one A4 paper when you do not have an A3 size printer. You need to be able to have a printout that you can read without a magnifying glass.

There may be some other minor elements you want to consider in a good plan. All in all, the above will be a good checklist to get a workable and acceptable woodworking plan.

Author Bio: Darren Anderson is the chief editor of Woodwork Plans And Projects. Anderson is a woodworking hobbyist and writes about woodworking on his site. Please visit his site for more detailed review on plans for woodwork. Anderson also offers FREE 10-Part Woodworking Tips and Information.

Category: Arts and Crafts
Keywords: plans for woodwork,woodworking plans,woodwork DIY