Hey guys, Matt here. I wanted to finish off my story about looking for a high quality set of bunk bed plans. If you recall my two daughters needed more room in their bedroom so my wife and I decided to make bunk beds
If you don’t want to finish the story and just want to see the plans I found, click here!
So to recap the story, I was looking all over for a good set of woodworking project plans. I had all the tools I needed, knew where to get the wood, the only thing left was a high quality project plan.
We looked online and at the library and just didn’t find anything that worked. The best free plan online looked doable and I tried it. The resulting bunk bed was so unstable I ended up ripping it apart for kindling!
I went to the hardwood supply store on Sunday to get more wood and ran into my buddy Wayne. He had just finished a nice hope chest project for his daughter and I wanted to know where he’d found the plans.
He told me he ran into the exact same problems with online plans, but that he’d found this great site with a ton of plans for lots of different kinds of projects. He gave me the name of the site and when I got home I was at the computer in a heartbeat.
Man, this site was great. I dont know how I missed it on my search, but I did. This site didn’t just have several plans, it had FOURTEEN THOUSAND woodworking project plans and a ton of different bunk bed plans to choose from.
Click here to see the site that Wayne told me about.
I figured based on my past experience that I’d have to shell out $10 or $15 for a plan, and that was fine. Imagine my surprise when I just had to pay a simple one time fee to get access to the entire library of 14,000 project plans!
I got to the bunk bed plans section and sure enough, there were some great looking bunk beds to choose from. My daughters picked the one they wanted and I downloaded the plan.
These plans were some of the best I’ve ever seen. Professionally done, they had step by step directions and incredibly detailed drawings. They were detailed enough but not too complex.
A few days later and the bunk bed was done. The plans were as easy to follow as they had looked. My daughters were very happy with the end result. Of course best of all, my WIFE was happy about it!
Click here to go see the library of woodworking plans!
A very important part of any woodworking project is a woodworking plan. This starts your woodworking or scroll saw project off right!
They can help to improve the style and look of your piece. Well designed plans have informative and clear instructions and are illustrated to guide you through the entire process.
You can buy a high quality plan online or you can sometimes find them for free. You can even make your own plan if you have artistic talent!
Finding good plans
If you can’t afford to pay for a high quality plan you might be able to find a suitable free pattern online. Most free plans you can find online are low quality and no real substitute for a high quality plan. High quality woodworking plans are available for low reasonable rates which make the low quality free plans less attractive.
You can find project plans for specific projects or general purpose plan collections. You can buy simple or complicated plans for all kinds of projects.
If you want a specific item you can find websites dedicated only to certain types of projects such as toys, puzzles, or even decor. These kinds of websites are easy enough to find with your favorite search engine
You can also buy plan books in a bookstore or borrow it from the local library. Magazines for woodworkers usually have a few popular project plans in each issue. Buying magazines and tearing out the project plans can be a good way to find plans.
Starting with a simple design is the best thing to do if you do not have much wood working experience. This way you can learn the basic techniques and practice reading plans without getting too stressed out with a complicated design. Once you have a few projects under your belt you can start more complex and intricate projects.
You must verify that the plan you choose is full of clear information and has detailed guidelines. Find plans that have detailed instructions and clear illustrations, diagrams, and photographs. Think about buying a binder for your project plans so all of your woodworking plans are in one spot.
You can make a few minor changes to the plan instead of following it step by step. If you change just a step or two in the project plan you end up with a unique end result. You could also consider painting the result of your hard work instead of using a wood stain.
Designing your own project
After honing your skills on plans designed by others you might decide to make your own plan. This sounds hard but in reality it’s pretty easy. Always start by roughing out a design and then add details after you have the basics completed.
Select the materials for your project
The logical next step is to choose which kind of wood you would like to use. You should make sure your measurements are completely accurate so that you order enough wood to complete the project.
Now is the perfect time to figure out if you need anything else to complete your project. Write a complete list of all materials you will need, including quantities. Write everything down that you will need, including wood stains or paint.
If you don’t have all of the tools you need, be sure to include those on your list as well. When you head out to buy supplies be sure to take your list so you don’t forget something you need.
Click here to see the best woodworking plan site I’ve ever found on the Internet.
Hey it’s Matt. I’m not a very good artist so I can’t really design my own project plans. I can follow them pretty well, but I need to find plans for my woodworking projects before I can really do much.
I headed up to the hardwood supply store on a Sunday morning to pick up wood for the bunk bed project. I figured it couldn’t hurt to at least pick up some supplies!
My friend Wayne was there. We chatted about the projects we were working on and what we were there for. I told him about the problems I was having finding a good set of plans.
He said he had found a site online where he found perfect plans for his cedar hope chest project. There was a ton of plans available and he was able to find a plan that was perfect for his daughter.
Apparantly the site has a ton of other project plans and he was pretty sure that I’d be able to find some plans for my diy bunk beds. The plans he got were easy to follow, detailed, and had fantastic step by step directions.
I didn’t need to hear anything else. I headed home and got on the computer to see the site he was talking about. Sure enough, I found the perfect bunk bed plans! I couldn’t wait to get started!
Click here to see the site Wayne told me about.
Hey there, this is Matt. A friend of mine wanted me to post a picture of my workshop. I figured since I have this website I’ll just use this.
I’m no pro, but I have some decent woodworking tools. Table saw, jointer, a planer, and an antique band saw I inherited from my grandfather.
Hey it’s Matt! Here’s the story behind my search for easy bunk bed plans. My wife managed to convince me that I needed to share my experiences with the world, so here goes!
My two daughters needed more space in their bedroom. Unfortunately space can be kinda hard to add to an existing house. Since the two beds in their room took up so much floor space I decided that a new woodworking project was in order!
We considered looking for trundle bed plans but decided that bunk beds were the right choice. I went online and started looking for the perfect project plan.
Sure enough, I found a bunch of plans. There was a big problem though. These plans were boring, hard, complicated, and even incomplete! I tried making one of the best looking free plans I could find and it was so unstable that I ended up ripping it apart and used it for kindling.
I need to head out now, but I’ll write another post soon about what we ended up doing.
Click here if you just want to see the woodworking plans site I found instead of reading the entire story. I forgive you if you do…
