I am sorry it took me so long to respond to the various comments I have received, we just got back from vacation and it took a week to catch up. Jeremy, your comments regarding "the other half" (the better half?) made me laugh. Is that problem universal, it sounded very like Marie and myself. Our biggest problem is, I don't do drawings, I visualize it in my head, start with the exterior dimensions and then just build it. This drives Marie crazy because obviously she wants to see what the finished article will be before giving it the go ahead.
Not too many problems so far with the "purchased" dining set, and I can only hope that it continues. I really don't want to start rebuilding it.
I am so disappointed with FWW, their whole philosophy seems to revolve around office politics, money, and it would appear that whoever pays the piper calls the tune, although they go to great lengths to deny such a charge.
In their tests, they tested a 1 inch dowel against the 2 inch mortise, which is ridiculous, then they based our rating on the strength of the wood (the dowel joint did not fail). The final straw was testing a zero biscuit (about the size of a quarter) against a 2 inch mortise. Is it just me, or is this not ridiculous?
Thanks for the suggestions about the plans. I did consider this option strongly at one point, however the problem is two fold. First of all we don't have the means to put them on the PDF format and could probably only solve that problem by Michael doing an extensive computer course. The second thing is that there is not much call for plans. I have only had two or three requests in an 8 year period. Also as I said earlier, I don't do my own drawings, so therefore it would mean starting from scratch with measurements etc. etc. Having said all that I want to thank you very much Jeremy for your kind offer. Another quite timely Email arrived a while ago, asking us if we would like to link to a local company that has drawn up plans for various furniture styles. They use the Dowelmax extensively in the plans, so we are in talks with that company to see how it can benefit both companies.
It's so great to see signs of Spring after a very long and colder than normal Winter. Best wishes to all my friends and fellow bloggers.
The Dowelmax Jig
Regarding the FWW test, it seems like you're powerless to change how that was conducted. The only thing you can do is to invest in education for your potential customers and maybe a bit more in marketing. To me, the plans that I and another of your blog readers requested are a form of marketing. It means DM customers won't have to try to adapt existing plans to DM. I'm going to look into the Kreg plans CD that the other fellow mentioned. Seems like the plans may be good for both joinery systems...
ReplyDeleteRegarding the software, another option might be Google Sketchup. Have you heard of it? It is a free download, and there is lots of information on the internet about how to use it. The most useful one for me has been www.sketchupforwoodworkers.com. There is a link at the top of that page with very well-done video tutorials. The page where you can download Sketchup for free is http://sketchup.google.com/ The link is at the upper right.
I recommend that you and/or watch those videos, then download Sketchup and give it a go. This is becoming a more and more common format for today's woodworkers.
I downloaded & installed sketchup on my computer and have started to draw my entertainment center. (the one from the cover of a recent issue of Woodsmith) I needed to re-scale everything for 23/32" thick plywood.
I haven't yet figured out how to draw molding and drawers, but probably only because I haven't watched that tutorial yet. I spent one Saturday watching the first 3 or 4 tutorials and playing with it, and have done the basic drawing including dados. No cash outlay, just time.
Don't know if I mentioned this before, but you might also consider having a presence at woodworking shows. Many DM owners have said that it cannot be fully appreciated by pictures and videos. Demonstrating it in person, and maybe even letting people try it in person might have a huge effect, and help people get over their jitters over the initial price.
Did you see the new MortisePal jig that's on the market now? It seems pretty neat & high quality, but doesn't seem nearly as flexible as DM. (lacks indexing ability, and probably multi-row ability too)
Last thing: I'm no longer a member at Sawmill Creek. I had some conversations there with John and was a bit worried he might have wondered what happened to me.