We Found a Plan Library Built By Woodworkers Who Test Every Plan Before Publishing It.

Frank has a simple test for any set of instructions.

He asks: did the person who wrote this actually do the thing they're describing? Not design it. Not imagine how it might work. Actually do it, from beginning to end, with real materials, in a real workspace?

He developed this test the hard way, over a career in engineering where he reviewed technical documentation written by people who understood the theory but hadn't operated the equipment. The documentation looked correct. In practice, it failed at the points where theory and reality diverged.

When he retired and started woodworking seriously, he applied the same test to woodworking plans. Most of them failed it immediately.

We investigated Ted's Woodworking because of a specific claim at the center of its product: every plan in the library has been physically built before it's published.

What the Testing Process Involves

According to Ted's Woodworking's documentation, the plan production process uses two separate teams. The first team drafts the plan — designing the piece, creating the diagrams, writing the initial instructions. The second team builds the project from that draft exactly as written, without supplementing with outside knowledge.

The build team logs every point where the instructions are unclear, every measurement that creates a problem in practice, every step that assumes knowledge the plan doesn't provide, every hardware item that turns out to be necessary but isn't on the list. This feedback goes back to the drafting team. The plan is revised and rebuilt until the build team can follow it to a completed result without encountering undocumented problems.

That process takes two to five days per plan. It's why the library has taken 25 years to reach 16,000 plans with a team of 12 craftsmen and draftsmen working continuously.

Why This Process Matters

The failure modes that the testing process catches are the ones that make most freely available plans unusable.

Assembly sequence gaps are caught because the test builder has to follow the sequence and will stop at the point where the order of operations isn't clear. The plan gets revised to specify the sequence explicitly.

Nominal versus actual dimension issues are caught because the test builder uses real lumber, which measures at actual dimensions rather than nominal specs. A plan that specifies a 3/4-inch dado for 3/4-inch plywood will be tested with plywood that actually measures 23/32 inch. The discrepancy will produce a joint that doesn't fit, and the plan will be revised to account for the actual dimension.

Hardware omissions are caught because the test builder needs every item on the materials list to be there. Missing fasteners, brackets, or hardware items cause the build to stop. The list gets revised to include everything.

Technique gaps are caught because the test builder has to execute every operation described and will encounter the steps where the description isn't sufficient to execute the technique without prior knowledge.

What 16,000 Tested Plans Represents

The mathematics of the testing process account for the library size. At two to five days per plan, with a team of 12 running three to four projects per week across 50 weeks per year for 25 years, 16,000 plans is the expected output of the process — not a marketing number.

The library covers furniture, outdoor structures, storage and organization, workshop equipment, home décor, and specialty projects. Plans are categorized and searchable, with difficulty levels from beginner through advanced. New plans are added monthly from ongoing workshop classes and are added to the library automatically.

For Frank, the specific value is confidence in the documentation. The plans he's following were tested by someone who didn't write them — the same verification standard he spent a career applying to technical documentation in engineering. He knows, going into a build, that someone has already found and fixed the problems the plan would otherwise have created.

The testing methodology that makes a furniture plan reliable is the same methodology that makes any build documentation trustworthy — and the absence of testing shows up the same way regardless of project type.

What We'd Note Before Starting

Ted's Woodworking is a digital library accessed online. Plans are downloaded and printed for workshop use. One-time purchase for lifetime access, with new plans added monthly at no additional cost.

The keyword search is efficient for finding specific projects. The difficulty and category filters are useful for browsing by type or skill level. Users who are new to the library typically spend a session familiarizing themselves with the organization before building regularly from it.

This Is For You If…

• You want to verify that the plans you follow were tested before they were published
• You're returning to woodworking after a gap and want documentation you can trust
• You value the assembly sequence and hardware specifications that reflect real build experience
• You want a library large enough to sustain years of projects at increasing difficulty

This Is NOT For You If…

• You create your own plans from original designs
• You want physical printed materials
• You're looking for a single specific plan
• You need structural or commercial construction documentation

Frank's Test

He applies it to every set of instructions he follows: did the person who wrote this actually do the thing they're describing?

For the first time since he started woodworking seriously, the answer to that question is consistently yes. And the work in his garage reflects it.