# Build a prototype first



## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

You have learned how to use your router and are ready to build your first real project. You go out and buy some nice wood and start working. Next thing you know you made a mistake and ruined an expensive piece of wood. How can you prevent this?

I always build a prototype out of cheap material first. This helps you learn the process for each project and they are all different. When I built my small shaker table I made one in pine to test my home built tapering jig for the legs and to try my idea for using pocket hole screws instead of mortise and tenon joinery. The pine table turned out fine and when I applied the finish I had runs on the legs. I sanded off the finish and practiced again with good results. Next I built the same table out of maple. Everything went smooth and it turned out great. I learned what not to do and what worked best. I think this is the smart way to go.

Keep a log while you build your project. It doesn't have to be fancy; just quick notes about your build. Include information like how long each step took you, what finish you used and how it was applied. This is really handy for future reference.


----------



## Don Butler (Mar 31, 2009)

In my experience, I find that modeling a project in SketchUp first is tantamount to building a mockup, excepting only the glue up.

I get the additional benefit of checking dimensions exactly and clearing up any inconsistancies in the design.

Google SketchUp is a free download and can be mastered by anyone willing to give it some of his time. After all, I learned it, didn't I?

Don "Dances With Wood" Butler


----------



## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

+1 here.. This is very, very good advise especially for those attempting a new process or technique. Even for someone like myself who likes to either modify a plan or work on the fly, if its new to me and requires a new skill set, I'll practice as mentioned. 
Right now one of my projects I want to do some stringing (line and berry). Looks relatively easy, but one mistake and I can ruin the whole piece requiring a great deal of repair work or even a start over...Its much better to learn by ones mistakes than learn because of them...




Mike said:


> You have learned how to use your router and are ready to build your first real project. You go out and buy some nice wood and start working. Next thing you know you made a mistake and ruined an expensive piece of wood. How can you prevent this?
> 
> I always build a prototype out of cheap material first. This helps you learn the process for each project and they are all different. When I built my small shaker table I made one in pine to test my home built tapering jig for the legs and to try my idea for using pocket hole screws instead of mortise and tenon joinery. The pine table turned out fine and when I applied the finish I had runs on the legs. I sanded off the finish and practiced again with good results. Next I built the same table out of maple. Everything went smooth and it turned out great. I learned what not to do and what worked best. I think this is the smart way to go.
> 
> Keep a log while you build your project. It doesn't have to be fancy; just quick notes about your build. Include information like how long each step took you, what finish you used and how it was applied. This is really handy for future reference.


----------



## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Don, your ideas have merit but the intent of building the prototype is to discover problems that are unexpected. A good example of this is a project a beginning forum member built several years ago. The project was for shop storage of screws and other small hardware. The simple design required dadoes to be cut across a piece of plywood for strips of wood that acted as the bottom of a shelf of storage bins. The member cut the shelf strips and plywood to size, made the dado cuts and stopped for the night. When he came out the next morning the plywood had become convex. Cutting the dadoes half the thickness of the plywood and letting it sit over night in his shop had allowed hidden internal stresses and moisture migration to cause the warping. I told him to make another back from the same sheet of plywood and this time to glue the shelf strips in place right away. The glued in strips sealed the "wound" to the wood and no warping took place. It turned out he had just bought the plywood from a stack stored outside and bringing it into his heated shop with no time for it to acclimatize caused the warping when it was cut and not sealed right away. Now imagine if this had been a large project like a dresser with expensive veneered plywood... ouch! Building a prototype is an inexpensive way to find out what can go wrong; things no plan can anticipate.


----------



## xplorx4 (Dec 1, 2008)

I too have done mock-ups on smaller projects. On bigger projects you can mock-up different aspects of the job. For these mock-ups I like to use softer wood that is mostly scrap. Do well on your projects, we will look forward to seeing posts.


----------



## MikeMa (Jul 27, 2006)

I too use sketchup for my projects, and use it before doing a mock-up. In many cases, it does take the place of a physical mock-up. The benefit is that in sketch-up you can have each part of the project as its own object. Doing this allows you to move each part around, and look at how you can assemble it. I have in a couple cases found where a design would be have a very tricky to near impossible glue up. From there I can make the determination to make a design change or to build a mock-up. Definitely saved making a lot extra firewood.


----------



## Don Butler (Mar 31, 2009)

I agree, SketchUp will not reveal possible problems like material warpage, but I don't think a mockup will necessarily do it, either. 
We tend to do mockups in different materials. Making a sideboard from mahogany is expensive and a mockup might be made with cheaper materials which wouldn't reveal the potential problems with the mahogany.
My method is certainly not the be-all and end-all, but it helps me with visualization and dimensions as well as seeing clearly how parts fit together.
In the end, we all have to find our own way in woodworking. Our work methods have to fit well with our circumstances and experience.

ddwwb


----------



## MikeMa (Jul 27, 2006)

Mock-ups are great for tryout a difficult glue-up, testing new techniques, or getting an idea of how it is going to look. Sketch-up is a great tool to identify what parts of the project need to have a mock-up done. 

As Don eluded to, the mock-up won't show everything. Keep in mind that a big part of what we do in woodworking is dealing with the variability of the materials, our tools, and ourselves. This is why dry fitting is so important. I am sure many of you have discovered that after a part is cut and fitted that it will still move, so dry fit as you make the part, then dry fit one last time before you glue-up. This will allow you the chance to make tweaks to your parts before committing with glue.


----------



## chefkeith (Nov 28, 2013)

Great advice on building a prototype. I think I'll do that with my current build before I go any further. Need to practice a few things. 

I also use Google Sketchup for my designs.


----------



## Tiny (Aug 12, 2012)

That was a good advice Mike. If it is possible allways make a short serie of 1-3 of the thing you are doing. The first will have all the mistakes etc. the second will be good but the third will be exelant because then you know what is the best way to do it. I'm shure that for most people two is the right number so the first is a rehersal and the 2nd is evidence of your talent and skill's. Before starting the ww make good measures and drawing's. Paper, pencil and measuring tape is a good combination if you arn't familiar with the pc. If you want to be on safe side when purshasing the timber/wood add 20% to your countings so you will have enough of wood when you start doing your table or cabinet or Sauna.
One important thing to remember when you are building somethin. Depending on what you do, big or small, if you take a measures and cut the piece, put it directly on it's place. Don't go to a coffee brake and atleast don't leave it overnight waiting. In the mornig you have allready forgotten the though you had last evening and the piece can be bent/wraped in many directions. 
The guy in Mike's story made atleast two mistakes with the plywood.


----------



## mnwolgamott (Jul 23, 2010)

Thats very good advice. 

I'm from northern subs of the D.


----------



## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Build a prototype . Geez Mike it just wouldn't be the same for me without doing it three times


----------



## denniswoody (Dec 11, 2011)

A variation on building a prototype is this method. I wanted to make 6 dining room chairs and it was a difficult build with compound angles and other complicated set-ups. The challenge of getting the equipment settings right would not have been helped by a prototype already completed. I would still have to get the set-up exactly right a second time. So what I did was have a test chair in process along with the "real" 6. I would test all cuts on the test chair until they were just right then do all 6 chairs. Then I would move on to the next test cut and so on. Worked great and I actually ended up with 7 chairs.


----------

