Three Of The Best Woodworking Plans For Your Wood Shop Students
Free woodworking plans are a wonderful resource for students and shop teachers. Having a selection of ready made plans ready gives students a selection of items to build in the wood shop. This is simpler for them than starting from scratch to design something themselves or having to come up with their own idea for a wood project. Having woodworking projects and plans available for their students also focuses shop teachers. Not only do they eliminate the time needed to prepare lessons, but since they are free they also save money. When teachers have a variety of plans to utilize, they can offer each student projects which are appropriate to the student’s specific ability and skills.
There are free woodworking plans for starting level students, such as the etched glass wall mirror. This project involves creating a frame for a pre-made glass panel. This project requires only miter cuts and rabbet to buildl the frame. The only other skills needed are assembling, sanding and finishing. This project needs a minimal amount of time and materials to assemble.
A more sophisticated woodworking project would be to make an end or coffee table. The tables will need a frame built, including legs, cross members and a lower shelf. These plans will require using more sophisticated tools. The student will also have to know how to connect the material for the table top and shelf from smaller boards. There are free woodworking plans available for both which can be made using etched glass panels just as the wall mirror has. This design consistency is crucial since it provides for projects of a variety of skill levels and complexity using the same type of glass panels with etched outlines. Following this common theme makes for a cohesive lesson plan where all the projects have a unified, consistent feel while still allowing for variations in students abilities and time commitments.
All of the students can be offered the same decorative glass panel and then have the choice of building a project with it that they prefer. Advanced students can also use the glass etching panel to build more difficult projects, such as a cabinet with glass doors or a glass fronted grandfather clock. These projects will entail making complex doors as well as the frame. The frame will need involved mortise-and-tenon joints as well as dados. The top, side and back panels will require gluing up additionaly parts. The students will have to use the router table and planer for this project as well as the table saw and jointer.
By including free woodworking plans, shop instructors can provide their students with assignments which will match their skills while still having a mutual component. By using a selection of pre-made plans, teachers have standard criteria for marking and can allocate more of their time to teaching the students.
