What makes a project harder
| Factor | Why it is harder | Where you meet it |
|---|---|---|
| More joints at once | Every joint in an assembly must close in the same glue-up | Leg-and-apron tables, stools |
| Larger parts | Long, wide boards are harder to mill flat and to handle | Dining table, bed |
| Solid wood that must move | Tops and panels need fastenings that let them swell and shrink | Every solid top |
| Fitted doors and drawers | They are sized from the case as built, to small even gaps | Cabinets and casework |
| Hand-cut joinery | Dovetails and tenons cut to a line, not a fence | Dovetailed box, stool |
| A large finish | A big surface shows every flaw in the preparation | Tables and case tops |
BenchRoot's own summary; any one factor can make an otherwise simple piece demanding.
Wood movement deserves its own mention: the Wood Handbook shows solid wood changes far more across its grain than along it, so the wider the solid part, the more the design must allow for it. The wood movement calculator puts a figure on it for a board of a given species and width.
The ladder of BenchRoot plans
| Level | Plans | What the level adds |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | Keepsake box, bookshelf, panel desk, slab-end bench, floating shelf | Accurate straight cuts, screwed and dadoed joints, a wall fixing |
| Intermediate | Coffee and side tables, trestle table, platform bed, built-in bookcase, cabinet, stool, dovetailed box | Mortise and tenon, knock-down hardware, casework scribed to a wall, dovetails |
| Advanced | Dining table | Large parts, a wide solid top that moves, many joints in one glue-up |
The level is the one each plan's own page states.
Each step up reuses the last. A bookshelf teaches the dadoes and square glue-up a cabinet depends on; a coffee table's leg-and-apron joinery is the dining table's at a larger scale, with a wider top to fasten. If a plan two levels up looks daunting, build the one between first. How furniture is made, stage by stage, is in furniture making.
Choosing your next project
- Pick one new skill at a time. A project that adds a single new joint or process to ones you know is a better next step than one that adds three.
- Make the test joint first. Before an assembly of many identical joints, cut one in scrap of the same stock.
- Plan the order of work. Larger projects depend more on order; learning furniture making sets it out for a cabinet.
- Use the sizing tools for casework. Doors, drawers and shelves are sized from the built case with the cabinet door, drawer and shelf span calculators.
More project plans
Looking for a larger collection of woodworking project plans?
Ted’s Woodworking is a digital plan library sold by a third party. BenchRoot did not create it and has not reviewed every plan in it, so check what it includes before you buy.
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Hard projects that are also regulated
Some furniture is difficult for reasons beyond joinery. Cribs and bunk beds are regulated products in the US, with federal safety standards and testing, and BenchRoot offers no plans for them or other children's furniture. Chests of drawers and dressers that meet the CPSC's size and weight thresholds fall under its tip-over standard. A challenging project should be challenging in the workshop, not in what it asks a child or a household to trust.
Safety— Larger work, larger hazards
Long and wide parts need support at the saw and an extra pair of hands, and heavy assemblies need planning before they are lifted. See woodworking safety rules and the safety notes in each plan.
Before an advanced project
- The plan one level below built, or its skills practised
- One new skill identified, and a test joint cut
- Solid parts designed to move
- An order of work written down
- Help arranged for large glue-ups and lifts
Sources
The factors that make a project harder are explained in BenchRoot's own words; the levels on the ladder are the ones each published plan states. No new plan is offered here. Regulated children's furniture is excluded for the reasons the CPSC gives. Nothing is presented as tested or load-rated.
- 1.
Chapter 4: Moisture Relations and Physical Properties of Wood. USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory — Wood Handbook, FPL-GTR-282, 2021.
Used for: Solid wood changing in width with moisture content, far more across the grain than along it — what makes wide tops and panels harder to build than narrow parts.
- 2.
Clothing Storage Units (16 CFR part 1261) FAQ. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Used for: Chests of drawers and dressers meeting the CPSC's thresholds falling under its tip-over standard — a reason a drawered case is more than a joinery exercise.
- 3.
Full-Size Baby Cribs Business Guidance (16 CFR part 1219). U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Used for: Cribs regulated by federal standards and testing, outside what a hobby plan can responsibly offer.
- 4.
Bunk Beds Business Guidance (16 CFR parts 1213 and 1513). U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Used for: Bunk beds regulated by federal requirements, likewise outside these plans.
About this guide
Written by BenchRoot Editorial. How BenchRoot sources, checks and corrects its pages is set out in the Editorial Policy. If something here is wrong or unclear, the contact page explains how to tell us.