Teds Woodworking Plans Review: The Ultimate Resource of Woodworking Projects
Are you looking for information on Teds Woodworking Projects? Is it a scam? You’re in the right place. You’re going to learn everything you need to know.
It’s been one of the most popular products in the entire world of woodworking. And we would know too… because this is Woodworker World.
In this review of Teds Plans, you’re going to learn everything you need to know about this product. The good, and the downright ugly (and there is plenty of). But it’s important to have all the details about something before making a decision on whether or not it’s worth it.
Let’s grind into it.
I’ve been interested in woodworking since high school was I took my first class. I didn’t realize how satisfying and useful it was to know how to work with wood and the amazing things you could build in a matter of hours or days. One big problem I ran into, however, was that I wanted to learn about new designs and continue to push myself. Since I was so inexperienced, and my teacher could only help us one at a time, that also meant my hunger was limited to the small selection of plans I could find online. Many of which were not easy to look at for the beginner in me, let alone someone with more experience.
Another problem I ran into was that some of the plans simply didn’t make sense or were outright wrong like dimensions that didn’t fit together as they appeared on the paper, or designs that just didn’t make sense. That’s why I was elated to find out about Tom’s Woodworking.
Upon reading into Ted’s woodworking, however, I quickly found an interesting trend among the working wood community. It was like everyone was talking about Ted, but so many people seemed to dislike him. So which one is it, is the well regarded or widely disliked, and why? That’s what I intend to explore in this review to give myself and other people an honest and objective answer.
Product Overview
First of all, it’s important to understand what Ted claims his business is, and what he does not claim his business is.
On their website, Ted describes his business, “I have spent the last 40 years to put together the world’s most comprehensive collection of woodworking plans”. That’s quite a big claim there Ted, the world’s most comprehensive plan would need to have thousands upon thousands of plans.
Then I read this, “What if I told you that you could get your hands on 16,000 woodworking projects with already “done-for-you” plans with step-by-step blueprints…?”. Wow, seems like a really great deal, right? That’s an entire lifetime of projects and plans, all with step by step instructions and easy-to-read blueprints? Sign me up!
Ted’s History
Before diving into the nitty-gritty, though, I want to take a movement and talk about the history of this company. After all, so many people in the working wood community seem to hate this guy for some reason. Interestingly, the actual “identity” of the founder “Ted” doesn’t seem to exist. Instead, it seems the company made up a persona, much like how Tony the Tiger isn’t a real guy, but instead a mascot or persona for the brand image. This, however, differs from the like of KFC, where the founder is actually the mascot. Instead, Ted seems to be fictions and represents the brand rather than a real person.
This tells me one important thing. This company is in it for the money right off the bat. Rather than use a real story and person, they’re making one up to market better.
There are also a few other aspects I wasn’t so convinced about either, in some cases, those aspects were downright misleading. For instance, the website displays a box and CD as the product or what would seem like the product.
Yet, upon buying the plans, you get a digital download and have to pay extra for the CD/DVD set. Although many people don’t use CD’s and DVD’s nowadays, it seems weird they didn’t just say the initial purchase is for digital access, why make that so unclear?
Another issue I have is the claim made in the overview section. “Ted,” says there are 16,000 step-by-step plans. The problem? No, there aren’t. Many of the plans are just blueprints and don’t have anything in the way of step-by-step instructions.
But, maybe I’m a bit harsh after all 16,000 plans are a lot and how can I possibly expect each to offer the same format and instructions? That would take a massive team of woodworkers years to accomplish and seems next to impossible given the 16,000 plans.
Where do the plans come from?
That got me interested in where exactly the plans come from. According to some research I did, people have found many of the same exact plans in older publications, magazines, university posts, and more.
Yikes.
This means this fictional character “Ted” doesn’t actually own all 16,000 of these plans; instead, he ripped them off from countless other sources. This would mean Ted’s plans or the act of selling access to them is illegal. Even in the face of several other well-known woodworking communities calling Ted’s plans “illegal,” it doesn’t seem anyone has done anything about it. So, I don’t fully know where to stand on that aspect other than to say it’s very sketchy at best.
Why are others upset?
As part of this review, I wanted to learn why so many others in the woodworking community were so upset with this fake Ted guy. After all, even if the plans came from sketchy sources, who could be angry at such a large compilation of plans, right? For one, the marketing and sales tactics that this company uses are downright predatory. Once upon a time, this company flooded woodworking forms and community with blog posts, offers, and more. The issue was that most people fell into the trap and bought the plans simply because it was mentioned so often.
Quality of the plans
But, enough campaigning, what about the actual product? Upon purchasing the plans, you do actually get woodworking plans, phew. However, some internet users have pointed out there aren’t actually 16,000 plans. Furthermore, not all of the plans are as top-notch as the company claims. In many cases the illustrations are poor, there are no instructions, and in more rare cases, the dimensions are just plain wrong. Is this because these plans come from so many different sources? Probably. Yet, what’s important is this, for $47 you still do get access to several thousand plans that are good quality. Even if you paid for a woodworking magazine for a decade, you wouldn’t come close to that many plans.
Conclusion
Overall, the business practices of “Ted” are really sketchy, yet for the price, you do springily get a good deal. You can’t take their claims at face value, but you do get digital access to thousands of high-quality plans. You’ll just have to sort through the good and bad ones.
Additionally, you can get $20 off simply by providing your email address to “Ted”. That knocks down the price from $67 to $47. What Ted does with your email address I’m not sure, but it’s not bad for getting $20 off.
Overall, I’ll give Ted’s Woodworking a 4/5 because while many claims about his lies and sketchy past are true, you still get tons of plans for a good price that nowhere else can seem to compete with.
So, it’s best you throw away your preconceptions of what the website says, and instead plan to receive a digital download option with PDF’s. Some plans will have instructions and others will not. Don’t buy into the notion that there are exactly 16,000 plans, but they’re certainly are thousands to browse through. Also, keep in mind Ted’s is just a compilation of other sources’ woodworking plans. Don’t get too caught up with the politics or issues.
Put simply, Ted’s is sketchy but still offers the best plan for the most amount of woodworking plans around.
Click here to check out the 16,000 plans and get 77% off.
Teds Woodworking Plans
Are you looking for information on Teds Woodworking Plans? Is it a scam? Here's everything you need to know in this review of Teds Projects [2020 UPDATED].
Course Provider: Organization
Course Provider Name: Ted Mcgrath
Course Provider URL: https://www.tedswoodworking.com/new/
4.5