A Couple of Woodworking Layout Tools

July 22, 2024 9:46 AM

Do you need to make some dovetails joints but aren't sure how many dovetails to use or what angle would look best? Do you want to make a stick chair but want to visualize your design first? layout.computer has what you need!

Yeah, this is some fairly hardcore woodworking nerdery, but they're also fun widgets to play with, particularly the chair tool, which can produce some truly wonky designs.

posted by jedicus (9 comments total)

This is cool and I really need to force myself to start trying to make things rather than just watching Woodtube and flipping through Rex Krueger’s book, and a couple others.
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:06 AM on July 22

I LOVE IN-BROWSER CAD/CAM TOOLS, THERE, I SAID IT, THEY'RE DELICIOUS
posted by phooky at 10:38 AM on July 22 [3 favorites]

Very, very clever, elegant, nice simple interface.
posted by unearthed at 10:53 AM on July 22

Neat tool!

Related: if there’s one thing I hope generative AI will excel at in the future, for selfish reasons, is woodworking designs for any type of furniture or decorative item project. I have no design sense, and it’s a major hurdle in my hobby. Grand ambitions and no ability to visualize them.
posted by jklaiho at 2:13 PM on July 22

That's awesome, jedicus! I will definitely post this to my woodworking and DIY discord.

Not as elegant, but a lot of depth:

https://www.blocklayer.com/

Including such things as:

Bandsaw Calculator

Mortise and Tenon Layout Calculator

Calculate Arc Height, Width and Area From Radius and Rotation Angle

And a bunch more that are focused primarily on problems that contractors deal with.

If you like bringing spreadsheets into your woodworking, I have a google sheet that I put together to collect stuff I use frequently, maybe the most useful of which in this context is adding a function that converts decimal English measurements into fractions.
posted by chromecow at 4:25 PM on July 22 [5 favorites]

Neat! I'm looking forward to playing around with this.

I haven't made a stick chair yet, but do have a copy of The Stick Chair Book. Christopher Schwarz has made the revised edition available as a free pdf download.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 5:11 PM on July 22 [2 favorites]

NIFTY!
posted by brachiopod at 5:12 PM on July 22

Thanks for this! I’m just starting and I am at the “what are you making? Sawdust.” stage but I’m subscribed to Seller’s blog and I have got so many weekends planned out for years worth of projects. I agree that design is the most challenging part, so again thanks for the resources.
posted by WacoKid at 6:50 PM on July 22

I hate to miss an opportunity to plug the greatest how-to book ever printed. The Essential Woodworker by Robert Wearing is available from Lost Art Press as a hardcover or PDF. It covers the basic furniture forms (table, box, door frame, chest with drawers) and explains why certain joints are used and where. You won't waste time and resources re-inventing the wheel. You'll learn why the “castle” joints on bed posts are ridiculous.
posted by brachiopod at 8:23 PM on July 22 [5 favorites]