anonymous
sketch #109555 The Truth About 'Ted' and His Plans...
So for this review I did a little digging around about the product, the website and what other people thought of Ted's Woodworking Plans
Because there seems to be a lot of sketchy reviews out there
Here's what I found...
Truth is that 'Ted' most likely doesn't exist. He is most likely a persona made up by the owner of the product... kind of like the Marlboro man and Tony the Tiger (who appears on Kellogg's cereals)
Companies use people or characters all the time to represent what the product is about and give it another dimension. The character is not always 'real' like Ted.
(Ever seen celebrity endorse a product you know that they aren't using...)
Some of us do feel a little cheated by this. But it seems to be the way the world is going these days. It is also important to note that this doesn't change the product in any way
What does change the product is some of the promises that 'Ted' makes on his website we don't think are 100% true
And we also found that Ted infers or suggests some things which are a little sketchy also, such as:
Ted uses images of a box and CD when the product is digital and you have to pay extra for the CD - DVD set to be sent to you
Ted says '16,000 Step By Step Plans' - when they aren't all step by step (scroll down to see screenshots of real plans)
Ted says 'skill level doesn't matter' - There are plans in here suitable for beginners but not all of them are
Where Do the Plans Come From?
Package of Teds woodworking plans review
An image found on Tedswoodworking.com shows a boxed product, but the plans are actually a digital download
Teds plans seem to be mostly (if not all) taken from other publications.
These include universities, magazines, books and various websites
At first I was a little peeved by this, but then when I thought about it I wasn't bothered as much
I mean this stuff seems to be happening all the time these days
For example, people selling compilation music albums of artists after the artists have died
I mean if Ted owns all the rights to these plans and wants to sell them in a bundle then good luck to him
But does 'Ted' own the rights to sell these plans?
Are the Plans Offered in Teds Woodworking Plans Legal?
There a few people - woodgears.ca, woodworkweb, formeremortals and beesource calling Ted's Woodworking a scam and saying what is being offered is illegal
From what I can tell from the links above, they claim Ted is selling plans and information that does not belong to him
Now i'm no lawyer...
https://incontrichat.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-truth-about-ted-and-his-plans.html
I personally don't know if this is or is not legal so I have tried to contact both 'Ted' and Clickbank but so far I haven't had a reply
Which is very bad form on both their parts
But at the same time, it is a very serious allegation for people to call Teds Woodworking plans 'illegal'
The dates on all of the posts above are dated around 2012, so for 'Ted' to still be in business and seemingly nothing to have happened to the product seems a little strange
From what I can tell Teds Woodworking plans offer is quite popular, and successful. I'm sure some lawyer would love to get their teeth stuck into that.
But they haven't and they have had years to do so. So it makes me wonder....
What is the law that Teds Woodworking plans is supposedly breaking? And why hasn't anyone done anything about it?
Now as I said I'm no lawyer. I think on this one each of us has to make our own moral judgement.
If you've spent a few minutes looking at the links above and reading this post you are as informed as I am...
For me - until I hear different - all of this seems to be a storm in a tea cup. And if nothing has happened with the legal issue already, I can't see anything happening in the future
Why Else Some Bloggers are Not Happy with Ted's Woodworking...
Teds Woodworking is unpopular with a lot of online woodworkers. It stems mainly because of it's aggressive sales techniques
'Ted' is advertising a lot of places around the internet and he is always trying to sell his stuff - most notably on other bloggers websites
But to be truthful, I don't think it matters what Ted has done or didn't do
Most woodwork bloggers will ever be happy with offers and products like this...
It's a bit like McDonald's or Walmart coming to a small town. The town never likes the idea of it but most people can't afford to say no to the convenience, range and prices
Woodworking bloggers aren't going to be happy with Ted's Woodworking plans but Ted is going to keep selling his plans because people can't say no to a great offer like his
What About the Plans?
With all that out of the way lets talk plans
Firstly, if you haven't watch part 2 of my video on Opening Teds Woodworking plans. You can see first hand for yourself the plans that are included in the package
Personally, I dont think there is 16,000 plans. Although there is a lot (and i could be proven wrong)
But for $47 (see below) you can get a massive collection of woodworking plans... Let's face it this is much cheaper than anywhere else
You could subscribe to your favorite woodworking magazine for 10 years and still not come close to that
So if you are looking for an inexpensive way to get plans for your next woodworking projects then Ted's is a good option. Definitely worth some thought.
Not all the plans are the greatest, and the most detailed but from what I've seen half of them are pretty good
Below is a good illustration of the difference in the detail in Ted's Woodworking plans
Simple
taken from teds woodworking
These plans although detailed are not as user friendly as others. Although these ones do include a material list, not all plans in Teds woodworking do
You definitely can build this barn from this plan, however it isn't as simple as 'Ted' makes it out to be and you will need some prior building knowledge to build this
https://incontrichat.blogspot.com/2018/08/teds-woodworking-scam-alert-and-how-to.html
Detailed
taken from teds woodworking plans
As you can see this plan is quite detailed and easy to read. It has many elevations, a 3D drawing, close ups, plenty of annotations and is in color
What Will I Do With the Plans?
We'll I am going to keep the plans for when i build my next shed. Just being able to print some of these off and give them to the permits office really appeals to me
Ill also use them to find new projects for the students in my wood technology classes
The good thing about having these plans is that the advanced kids will be able to read the plans and start work straight away. Leaving me more time to help those who require it
Overall, personally even though there is this cloud still hovering over the product for me that I dont have it
I'm glad I purchased Teds Woodworking plans http://16000woodworkingplans.duckdns.org/sitemap-primary.xml
