18 minutes ago, kmealy said:

Those were actually sites telling more information about the scam.   Steve Ramsey has done a fair amount of work tracking this all down.

Sorry, I screwed up. Thanks Keith.

19 hours ago, PeteM said:

Thankee sir!!!!  I had not realized YT had all those NYW's, a series I remember with fondness.  

Turns out the YT videos are rather poor quality, and limited in scope,  but it appears that the NYW site allows free viewing of all the old videos, and quality is much better:

https://www.newyankee.com/

17 hours ago, John Morris said:

Sorry, I screwed up. Thanks Keith.

The gist is:

* the photo of Ted is a stock photo

* in other countries, he has a different name

* the "address" of the business does not exist

* there are a lot of duplicates among the 16,000 "plans"

* all the "plans" are stolen off web sites and some are just drawings, most, if not all are copyrighted (that is ignored)

* there is an "affiliate program" that encourages people to promote and sell the package (multi-level marketing), so that there are a ton of minions promoting the videos.  I do not know if they get paid at all, but it increases the number of references, so search engines pop Ted to the top.   A lot of forums have regular minions posting, until they get deleted

* the original offer was for a set of CDs.  Now it's access to a web site (that requires a renewal fee) unless you pay more

Ted is the scourge of the internet! But, he's (whoever he is) probably laughing all the way to the bank.

Ted probably sells plan for this.

 

58 minutes ago, Gunny said:

Ted probably sells plan for this.

 

Well...in that case...

On 6/15/2020 at 9:26 AM, Gene Howe said:

Ted is the scourge of the internet! But, he's (whoever he is) probably laughing all the way to the bank.

People like "ted" exist at a skewed angle to the rest of society.  They make choices that don't work well in the end.  I used to pray for the punishment of those who wronged me, until I saw the punishment delivered on several occasions.  Now I only pray that my own offenses do not merit such demise.  It turns out that the old saying "what goes around comes around" is very true, but we usually aren't there when it arrives.  This does not prevent me from avoiding or defending from harm, but I don't worry about the "one that got away".  I do pay more attention to Karma.

Just got an ad from "Harry's Woodshop" who is a minion hawking Ted's plans.   Ugh.   Will it never end?

I got involved with Ted's Plans about 5 years ago and what I got was frankly garbage. I have been contacted by them a few times via e-mail but I would never respond to him again. Scam? That might be just a bit harsh - just a bit, but of all of the money I have spent on my woodworking I would rate it as one of the top 2 or 3 wastes of money. I could be more descriptive but I am not that prone to public vulgarity. 

Edited August 21, 20205 yr by junglejohn

Have only bought one plan and that was NYW cradle. Draw my own thou not artistic or draftsman like.

since it is too hot to play outside, i'll offer my 2 cents:

 

i find that one of the joys of woodworking is creating something from scratch to solve a need or want.

 

it has been a long, long time since i used a plan drawn by someone else.  when i decide to build something, i gather the needed dimensions (outer or inner, depending on the problem being solved), and then work backwards to figuring out the size of each individual piece that makes up the whole.  including joinery methods.

 

i just finished this little stool for my wife, and she likes it.  it joins the sewing bench i made for her a few months ago, she wanted that one stained.  the cushioned seat was already existing, so i had to build around that.

 

i've designed and built numerous things over the years, and have sketch pads full of notes for each project, but those notes are only for me.  if i handed them to you, they'd just be confusing scribbles.

 

have fun making something!

1 hour ago, DAB said:

since it is too hot to play outside, i'll offer my 2 cents:

 

i find that one of the joys of woodworking is creating something from scratch to solve a need or want.

 

it has been a long, long time since i used a plan drawn by someone else.  when i decide to build something, i gather the needed dimensions (outer or inner, depending on the problem being solved), and then work backwards to figuring out the size of each individual piece that makes up the whole.  including joinery methods.

 

i just finished this little stool for my wife, and she likes it.  it joins the sewing bench i made for her a few months ago, she wanted that one stained.  the cushioned seat was already existing, so i had to build around that.

 

i've designed and built numerous things over the years, and have sketch pads full of notes for each project, but those notes are only for me.  if i handed them to you, they'd just be confusing scribbles.

 

have fun making something!

I have a similar mind set DAB but I also peruse the wood working magazines for ideas. I seldom just copy the design. I always find a way to add my own touch. I have 10 years worth of these magazines and when I an looking for something to make I dig back and browse thru them for ideas. I also seldom build for need. I do once in a while as with the pool cue rack I just completed. But usually I just come up with something I just want to build, usually because I haven't done it before. I am more process oriented than pragmatic when choosing projects.    

when i was in Jr. HS, and HS (a long, long time ago), my go to idea book was the Sears catalog, furniture section.  i'd find something that looked good, and figure out how to make it from a picture with no dimensions.

 

and really, any decent woodworker should be able to build something after seeing a picture.  figure out dimensions and proportions, figure out joinery.  beats sweeping the floor all day.

6 minutes ago, DAB said:

when i was in Jr. HS, and HS (a long, long time ago), my go to idea book was the Sears catalog, furniture section.  i'd find something that looked good, and figure out how to make it from a picture with no dimensions.

 

and really, any decent woodworker should be able to build something after seeing a picture.  figure out dimensions and proportions, figure out joinery.  beats sweeping the floor all day.

Man, how long has it been since I saw a Sears catalog? That really takes me back. I don't know how long it has been but it has to be at least 30 years or maybe more. I used to drool over the toy  section when I was a kid.

6 hours ago, DAB said:

i find that one of the joys of woodworking is creating something from scratch to solve a need or want.

Same for me.