Plan purchasing cautions

[vizion]

I looked at one of the design links for a cnc router and felt, in consequence, the need, based on past experience, to utter a note of caution about purchasing design plans. While plans can be a extremely valuable and well worth their asking proce, they do not always satisfy and some degree of caution is appropriate.

The plans that I looked at had no component list to help one assess whether the design uses components that are readily available at reasonable cost in a potential users situation. I spend a lot of my time in europe --and would need one machine in europe and one in the US. Markets are different, available resources & components are different and measurement systems are not universal.

In my life time (I am almost 70 now) I have used many plans and designs. I would say 20% have been really good and 50% were cribbed rehashes of pre-existing designs. The worst 30% were often far too dependent upon proprietary components or used one or more difficult to obtain or totally unreliable components. Some were clearly based on a one off build and showed no signs of systematic revision. A high proportion of such designs were far from modular and were organized in a way that made modification extremely difficult.


If a designer is unwilling to publish the components requirement for a plans set then, frankly, I would not recomend a purchase. How does one know whether a redesign would be needed if, in a builder's judgement, specified components were unreliable or unobtainable?


I emailed the designer of the cnc router about this problem and I found the reply attitude to be unhelpful and lacking appreciation of the risks he was expecting the builder to run without disclosing relevant information to facilitate appraisal.


If a designer does not understand that a builder needs to be given an opportunity of determining whether the plans have a genuine potential for the builder, (and that must include the right to access a component list prior to purchase), then I say "beware".


Before buying "plans" take care to ensure that the designer does not see his component list as the transaction commodity. A good designer would not, in my view, rely on up front component list secrecy to sell his/her plans.

The value of plans lie in the way the designer puts components together and in the way he/she has designed the project to save you building time and other costs during the construction. The builder must be able to control material choices and a good designer will provide a detailed list of alternative materials and potential suppliers

.

A cautious prospective constructor can then obtain quotations for materials, assess the design potential from the designer's brief and on the basis of a cautious assessment determine whether or not to purchase the plans.

I have found designs from a designer who does not take the time and trouble to explain his design strategies are often unnecessarily complex and present unexplained and hidden challenges to a builder. If a designer expects you to pay for a design up front then expect detailed component lists and a design philosophy and introduction to be supplied as a matter of course in advance of handing over any of your hard earned money.

There are plan suppliers who expect prospective builders to take too much on trust. Some have allowed an apparent fear of being ripped off to get in the way of establishing a respectful relationship between builder and designer.


If a designer is going to give me the confidence I need to purchase his plans then I see a need for him/her to demonstrate, from the outset, an understanding that a potential builder has to be prudent and supply the information essential to make careful judgment.


Paying for unseen plans and finding out too late that to finish the project one has to pay too much money to acquire components or that components are not readily obtainable in your location, or that the design relies too heavily on a limited range of proprietary sources, or that the design gets in the way of using recycled components, is deadly. Unfortunately it is possible to become heavily committed before the pitfalls are realized.. then prepaid plans can be much more risky and expensive than designing from scratch.


That way at least your have to learn, in detail, about what you are doing.


Do not buy a pig in a poke. Proceed with caution and check that the designer is open-minded, helpful and has a good pre-sales appreciation of builder's concerns. Buying plans is an inherently risky option for a builder. A policy that enables a potential plan buyer to make a realistic assessment of those risks prior to purchase reduces those risks to an acceptable level. In my view an opportunity to examine the component list and a detailed write up of the design philosophy is essential.


If those things are present then there is a chance that post sales support might be there. Above all choose a designer whose prime motivation foes beyond the revenue stream and whose disclosure policies are generous and do not seem to be based on fear.


vizion

[dertsap]

there are a lot of hacks out there trying to make a buck at whatever they can grasp at ,and are to stupid to understand or care about what they are selling , or they are engineers with great bright ideas on paper and theory but nothing fits together because they never made a prototype to proove the design ,
i am sue a gentleman your age has seen enough of that crap,
its a buyer beware market ,don t beleave it till you see it

[Adobe Machine]

I'm old too...it has always been "a buyer beware" in anything you buy, be it a set of plans or a $325,000 CNC .Just a comment:It seems today that there are a lot of products that are engineered,produced and sold that are 50% less usable than the hype they are "marketed" with,even products we have used over the years.
Liiving on a fixed income and ungodly price raises really means everything we buy must be "right"..no more throw a way in our life...Thats why we old farts are so slow at Home Depot and the grocery store...just trying to buy the right thing first ( and only). You just have to be careful with your purchases,and do not be afraid to return a POS with vigor (and loudness if necessary)There just seems to be a lot of "cons" out there now.

Adobe ( old as dirt )

[pminmo]

It seems today that there are a lot of products that are engineered,produced and sold that are 50% less usable than the hype they are "marketed" with,even products we have used over the years.

Yes, we have become a society in which people will get away with what they can, then they are offended when you question their claims!

There just seems to be a lot of "cons" out there now.

Adobe ( old as dirt )

Con's and imcompetence, and everybody suffers because of it. My son was in a recent auto accident, I was present when the police officer went over the details of what happened. I heard every word, and guess what, when we finally received a copy of the report, it was not even close to what my son said, and no mention of specifics the officer said he would put in the report that were important! He flat out lied to our faces!