Did you guys create a prototype for your first pro

[woodworklady]

When I first started woodwork, my projects were real simple. A box, a photo frame… stuff like that. Because to me it’s only worth creating something really nice (something that doesn’t look cheap) I use expensive wood.

At the start I wasn’t too confident about my woodwork abilities so I used to create the item first with cheap wood and then when I got it the way I wanted, then use to recreate it with more expensive wood.

Did anyone do the same? Or am I weird LOL

[jfc]

My first projects where apprentice pieces so in a way yes . A scaled down door , a bull nosed staircase , a hipped barn end cut and fix roof . All scaled down to fit on a work bench . It was quite funny walking into the workshop to see twenty odd roofs , it was like walking onto a smurfs building site ;D

[dunbarhamlin]

Yep. Use the foam board stuff from stationers to test out a new design in 3D, and offcuts or uninteresting boards to test new (to me) processes.
Then, since what really matters for me is the sound (mandolins), I build full prototypes to test different woods and body sizes. These are the same as the final piece, but without any decorative embellishments, and get reworked and butchered until I'm happy with the results before moving on to make the 'real' thing. (They look like they've been mauled by giant termites at this point, and get recycled where practicable, or put in the kindling pile)

Steve

[wizer]

yes I tend to either do full prototypes or at least practise certain parts of a project that are new to me.