Plans from Alan Breed - Anyone ordered any?

D

dkeller_nc

Well-known member
Curious - has anyone else ordered plans from Alan Breed?  (In particular, the Newport block-front bureau or the 6-shell secretary).  If so, have you received them?

Unfortunately for me, I ordered the block-front bureau last August, but have yet to receive it (or have phone inquiries returned), so I'm curious if there's a big backlog.
 
I've gotten plans from Al and they have always arrived within a few days time.  I know that his tea table and clock plans are ready - I'm not sure about the others, but I believe that he told me the block front bureau isn't ready yet.  Al is a terrific person - you should send him an e-mail with the specifics of your order.  I have not ordered anything directly off his website - I always e-mail first and then mail him a check.

- Dave Beach
 
I did manage to get up with Alan on this particular subject.  It seems that he's had difficulty getting the block-front plans from his sub-contractor, but expects to get them in April.  I've no doubt in his intentions, but it appears that he's had a good deal of difficulty depending on others for the parts that he doesn't do himself (always an issue when you're a small business person!).
 
I have ordered plans for the Tea Table.  Fortunately I live close enough to Al to drive down and pick them up.  He invited me to come during the period when he was making two of them.  We spent about 1/2 hour talking about the strategy and "the hard parts."

Al is a talent.  The plans are good.  You can also get molds of the B&C feet and the Newport shells which are exytremely useful for us mere mortals.

 
I ordered the resin casts of the shells and bracket feet, which I received last September.  The plans, however, have been problematic, and I think his supplier has had issues getting them done. 

Hopefully he will have good luck getting them this weekend.  Oddly enough, I ordered the kneehole bureau plans not because I need (or want to build to) specific dimensions, but to get authentic interior details, such as how the drawer runners are attached, how the drawer bottoms are let into the drawer front and sides, etc...  Since the time of ordering the plans, I've found quite a few pictures that provided some of those details.  It'll be very interesting to compare those photographs and the plans that Alan provides.
 
I'm also interested in the inner workings and configurations of the blockfront kneehole desk and I'm considering ordering a set from Alan Breed.  DKeller, have you received your set yet?
 
Yes, I received them in September of last year.  What you might want to do is to call Alan before you order the plans to see if he has them in stock.  As my previous posts on this subject stated, he had difficulty getting the plans for the knee-hole bureau from the person who does the drawing/reproducing.
 
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