Countdown to the End — Last Chance for Books & Printed Plans

UPDATE TO BOB’S RETIREMENT AND CHANGES TO THIS WEBSITE

25 years ago at this time of year I was anticipating the publication of my first book “Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture”, planning my first website craftsmanplans.com and recovering from a collision between my Subaru and a black angus bull. The car was totaled, the bull walked away and I wasn’t injured that badly, all things considered. I picked shards of glass out of my hand for several years and realized that life is short and we never know when it will be our time to go.

At the time I had been in the cabinetmaking/architectural millwork industry for about 30 years and didn’t have any idea of what the future would hold. I wanted to do something different but didn’t have a plan. After a few difficult years things began to change for the better. One book led to more books, then a job at Popular Woodworking magazine, where I worked for a little over 10 years. I remember that during the interview at the magazine I said I would really like to do three things part time; make the furniture I wanted to make, write about that and teach other folks how to do the things I knew how to do. Eventually all those things came to be and that’s what I’ve done for a while now.

I expected to keep doing that, but life had other plans. I got older and slower and you can read about that here.

Since I wrote that post last spring I’ve been busy “downsizing”. We’re about to close on the sale of our home and prepare for a life of leisure in the Costa Blanca area in the Kingdom of Spain. In May I thought that it made sense to keep this website and my original website running, but after a close look and hours of number crunching we realized that plan wasn’t going to work. I am extremely grateful to all the folks who have visited my websites since 2002 and helped support my family. My business philosophy is to treat people the way I would want to be treated and build good relationships when possible.

I won’t be pulling the plug immediately but the time and money equation has changed dramatically since the turn of the century, and my plans have changed since May. I value all of you who have supported us and want to let you know what is going to happen with this business and when.

Here is the timetable as it stands today:

• We will be moving out of this location on September 1, 2026 and will no longer be selling printed books and plans after that date/
• Printed Plans:
  • Saturday, August 29 will be the last day we will accept orders for printed plans
    • Our price for plans has been the same for more than 20 years and will remain the same until the end, but..
    • Orders for printed plans will ship for free via first class mail, regardless of how many individual plans are ordered.
    • These changes will appear on product pages and the shopping cart.
• Printed Books:
  • We have a limited supply of books on hand and will not be ordering more. When the books are gone, they’re gone.
    • Books will ship via USPS Media Mail for $5.00/book order
    • Books will be discounted about 20%
    • Books will be signed by the author
    • These changes will appear on product pages and the shopping cart.
• Online SketchUp Class:
  • This website will go offline at the end of March, 2027
    • The PDF version of “Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp” and online video content will be available until that date
    • The Print Version of “Woodworker’s Guide to SketchUp” will no longer be available when our current inventory is gone, or after August 29, 2026
• Furniture Plans in PDF Format:
  • Our PDF plans will still be available for download until the end of March 2027
• EMAIL:
  • There are email links throughout this site that point to an address that will disappear after September 1, 2027
  • The email link on the “Contact” page points to a different email address and will be functional through March 2027
  • Emails regarding orders and subscriptions have been updated
  • Email links on blog posts point to the old address and won’t be delivered after September 1, 2027
• Blogs
  • Although I haven’t been as active in posting as I used to be, there is a lot of valuable content about the Arts & Crafts period, SketchUp and woodworking in general on the blog pages. These will remain available until the end of March 2027.
  • I’m investigating other options for this material but can’t guarantee that I will be able to find an affordable place to put it online. Enjoy it while you can!

Once again my family and I thank you for your support and encouragement over the years. Folks like you make things possible for guys like me and we appreciate it.

–Bob Lang