# Heads Up About Tedswoodworking.com Website



## Terrywerm (Dec 19, 2015)

Just putting it out there for the benefit of others: avoid tedswoodworking.com as a source for woodworking plans. I am usually pretty careful about where I purchase things, but this one looked like a pretty good deal, and appeared to be legitimate. But, I was wrong, and I want to share my mistake with the rest of you so that you don't make the same mistake that I did.

If you take the time to watch their video, they promise you thousands of step by step plans for various woodworking projects for $67 plus tax. I am not a woodworker, but I am learning, and I also wish to learn more so that I can build a few projects for around the house. Some step by step projects would be a good thing to help me learn what seems rather foreign to me. Considering that a book of plans at the big box store can cost $20 or $30 for just a few plans, $67 for a whole bunch of plans to download in DWG format sounds like a pretty good deal. They offer a 60 day money back guarantee, and the purchase is actually handled through ClickBank, a rather well known third party sales handler. I figured I was pretty safe, right??    WRONG!!

I paid my money and downloaded a few plans to have a look at them. Instead of being a DWG file, it was a PDF, which was okay, but it was a digital copy of a set of copyrighted plans that was published by Popular Mechanics. I immediately started to feel that I had been scammed. I downloaded and checked a few other plans, they were all pirated as well from sources such as Lowe's, Black and Decker, Woodcraft, and Rockler.

Needless to say I was not too happy. I immediately set about the process of requesting a "no questions asked refund" through both the tedswoodworking site and through ClickBank, both of which have responded with automated emails that I should hear back from them within a couple of business days. Keep in mind that finding the place to request a refund was rather difficult and it took some time to find it. We'll see what happens within a couple of days and I will post an update. I am not going to hold my breath for a good outcome on this one. Luckily I can submit my issue to my bank/credit card company for fraud, so I should be able to get my money back one way or another.

The loss of $67 is not what bothers me, I will hardly notice that it is gone. But what does chap my hide is the fact that they are selling copyrighted material, some of which is available for FREE on other sites, and they are generating a profit off of someone else's work without any kind of permission. The owner of the tedswoodworking.com site is hidden in the WhoIs database through a company that is designed to do just that: hide the ownership of disreputable websites. Chances are good that the owner of tedswoodworking.com is living on an island somewhere outside the United States and is immune from prosecution for copyright infringement.

Sorry this got so long, but I figure that it is valuable information for others that are seeking woodworking plans. Choose carefully and research the seller BEFORE you agree to purchase anything. If I had done just two minutes of research FIRST, I wouldn't be in the process of trying to get my money back.

Purchase carefully, my friends!


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## wrmiller (Dec 19, 2015)

I saw a new post about this website in the 'members website' section this morning I think. Or I may have it confused with something else I saw.


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## Terrywerm (Dec 19, 2015)

I found more on our friend 'Ted'.  The sites in the following list all sell the same pirated plans under the same name of Ted McGrath. Please do not even attempt to go to any of the listed sites, as doing so just helps boost this scammer's ratings on Google, moving him even closer to the top of the list when someone does a Google search for 'woodworking plans'. This is the same reason that none of these sites are shown as links. More links means higher numbers, NOT what we want to give these guys. Keep in mind that there are probably other sites related to this, these are just the ones I found with a quick search. I also had to edit this post a number of times to get rid of the 'http'  and 'www' from the beginning of each of the entries, otherwise the forum software automatically created links; not good. I have also edited here and there over time to add more addresses to the list as I stumble on more sites related to the same package of plans.

ferumbrasmaggot.org/
smallwoodprojects101.com/
tedmcgrathwoodworkingplans.com/
bz9.com/SaveonWoodworkingProjects
tedswoodworking.biz
guide-books.download/
woodworkingplansanddesigns.com
ted2u.blogspot.com/
helpfulfor.us/WoodworkingStuff/
facebook.com/WoodworkingStuff
commentsandreviews.com/product-reviews/teds-woodworking-16000-woodworking-plans-tedswoodworking/
googlegogi.com/teds-woodworking-plans-home---garden-.html
teds16000woodworks.com/v/1/
woodworkingplansforoutdoorliving.com/ted-mcgrath/
linkedin.com/pulse/woodworking-plans-pros-cons-ted-mcgrath-product-review-della-rosita
usersfeedbacks.com/teds-woodworking-reviews-ted-mcgraths-woodworking-plans-rest/
thewatchesfans.com/ted-mcgrath-and-his-woodworking-plan/
woodworkingdiyideas.com/ted-mcgrath/
buildwoodworkingprojects.com/meet-ted-mcgrath-of-teds-woodworking-fame/
tedswoodworking.eu/
diywoodworkingtips.com/ted-mcgrath/
galeriezephyr2112.com/tag/ted-mcgrath-woodworking-plans
rebelmouse.com/tedswoodworkingpackagereviews/
rebelmouse.com/tedswoodworkingpackage/
mikeswoodworkingprojects.com


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## kvt (Dec 19, 2015)

Thanks for the heads up on this,  I wander if it could be reported to Google as pirated material and have it blocked.   I know there is something out there about pulling copyright stuff of the listing.  but not sure how it would be done.  Most of them just open a new sight.


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## brino (Dec 19, 2015)

Terry,
Thanks for the warning. That is a big list of sites.....likely another sign of his professionalism.
-brino


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## David VanNorman (Dec 19, 2015)

People like this need stopped.


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## pebbleworm (Dec 19, 2015)

Once the copyright expires, whatever it is is in the public domain and free for anyone to use as they see fit.  And this is a good thing for spreading knowlwdge around.  It is a little shady to to be selling a bunch of public domain literature, but it's all there in one place on a CD.  Some people have a hard time tracking things down on the web, and a lot of interesting publiic domain works have not been scanned  and put online.  Root around on google books, archive.org, project gutenberg etc. and you can probably find most of these plans.  And a lot of interesting machining texts!


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## Ulma Doctor (Dec 19, 2015)

well said, pebbleworm

i have been duped similarly, but not for any real money. 
i sent for a CD only to find out that a google search yielded the exact same information, but didn't cost 6.96+ shipping


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## Charles Spencer (Dec 20, 2015)

terrywerm said:


> The loss of $67 is not what bothers me, I will hardly notice that it is gone.



Maybe it's Yankee thrift talking, but I would never say something like that.  I don't believe I'd say it about $2.00.

I recently read an interview with Warren Buffet.  He said that he used to only spend $10 to buy a shirt, but he found some $20 shirts that he likes and now buys those.  He feels that he can afford them now.  Since he could buy a $20 shirt for every man, woman, and child in the United States and still have over $30 billion, I'd guess he's right.

I'll bet he wouldn't let $67 slide.  And he's a damned sight richer than me.


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## Terrywerm (Dec 20, 2015)

pebbleworm said:


> Once the copyright expires, whatever it is is in the public domain and free for anyone to use as they see fit.  And this is a good thing for spreading knowlwdge around.  It is a little shady to to be selling a bunch of public domain literature, but it's all there in one place on a CD.  Some people have a hard time tracking things down on the web, and a lot of interesting publiic domain works have not been scanned  and put online.  Root around on google books, archive.org, project gutenberg etc. and you can probably find most of these plans.  And a lot of interesting machining texts!



I do understand that copyrights expire, and if someone wants to create a collection of such articles and sell them, that it is perfectly legal. But, in this case, some of the project plans were copied from sites or magazines that are still under active copyright, thus illegal to be resold. Additionally, the claim is made on tedswoodworking.com that each plan is carefully drawn out and comes with complete step by step instructions, which is totally false. Some of the 'plans' are nothing more than pictures of a particular item with a brief bit of text describing the item and no plans whatsoever. That constitutes fraud, no doubt about it.



Charles Spencer said:


> Maybe it's Yankee thrift talking, but I would never say something like that.  I don't believe I'd say it about $2.00.
> 
> I recently read an interview with Warren Buffet.  He said that he used to only spend $10 to buy a shirt, but he found some $20 shirts that he likes and now buys those.  He feels that he can afford them now.  Since he could buy a $20 shirt for every man, woman, and child in the United States and still have over $30 billion, I'd guess he's right.
> 
> I'll bet he wouldn't let $67 slide.  And he's a damned sight richer than me.



I agree with you Charles, and I am not letting my money slide either, I will continue to attempt to get my money back. The point I was trying to make is that it isn't really the $67 that irks me, but rather that the site misrepresents what is being sold, and the end product does not live up to the claims made prior to the sale. The product is definitely not worth the money I paid for it. One could say that if they misrepresented what they are selling, why would I expect them to honor their posted money back guarantee? To be honest, I don't think they will. I am quite sure that I will just get a bunch of run around followed by being totally ignored, and maybe even having my email address blocked on their end. Brutal reality.


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## TommyD (Dec 20, 2015)

I'd give my cc company a heads up on the matter as early as possible, just in case, they might be able to provide you with some direction as to what to do. Look for sites that post about scam sites and add theirs.

I hate losing money, no matter the amount.


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## Terrywerm (Dec 25, 2015)

UPDATE - My money was refunded by the Teds Woodworking website, which I find VERY surprising. Their website lists an address for Ted McGrath in San Angelo Texas.  The street exists, but the house number does not, so you know it's a bunch of baloney. Money for this transaction was handled by ClickBank, and I contacted both them and the vendor for a refund.  I suspect that if I had contacted only the vendor that I would have never heard anything back from them.

I may not have been happy with the bill of goods that was sold to me, but I have to be honest about them issuing a refund also.


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## jpfabricator (Dec 26, 2015)

Terry, what woodwork projects are you wanting to do? I would be willing to bet one of us may have some plans of directions we could share.

Sent from somewhere in East Texas Jake Parker


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## Terrywerm (Dec 26, 2015)

Thanks JP, I am thinking ahead here a little. My wife and I have many books, all stored on various small bookshelves scattered about the house where ever they happen to fit. My youngest son is also planning on moving out soon, and we plan to turn his bedroom into a guest bedroom / den.  Our thought is to put some book cases in that room and move all of the books in there, getting rid of the small book shelves and the cluttered look in the house. We have looked at the book cases that we can buy and we are not impressed. You don't get much for your money, and what you do get is built out of particle board that starts to sag before you even put any books on the shelves. So, my thought is to build book cases for that room in the next year or two.

Because of this project and several others, I recently purchased a decent table saw, and I already have a router, router table, belt sander, and orbital sander. Usually I was able to get by with using a circular saw, but was never happy with the results, so I often used to drive 12 miles over to my dad's to use his table saw, but that can be a pain if there is much cutting to be done. It was always great to visit with dad, but getting projects done in this manner took so much more time. So, I purchased a used table saw and fixed up the few little problems with it.

Since I now am better equipped to handle some woodworking projects, I am beginning to think that I need to make better use of the woodworking equipment and start building some nice furnishings for our home, as well as make some cabinets for my machine shop and some storage boxes for things like my rotary table. Thus I have some small projects of my own design that are utilitarian in nature to start with, and some finer project plans for the future.

The internet is a fantastic place, with much to offer, and I have been able to find a number of book case plans that meet my needs, and in the process have found other plans that have some appeal which I may also consider in the future. If I get looking for something specific, I can easily post a new thread here and see what responses I get.


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## ewkearns (May 8, 2017)

Here's another on the same subject:
http://www.thegeekpub.com/4358/woodprix-is-a-scam/


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## kd4gij (May 8, 2017)

Here is a good site with free plans. I believe it to be pretty legit.
http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/projectsindex.htm

Here is a nice tool box.
http://www.shopsmithhandson.com/archives/jan_feb_02/html/major_project.htm


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## markba633csi (Jun 24, 2017)

It's interesting that the scammer dude still doesn't recognize that copyright infringement is a crime.  It just blows right by him like it's not even an issue.
Amazing and sad. 
Mark S.


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## Terrywerm (Aug 5, 2017)

New twist on an old sham: They now have a site called mikeswoodworkingprojects.com which I have added to the list up above.     Initially it looks like a totally different site, but if you drill down into it just one page, you start seeing the Ted's woodworking site but with a different URL. Even has references to Ted instead of Mike. I guess he figured out that the word was out on 'Ted' but was too lazy to do a good job of making a new website.


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## ELHEAD (Aug 5, 2017)

HI Terry, Did you build the  bookcases?
Dave


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## Terrywerm (Aug 5, 2017)

Not yet, son has not yet moved, he and the love of his life at the time parted ways, but I did find a set of plans that I liked. Now I just need to figure out what I did with them! They are saved on my computer here someplace, so they shouldn't be too hard to find when I want them.

If I remember correctly, Rockler had a set of plans available for a very nice bookcase that I was also considering. $5 for the plans, not a bad deal. I don't mind paying for good plans when I find them, I just don't like getting duped by the likes of 'Ted' or 'Mike'.


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## Silverbullet (Aug 5, 2017)

I'll offer a bit of advice on your book shelving build. Measure your area where you plan on putting them or it. If your going to make them free standing please anchor them to a wall . I've seen and heard of to many accidents where they've fallen over and hurt and killed people . Kids are famous climbers of course. I've done a fair share of builds and installs in homes and schools and churches. Two good screws into studs will hold shelving units from falling. Not hung from a wall they would need half a dozen into studs not wall board. 
A nice tool to have is a biscuit joiner , when glued and clamped , they do a great job .


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