DIY Smart Saw vs Ted’s Woodworking: Which Plan Set Wins?
TL;DR: These two programs are solving fundamentally different problems. DIY Smart Saw gives you a single focused mission — build your own CNC-style precision cutting machine for roughly $200–500 in materials. Ted’s Woodworking hands you a library of 16,000+ project plans spanning birdhouses to barn doors. If you want to build a tool that transforms what you can make, go Smart Saw. If you want an inexhaustible supply of traditional woodworking projects, go Ted’s. The good news: they complement each other well enough that serious woodworkers often end up with both.
Quick verdict by use case:
- Complete beginner with no shop tools yet → Ted’s Woodworking
- Intermediate woodworker who wants CNC capability without the $2,000+ price tag → DIY Smart Saw
- Side income from selling handmade items → DIY Smart Saw (precision scales; Ted’s gives variety)
- Traditional furniture and home projects → Ted’s Woodworking
- Workshop capability upgrade → DIY Smart Saw
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What Each Product Actually Is
DIY Smart Saw is a program built around one big idea: you can build a functional CNC-style wood cutting machine in your own garage for a fraction of what commercial CNC equipment costs. The program provides detailed plans, a materials list, step-by-step assembly instructions, and video guidance for constructing the machine itself. Once built, the machine allows you to make precision cuts, carve repeating patterns, produce signs, and execute decorative woodwork that would be nearly impossible — or extremely slow — with handheld tools alone. The materials run roughly $200–500 depending on your local hardware pricing, plus a one-time program fee in the $37–67 range. The core appeal is capability: you are not just following a pattern, you are expanding what your shop can do.
Ted’s Woodworking is one of the longest-running and most-purchased woodworking plan collections online. The headline number is 16,000+ plans, and that figure holds up — the library covers an extraordinary range: Adirondack chairs, garden sheds, children’s toys, kitchen cabinets, workbenches, pergolas, dog kennels, picture frames, and well over a hundred furniture categories. Plans are delivered as PDFs with accompanying diagrams, measurements, and cut lists, supported by video content. The target audience skews toward traditional woodworking hobbyists: people who want to pick a weekend project, follow a proven plan, and end up with something useful or beautiful. Skill levels range from absolute beginner (simple one-evening builds) to advanced (complex joinery, full furniture suites). The program fee lands near the $67 range.
Side-by-Side Feature Comparison Table
| Feature | DIY Smart Saw | Ted’s Woodworking |
|---|---|---|
| Core purpose | Build a CNC-style precision cutting machine | Access 16,000+ woodworking project plans |
| Content format | PDF machine plans + instructional videos | PDF project plans + videos |
| Skill level required | Intermediate (mechanical aptitude helpful) | Beginner to advanced |
| Plans quantity | 1 machine build + usage/project guidance | 16,000+ projects across dozens of categories |
| Best for | Precision cuts, signs, repeated decorative patterns | Traditional furniture, outdoor builds, home items |
| Price (program) | ~$37–67 | ~$67 |
| Materials cost | ~$200–500 (one-time machine build) | Tools you already own; no extra cost |
| 60-day guarantee | Yes | Yes |
| Stand-out feature | CNC capability without a $1,000–$3,000 machine | Sheer depth and variety — almost any project covered |
| Learning curve | Steeper (machine assembly first) | Gentle — jump straight to building |
| Income potential | High (precision signs and art sell well) | Moderate (volume and variety of sellable items) |
| Long-term value | The machine keeps working for years | The library is yours to revisit indefinitely |
DIY Smart Saw: Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
The capability gap it closes is real. A hobbyist-grade CNC router from a name-brand supplier typically runs $800–$3,000. Commercial shop models go well beyond that. DIY Smart Saw sidesteps that price wall by teaching you to build equivalent precision with sourced components and your own labor. For a woodworker who has been wanting CNC-quality results but can’t justify the equipment cost, this is genuinely transformative.
Precision at scale. Hand-routing a dozen identical decorative signs is tedious and inconsistent. A machine-guided approach delivers identical results on piece twenty as on piece one. For anyone selling at farmers markets, craft fairs, or on Etsy, consistency is the difference between a hobbyist side hustle and a real small business. See Woodworking Projects That Sell for a deeper look at what the market actually pays for.
Focused learning. The program has one clear goal: build this machine, then use it. There is no library fatigue, no decision paralysis about which of ten thousand projects to start. You follow the build sequence, and at the end you have a tool. That clarity appeals to a certain kind of maker.
Long-term return on investment. Once the machine is built, every project you complete with it — signs, inlay work, carved panels, ornamental cuts — represents a return on that initial $200–500 materials investment. For anyone who uses the machine regularly, the cost-per-project drops toward zero fairly quickly.
For a full breakdown of the program’s content and what past builders report, see the DIY Smart Saw Review 2026.
Weaknesses
The machine build is a prerequisite. Before you cut a single decorative piece, you need to successfully assemble the machine. That requires time (a weekend to several weekends depending on your pace), some mechanical comfort, and the ability to source materials accurately. If you are a complete beginner or if your woodworking interest is more casual, that front-loaded investment can feel like a lot.
Less project variety out of the box. The program is not a project library. It is a machine-building program that enables a certain category of projects. If you want to build a dining table, a bookcase, or a garden pergola, you will need other plans — Ted’s being an obvious complement.
Space and materials commitment. Building and housing a CNC-style machine requires bench space and a reasonably organized workshop. Apartment woodworkers or those with minimal garage space may find the machine impractical regardless of how good the plans are.
For questions about what the program costs at different price points and what is included at each tier, the DIY Smart Saw Price: What It Costs article covers the details.
Ted’s Woodworking: Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
Volume is genuinely useful. Sixteen thousand plans sounds like marketing hyperbole until you actually need something specific — say, a chicken coop designed for cold climates, or a corner bookcase with a specific depth — and you find it in the library. The breadth means that whatever project occurs to you, there is almost certainly a plan for it, already drawn up and dimensioned.
Works for any skill level. The plan library grades difficulty, so an absolute beginner can start with simple one-afternoon projects and graduate to complex builds over months and years. This scalable entry point makes Ted’s a realistic first purchase for someone who is just discovering woodworking. Easy Woodworking Projects for Beginners gives a sense of where new builders typically start.
Traditional methods, proven results. The plans in Ted’s library use conventional hand-tool and power-tool woodworking techniques. There is no new technology to learn, no machine to build first. If you have a basic set of shop tools, you can start on day one.
Evergreen reference. A plan you purchased for a coffee table in year one can be revisited five years later when you are rebuilding a living room. The library does not expire. Many woodworkers treat it as a permanent workshop reference rather than a one-time purchase.
Weaknesses
Quality variance across 16,000 plans. When a library is this large, some plans will be older or less detailed than others. Most users report that the majority of plans are well-documented, but a small percentage require supplementing with outside research or experience-based judgment. This is less of a problem for intermediate and advanced woodworkers who can read between the lines.
Not a precision-cut solution. Ted’s plans assume traditional woodworking tools — table saws, routers, planers, band saws. If your goal is to produce precision decorative work, signs with carved lettering, or intricate repeated patterns, Ted’s plans will describe the end result but your traditional tools may struggle to execute it consistently at scale.
Library size can cause paralysis. Sixteen thousand projects is a double-edged sword. Some users find the volume overwhelming and spend more time browsing than building. If you need a focused, step-by-step mission rather than an open-ended library, the variety can actually slow you down.
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Head-to-Head: 5 Use Cases
1. Beginner First Project
Winner: Ted’s Woodworking
If you have never built anything from wood and you want to start this weekend, Ted’s wins without question. The library includes genuinely simple starter projects — small shelves, step stools, basic garden boxes — that require only elementary cuts and minimal tool investment. More importantly, you can start building immediately. DIY Smart Saw requires you to first build a machine, which is not a beginner-friendly introduction to the craft. Get your first ten or twenty projects under your belt with traditional tools before you think about CNC capability.
2. Selling Woodworking Items for Income
Winner: DIY Smart Saw
The market for handmade woodworking items has never been stronger, but the price premium buyers will pay increases dramatically with visible craftsmanship and precision. Custom signs with engraved lettering, ornamental wall art with carved geometric patterns, decorative panels with inlay work — these are the items that command $50–200 per piece at craft fairs and on platforms like Etsy. The consistency a CNC-style machine provides means you can produce multiples of bestselling designs without quality drop-off. Hand tools simply cannot match that repeatability at the volumes that make a side income meaningful. See Woodworking Projects That Sell for a breakdown of what the market rewards.
3. Traditional Furniture Making
Winner: Ted’s Woodworking
Building a dining table, a bookcase, a bed frame, or a kitchen island is fundamentally a traditional woodworking exercise. It requires good joinery, accurate dimensioning, and a solid plan — not CNC precision. Ted’s 16,000 plans are heavily weighted toward exactly these builds. The machine that DIY Smart Saw helps you construct is optimized for decorative precision and pattern work, not for the kind of large structural assembly that furniture demands. If your workshop aspiration is a beautifully made dining room set, Ted’s is the more relevant tool.
4. Precision Signs, Art, and Decorative Work
Winner: DIY Smart Saw
This is the category DIY Smart Saw was built for, and the gap is significant. Producing a carved wooden sign with clean lettering, even spacing, and repeatable depth is extremely difficult with hand tools. It requires a steady hand, specialized router bits, and considerable practice before results are presentable. A CNC-style machine does this work accurately and consistently, every time. Whether the application is custom house number signs, business signage, personalized gifts, or decorative carved panels for home installation, the machine approach wins on precision and throughput.
5. Workshop Toolkit Building
Winner: DIY Smart Saw
A workshop is defined by its tools. Ted’s Woodworking expands what you can build; DIY Smart Saw expands what your workshop can do. If your goal is to grow as a maker and have a more capable shop at the end of this year than you do now, adding CNC-class cutting precision represents a genuine capability jump. Ted’s plans are valuable for individual projects, but they do not change what your tools are able to execute. The machine does. For woodworkers who think in terms of building their craft infrastructure rather than just completing individual projects, DIY Smart Saw is the more strategic purchase.
Who Should Choose DIY Smart Saw
You are the right customer for DIY Smart Saw if any of the following describes you:
You have basic woodworking skills and want to level up your shop. You know how to make straight cuts, you understand grain direction, and you are comfortable following technical plans. The machine build will not intimidate you — it will excite you. The payoff is a shop capability that most hobbyist woodworkers do not have.
You want to produce precision decorative work. Signs, carved lettering, ornamental panels, and geometric art are in high demand and command strong prices. If that is the direction you want to take your craft — whether for personal satisfaction or for selling — the Smart Saw machine gives you tools that match your ambitions.
You are thinking about a side income. The economics of selling handmade woodworking items favor precision and repeatability. A machine that can produce twenty identical carved signs in a session, each at the same quality level, is a different business proposition than twenty hand-routed signs of varying consistency. If income potential is part of your calculus, the machine investment makes sense.
You want CNC capability without spending $1,000–$3,000. Commercial CNC equipment is excellent and genuinely worth the price for a full-time professional. For a hobbyist or small-scale seller, that price point is hard to justify. DIY Smart Saw is a practical middle path.
You have workshop space and a few weekends to commit. The machine build is not an evening project. If you can dedicate a couple of focused weekends to assembly, the result is a permanent shop tool. If your time and space are genuinely constrained, assess that honestly before purchasing.
If you want a detailed walk-through of the program content before deciding, the DIY Smart Saw Review 2026 covers the full program structure, and DIY Smart Saw Scam or Legit? addresses the most common skeptical questions directly.
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Who Should Choose Ted’s Woodworking
Ted’s Woodworking is the better starting point if you recognize yourself in this profile:
You are new to woodworking. The most important thing for a beginner is to start building, build often, and build a wide variety of projects. Ted’s gives you an inexhaustible supply of achievable projects at every skill level. Start with a simple shelf, graduate to a garden bench, then tackle a bookcase — the library scales with you.
You primarily want to build traditional furniture and home items. Tables, chairs, cabinets, sheds, raised garden beds, pergolas, toy chests, workbenches — these are the builds that Ted’s library excels at, and they represent what most home woodworkers actually want to make. There is no machine to build first; your existing tools are sufficient.
You value project variety over precision capability. If the joy of woodworking for you is the variety — picking a new project each month, building things for different rooms, gifting builds to family — then an expansive library serves you better than a specialized precision machine.
You want to start immediately with the tools you already own. Ted’s requires no upfront materials investment beyond what you already have in your shop. You pay the program fee, download the plans, and start cutting. If immediate returns on your investment matter more than long-term capability building, Ted’s delivers faster.
You build in a small space or without a dedicated workshop. Most of Ted’s plans can be executed in a garage, a driveway, or even a large outdoor space. There is no requirement to house or operate a machine. If your woodworking is portable or seasonal, the library approach is more practical.
Can You Use Both?
Yes — and the combination is genuinely additive rather than redundant.
Here is how they layer: Ted’s Woodworking gives you a vast library of projects across every category of traditional woodworking. DIY Smart Saw gives you a machine that raises the precision ceiling on any project you choose to execute. Once the machine is built, you can take plans from Ted’s library and execute the detail work — carved accents, engraved labels, decorative borders — at a precision level that hand tools cannot reliably reach.
A practical workflow might look like this: use Ted’s plans to design and dimension a large project like a console table or a garden storage bench. Build the structural elements with traditional power tools. Then use the Smart Saw machine to execute decorative details — a carved family name on the console table top, ornamental panel inserts on the bench door, a personalized sign for the garden. The result is a piece that looks professionally finished because the precision work actually is.
The combined cost — program fees plus machine materials — runs roughly $300–600 total, which is still well below the cost of a commercial CNC machine alone. For a serious hobbyist or a woodworker building a side income, that price point is easy to justify.
This kind of complementary tool-plus-library approach is common across maker disciplines. It is similar to the dynamic in precision model building: having a good set of plans and having the right cutting tools are both necessary; neither fully substitutes for the other. Model Railroading for Beginners explores a similar decision framework in another precision hobby context, and Tiny House Made Easy Review looks at how plan-based building works for larger structural projects.
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Verdict: The Right Choice Depends on Your Goal
After going through these two programs in detail, the comparison reduces to a clear principle: these products are not competing for the same job.
Ted’s Woodworking answers the question “What should I build next?” It is a reference library, a project generator, and a skill-scaling tool that serves woodworkers at every level from their first weekend project to their hundredth advanced build. If you are looking for that — an inexhaustible supply of well-documented traditional projects — Ted’s delivers. It is one of the most trusted names in woodworking plan libraries for a reason.
DIY Smart Saw answers a different question: “How do I make my shop capable of work I cannot currently execute?” It is a capability investment, not a project library. The output is a machine, and that machine permanently changes what you can produce. If precision decorative work, sign-making, or a small side income from woodworking is in your plans, the Smart Saw machine delivers a return on investment that is difficult to match at its price point.
The practical recommendation: If you are just starting out, begin with Ted’s Woodworking. Build your skills and your shop confidence on traditional projects. Once you find yourself frustrated by the precision limits of hand tools — or once you see the market for precision woodworking items and want a piece of it — add DIY Smart Saw to your toolkit.
If you already have some woodworking experience and you know you want precision capability, the Smart Saw program is the higher-leverage purchase. The machine opens a category of work that traditional tools simply cannot match at scale.
Both programs carry a 60-day money-back guarantee through ClickBank, which removes the financial risk from either choice.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between DIY Smart Saw and Ted’s Woodworking?
DIY Smart Saw provides plans for building your own CNC-style precision wood cutting machine, enabling you to make precision cuts and repeat patterns. Ted’s Woodworking is a massive library of 16,000+ traditional woodworking project plans for furniture, outdoor structures, toys, and home items. One helps you build a tool; the other gives you projects to build.
Which is better for beginners — DIY Smart Saw or Ted’s Woodworking?
Ted’s Woodworking is generally better for complete beginners because it includes projects rated by difficulty, from very simple birdhouses to complex furniture. DIY Smart Saw requires some mechanical aptitude and basic woodworking skills before the machine build makes sense.
Can I use both DIY Smart Saw and Ted’s Woodworking together?
Yes — in fact, they complement each other well. Many of Ted’s 16,000 plans can be executed more precisely with a CNC-style saw. Build the machine with DIY Smart Saw, then choose projects from Ted’s extensive plan library.
Which has better value for money?
Ted’s Woodworking offers more sheer volume of content at a similar price point. DIY Smart Saw offers transformative capability — building an actual precision tool — which can pay for itself many times over if you sell woodworking projects. The better value depends on your goals.
Do both products have a money-back guarantee?
Yes. Both are sold through ClickBank with a 60-day money-back guarantee.
Is DIY Smart Saw hard to build?
The program is designed for home builders with basic shop skills. You do not need machinist training or engineering experience. The plans include step-by-step instructions and video support. Most builders complete the machine over one to three weekends. Anyone comfortable with basic power tools and following technical plans should be able to execute the build successfully.
How many projects does Ted’s Woodworking actually include?
The stated count is 16,000+, which is accurate by most independent assessments. The plans span dozens of categories including furniture, outdoor structures, workshop accessories, children’s items, storage solutions, decorative pieces, and farm and garden builds. The range from beginner to advanced is genuine — there is material here for a complete novice as well as an experienced craftsman looking for complex joinery challenges.
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