How to lose money.......

[Larry Edgerton]

This is a peice that I did for a local clothing store. It is not particularly earth shaking, and is really not unusual, or even particularly beautiful.

The interesting part of this project is that all of the parts are consecutive. In other words the upper and lower flat panels on one bank of drawers are out of one board, all of the rails are out of one board, and kept in order and all of the styles are out of one board, the one next to it being cut from the same board and kept in its place. Same with the face frames. The frames and the flat panel drawer fronts are all mortise and tenon construction.

There are four banks of fourteen drawers, two cabinets as pictured with drawers on both sides so all in all there were over 400 pieces to keep in order and faced the right side up as they went through the construction process. I could not make one mistake or the whole idea of consecutive pieces would be off. This proved to be harder than I thought but I taped the pieces together in groups in fanfold so they stayed together during the machining processes.

This was a self imposed torture, the customer did not really care, and no one has noticed it yet that I am aware of, but I had a slow time last winter when I did this job so I got a bit carried away, at my own expense. But I had fun, and I am proud of it, even if I did lose money.

[Craig T. Smith]

Larry, Looks great to me. I really like how you kept all that grain consecutive. I would have pulled my hair out. Great job. Happy Woodworking, Craig

[Don Bullock]

This is a peice that I did for a local clothing store. It is not particularly earth shaking, and is really not unusual, or even particularly beautiful....

I wouldn't agree with that statement. Your work is very beautiful and rather unusual. That's a fantastic piece of work that you should be justly proud of. Just compare the cabinet you made with the plywood one behind it. What a difference! It's too bad that they didn't have you enclose that steel pole with matching wood.

[Brian W Evans]

I agree with Don. Don't sell yourself short. That is a thing of beauty and the effort to keep the pieces in order is appreciated and admired by those of us who know what we're looking at. That is to say, any of us would have noticed your piece and appreciated the construction the minute we walked into that store.

Beautiful work.

[Joe Chritz]

I would notice and say "wow bet that was a pain in the behind."

It is nice work and I try to do the same on an individual cabinet basis but have never tried to do that many doors / drawers / cabs in order.

Anyone who is a woodworker would notice right off, anyone else won't even notice it is wood.

Joe

[Thomas Bank]

I wouldn't say that it was a loss of money. You used it to learn and better your craft. And in a public area like that, someone is bound to come along at some point that is going to appreciate what you did and notice it. Hopefully they will seek you out and commission you to make something for them.

[Jim Becker]

Really nice work, Larry...and yes, keeping that stock "consecutive" was just wonderful.

[Jamie Buxton]

I like to think that people do notice good craftsmanship, maybe without being aware of it. They feel better about the work when it is well-done, even if they can't tell you what it is about the piece that you did. So yes, that's beautiful work, and yes, you did the right thing.

[Ron Jones near Indy]

That's really outstanding. I'm sure people notice the grain and don't realize what it took to pull it off. You should be proud. What you lost in money, you gained in experience. It will payoff some day--soon I hope.

[Jim Kountz]

Larry dont sell yourself or your work short, this is a really nice piece and fits perfectly in the store setting.

[Mark Patoka]

Any woodworker walking into that store would notice your efforts very quickly. On the other hand, if you just mixed the panels and didn't keep the consecutive grain, it may get noticed more just because there would be something that didn't look quite right. There would be no visual flow that would stand out to more people, even if they didn't know what it was. People tend to notice/comment on the negative vs. the positive.

Hopefully the extra time spent on the details of this project will lead to more jobs when people realize your craftsmanship.

[Steve Schoene]

By the way, if you did this during a slow period it really didn't cost you extra. Only if you had to turn away other work, or if it caused to to not do as much prospecting for new work would the extra time have any cost.

[Larry Edgerton]

By the way, if you did this during a slow period it really didn't cost you extra. Only if you had to turn away other work, or if it caused to to not do as much prospecting for new work would the extra time have any cost.

It costs me $1200 a month to heat my shop, plus electric. I figure a certian amount an hour is mandatory and anything less I am losing money. This is a business, not a hobby. Each job has to stand on its own.

This was a money loser, but I like the client, and chose to go overboard. But my accountant still says I lost money.:)

[Steve Schoene]

. But my accountant still says I lost money.:)

But, if you didn't spend the extra time on this job, where would you have spent the time? The extra time only cost you money if doing the job that way kept you from bringing in money from some other job. But you said business was slow so the extra time would likely not be as productive as the time spent on this project. It's not about adding up the dollars flowing out the door, those happen anyway, it's about the opportunities you had to give up to do this, and only the opportunities you gave up.

The accountant's measurement doesn't apply for this situation. Your business may well have lost money that month, but it wasn't because of the time spent on this project, it was because business was slow. Cost accounting is one of the least understood aspects of business and often, just as in this case, leads to making wrong decisions. even for mega companies.

By the way, it is a very attractive piece, beyond the usual retail furnishings.

[Leigh Betsch]

I'm a bit of a cynic when it comes to the general public really caring much about craftsmanship. I agree with Jamie that hey may see something that they generally like, but they don't have a clue that it is because someone else put more than the minimum effort into it. Seems that all the general public cares about is that it's cheap and quick. Now there are a few that understand that what's good costs money and will spend good money but I really think that unless you are a craftsman yourself you really don't appreciate exceptional work. I doubt may people even know what a hand cut dovetail is. So I work as best I can because I care, and someday another craftsman might see my work and appreciate it.
I like the drawer pulls, which I could visualize stuff like that.

[Richard M. Wolfe]

NIce piece, Larry. I find the same thing with matching wood. I will do something like a cedar chest where the wood has all kinds of knots and grain changes and have to point it out to anyone who sees it. But there may well be people who see it who appreciate it because the flow is pleasing to the eye and not even realize why.

[Thomas Pender]

Larry,

Your work is harmonious and beautiful. People will appreciate your effort, even if they do not know why. In addition, I have a recurring observation and that is the craftsmen of today do very fine work - in some ways much better than the work done by folks sold at auction for lots of money. Finally, an observation: Could you have let it out of your shop if you had not done your best?

[Marlin Williams]

Very nice. Any Pics of it being built?

[Lee Schierer]

This was a money loser, but I like the client, and chose to go overboard. But my accountant still says I lost money.:)

Tell your accountant that the difference in time was advertising and add this cabinet to your catalog showing what is possible. You never know when the right client will want a book matched cabinet with the exact effort you put into this one.


Very nice work.