What should I do with the economy being so...

[joseph j shields]

Every year I build a piece of furniture for my church and son's high school charity auctions.

Typically, I build Shaker designed furniture (usually cherry or walnut with highly figured veneer (usually maple). My pieces have auctioned off for $2,000 -$3,000 each. (attached are a few pics)

This year, I'm rethinking my approach for 2 major reasons:



The economy
I'm currently out of job :(

So... here are my thoughts/questions:



I don't think people will be willing to shell out 2-3k for a piece of furniture with today's economy. So I'm thinking about building 2 "smaller" pieces for each auction ~$1,200 a piece (yikes that's 4 pieces :eek::eek::eek:. I'm thinking that I would build a simple sofa table for each and something else... ANY IDEAS???
A buddy gave me a bunch (~250bf) of oak... about 30% of it is quartersawn. So any ideas/suggestions on what type of veneer would look good with oak... would bird's/tiger stripped maple veneer work with fumed/dyed oak??? (I've never really worked with oak) I could save a bunch of money by using this oak rather than buying some walnut or cherry.
I was also thinking about building a wine cabinet... any links/plans/ideas on a cool wine rack??? using the oak...
Any ideas/plans on building a blanket chest out of oak??? I've seen most made from cherry/maple or walnut..

Thanks for your help!!!


-jj

[Von Bickley]

I think any of those pictures that you posted would look good in oak....
I would use the oak.

[Phil Green]

Joe,

Strictly my opinion here. You are doing God's work and if you can afford the time and cost, I'm sure the church would appreciate your efforts on their behalf.

I love your idea to sort your oak and use the quartersawn material. I also agree to build simpler projects. A wine cabinet, end tables, plant stands and the like are all very popular when done in the Shaker style. With the skills you displayed in your pictures, I'm sure any of the pieces you choose to build wiill come out very nice.

Phil

[Steve Kohn]

Beautiful work. I also think that any of those projects would be stunning in oak, especially since the price on the oak is right.

But I do also agree with one of your thoughts, that it might be better to produce smaller pieces that are more affordable in todays economy. And you never know, someone buys a coffee table from you you might get a commission to build some end tables or shelves to go with it.

I would make sure to mark the pieces with your name and phone number.

[Dave Malen]

Joe,
Beautiful work, I love the pattern on the front of the Shaker Clock. I think maple always looks good with a dark contrasting wood. So fume away.Did you mention side tables?

Dave

[Rick Fisher]

Beautiful work.

If I where you, I would go talk to the local building supply store and ask them to partner up with you on the project. They could help with the materials you dont have and you supply the labor.

I get these requests all the time and can tell you that the people who are doing a lot of work themselves get priority.

Having said that, the local supply store may be hurting too.. so you may get a no?

[Jeff Heil]

Here is a blanket chest I did in White oak for ideas...


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[Bob Luciano]

There is another way to look at this. Make a less costly piece that might spark interest in others to inquire who made it and where to get one. You are still doing your part like every other year and might be able to get a few jobs out of it to help you in your time of need.

[Chip Lindley]

During ANY *economic times* sell things that appeal to GrandMa's !! They got the BUCKS to spend on family! (especially grandchildren!) GrandMa's will *overspend* if something appeals to their *family sense* (to the chagrin of GrandPa's everywhere!)

As for working with oak, do not combine it with anything (except itself!) Make frames of plainsawn oak, using quartersawn for panels or doors to accent the piece. Oak stands on its own! If white oak, you will have a new respect for the stuff after working with it. White oak is hard, and requires sharp tools and fresh carbide!

[Dan Forman]

When I think of QS white oak I think Arts and Crafts, Maybe time to try something different?

Dan

[Rick Thom]

I would look to the Craftsman style designs aka Mission. It has enjoyed a great resurgence in popularity and is predominantly made using white oak employing the colouring techniques mentioned ie fuming, qs boards. There are a lot of pieces of varying size and complexity of a traditional design within that style that would give you opportunity to show-case your excellence in woodworking skills. "Greene and Greene" is a well-known maker synonymous with the period who's style is very popular today.

[David Keller NC]

Joseph - Just my opinion, and worth considerably less than the price of a cup of coffee at the local Starbucks...

Shaker furniture would look very out of place in quartersawn oak. To my knowledge, I've never seen a Shaker piece from the classic period in that wood. So my thought is along Rick's - make arts and crafts style pieces. Quartersawn oak, as well as the finer cabinet woods such as mahogany are de rigour for this style. Bob Lang's written several excellent books that will get you started along these lines, and they're cheap (because they're still in print). One of them is Shop Drawings of Greene and Greene Furniture. There are several books in this series that he's written, and they're cheap - $16 each new from Amazon, and less if purchased used.

[Herbert Wallace]

The pie safe in oak or antique pine wouls be outstanding.

[Chris Friesen]

Make frames of plainsawn oak, using quartersawn for panels or doors to accent the piece.

If you're going to mix quartersawn and plainsawn, wouldn't it make more sense to use the straight grained quartersawn oak for the frame (for dimensional stability) and the wilder grain patterns of plainsawn oak for the panel?

I have a sweet piece of curly red oak that could be resawn into nice panels...

[joseph j shields]

Here is a blanket chest I did in White oak for ideas...


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Nice job Jeff!!

Are there any plans for it???


-jj

[joseph j shields]

Beautiful work.

If I where you, I would go talk to the local building supply store and ask them to partner up with you on the project. They could help with the materials you dont have and you supply the labor.

I get these requests all the time and can tell you that the people who are doing a lot of work themselves get priority.

Having said that, the local supply store may be hurting too.. so you may get a no?


Rick,

Good idea... I checked with one place & the guy said he would not charge me sales tax (5.5%)

I was hoping for more:(:(

I'll try another store this weekend....

-jj

[joseph j shields]

Joseph - Just my opinion, and worth considerably less than the price of a cup of coffee at the local Starbucks...

Shaker furniture would look very out of place in quartersawn oak. To my knowledge, I've never seen a Shaker piece from the classic period in that wood. So my thought is along Rick's - make arts and crafts style pieces. Quartersawn oak, as well as the finer cabinet woods such as mahogany are de rigour for this style. Bob Lang's written several excellent books that will get you started along these lines, and they're cheap (because they're still in print). One of them is Shop Drawings of Greene and Greene Furniture. There are several books in this series that he's written, and they're cheap - $16 each new from Amazon, and less if purchased used.

I agree... Shaker & oak probably won't work...

As for A&C or mission... when I build these pieces for the auctions, I often will build an extra piece for my wife... unfortunately, my wife hates both styles... :(

But who know... maybe this year I will be building just for the auctions...

-jj

[Archie England]

Being in ministry, I disagree with your first premise--that people won't pay as much this year as prior years. With the quality of work you've shown us, I think that you've well established your credentials as a quality craftsman, along with your heart for the local church and school. This leads me to believe that those who still have money will reward your effort by stepping up and paying good money for good work. Perhaps fewer people will be able to bid, but there should be some who can and will afford to do so. For your part, just being faithful to build it is the only step of faith needed here to start another round of good deeds.

As to the second issue: God will provide; but don't use that as a reason not to look diligently for His provision. Likewise, don't allow charity work to get in the way of your family as your first priority. The current economy will continue to push us into hard decisions.

Be encouraged in well doing....

Arch

[Rick Fisher]

Dont be discouraged. I get asked for that type of thing all the time. Today I was asked, by a group to donate materials to a lady who is now in a wheelchair. She was a passenger in a head on and her husband was killed.

They are making her house "wheel chair" accessable, before she gets home.

So with the limited economy, if you had asked today as well.. you would have gotten turned down..

When you get turned down, its not because you dont have a worthy cause, its sometimes because another cause is just more heartbreaking.

[Wally Knight]

Being a Southern Baptist, I kinda snickered at the wine rack.:eek: But then, you might have a big market.:D
I'm sure it will turn out good whatever you decide. After all, God owns all the money anyway.

[Jeff Heil]

Built from a set of plans in Wood magazine a few years ago. I will PM you a link to the online plans. I took some liberties with their design and added cedar closet liner to the interior as well.

Jeff

[Chip Lindley]

I enjoy the look of quartersawn oak panels. I have never had any issues with *dimensional stability* in oak, regardless of what was combined with what. To Each Their Own!

[Terry Brogan]

The best wine cabinet I've ever seen can be found laid out in WW Journal vol. 27 (Aug 2003): 34 and foll. It's all in QSWO, so if you have enough quartersawn, you'll be fine. It should auction out at $5,000 or so, since that's what people pay us for it, and people who see it can't walk away: it's Stickley quality if not better. Very small wine holders also are not a bad idea for what you have in mind: people will pay $100 for them at auction if the charity is worthy, as clearly it is here, and they are _very_ fast to make. Sickley actually makes one themselves; they sell it for $27 and can't make them fast enough; it takes about 15 min to cut with a jig and maybe a half hour to finish. Yes, put your name and contact on them!

White Oak means Arts & Crafts, yes, but most Shaker cabinetmakers used pine; most modern versions use cherry instead. But the Shakers were an intensely pragmatic folk and, had they had oak or cherry plywood, would have used it. Blanket Chests and Six-Board Chests are the first thing to make. Never mind fuming: you can just brush the stuff on and wait to wipe it off; it works exactly the same. There was an article somewhere a while back; let me know if you want it. I'll give you the cutlist for the wine cab if you want to have a run at it and you have Cutlist Plus.

People aren't going to be leaving their homes for a while. Offer Built-Ins, and figure some way to give them monthly payments

[Jacob Mac]

if you go to T-chisels website he has a beautiful blanket chest he makes out of QSWO and he has plans for it on his site too.