What is the Best Compliment You've ever Received on Your Work?

[John Goodin]

My neighbor said, "Wow! Looks just like something you could by in a store." Now that I think about it those weren't real nice words.

[gary Zimmel]

Mine was being a runner up in a contest that Fine Working put on for shop cabinets.....
A lot of our members here gave the project a thumbs up.
For me getting a compliment from a fellow woodworker is the highest praise I can get.

[Andrew Joiner]

Thanks Andrew, now mine doesn't feel so good. I can't really imagine better!

Yes, Steve it was pretty cool. I do have one more compliment that may even beat Fiona's words.
33 years ago I entered the Daphne Awards. It was a furniture design contest put on by the Hardwood Institute. I got a notice that my piece, another table, was selected. The awards were presented at the Waldorf Astoria. I got lucky, my design came in second in it's category.

At that time George Nakashima, Sam Maloof, Art Carpenter and Wendell Castle were my heroes.Wendell Castle was there and I got a chance to chat with him. He asked "which design is yours?" I pointed to my table and Wendell said " You should have won first place, your's is my favorite"

[ken masoumi]

When my wife told me that I was finally at the level that I could start making furniture for the house, as opposed to just for the garage.

Matt

Same here.
This the best praise she recently gave me after showing her my my work:
Me: Do yo like it?
wife: yes.
Me: Do you really like it?
wife: yeah,what's there not to like,I don't have to love it do I?

[Jerry Murphy]

My FIL who is a retired cabinetmaker evaluated my Morris chairs and only had 6 complaints about them, it was pretty high praise.

A few weeks later my MIL was down visiting and mentioned that on the way home my FIL had remarked on what an outstanding job I had done on the chairs. Her comment was "Would it have killed you to tell Rod that you thought the chairs were nice""

His comment was " I would never tell him that, how do you expect him to improve if I don't criticise him?"

Well, I guess it's kind of like damning with faint praise............LOL..............Rod.

I love this story!

[Jim Finn]

Yes, the best ones come from other woodworkers. I remember a friend of mine that spent five minutes trying to find a flaw in an inlay that I did. He never did find one in it. He did not say much but he sure examined it closely. Wanted to know if I used a CNC machine or a laser. (I have neither)

[Michael Roberts]

One of my customers described a sideboard I made for them as "better than Moser." That one will forever stick in my mind since his house is full of Thomas Moser's furniture.

[Dick Brown]

Best compliment you can ever get-- "When others try to copy your work!"

[John TenEyck]

I did a curved balustrade for a former colleague. I was about 2/3 through the job when his 80 year old father, a former cabinet maker, stops by one afternoon while I'm working. There are at least 6 other tradesmen in the house at the same time, all within earshot. He walks around and looks at my work for at least 15 or 20 minutes. Then, finally, he says loud enough for everyone to hear "You sir are an artist.". I'll never forget that. Money's nice, but that was better.

John

[Bruce Wrenn]

When a customer says "I wish I had called you first!"

[Mark Blatter]

that is a perfect first line of a Xaviera Hollander letter.

And possibly the opening line in the divorce trial.

[John Piwaron]

A second, high profit order.

This website ought to have a like button. I'd press it for this.

[Royce Meritt]

A while back I made a mounting plaque for my brother-in-law's European Mount elk rack. Normally the taxidermist supplies the plaque when she does the european mount but my BIL wanted one made from some Burr Oak we cut on his farm. The plaque was approximately 18" wide by 30 some inches long made up of 3 glued-up boards.

When my BIL took it to the taxidermist she said, "That's really nice. Normally we don't see these made from one piece of wood."

Guess I did a good job on the glue-up. Even I will admit that you had to look pretty closely to see the joints.

[Cody Colston]

that is a perfect first line of a Xaviera Hollander letter.

Xaviera Hollander has to be, what...about 80 years old now?

[Larry Fox]

Hey - that thing you made for me a while back hasn't fallen apart yet.