Furniture Making Tip

 Now I only make furniture for friends and family.  While custom wood working can be profitable, getting a final product that suits the customer can be a challenge sometimes. I found that the finished colour was the issue most often.  Clear varnish was okay and painted pieces were generally okay too, but, stained pieces were nearly always a problem.  Often the piece would not be the colour that the customer thought they wanted.  

  This plant stand I am currently fiddling around on is the perfect example of the what would have been a perfect customer.  I am making the plant stand for my friends David and Elise for whom I have made several things in the past. When they want something they provide an excellent plan, carefully drawn with all necessary measurements. There are no 'about or sort ofs', so the final product will be the correct size and shape. Usually, they do the finishing, so the stain colour never enters into the discussion.  In this case David brought me tin of the stain they want the stand to be.  Perfect. No 'oh!!, that's not what I thought it would look like' at delivery time.

  Not always fool proof, I had a customer a couple of years ago tell me exactly what colour stain he wanted his shelf units. I bought the exact colour from the exact company, I finished the shelves with the stain, it was hideous ( I knew that immediately)  and he was cross with the result.  I got paid but...he wasn't happy, not my fault.

  Dark Walnut stain of a plywood top.

 Dark walnut on legs. It remains for everything to dry.  Once fully dry I'll put it together, after I finish the top.

  You can't possibly guess what this is going to be.  It is glass and weights holding something down while it dries.  Once this is dry I am thinking of adding it to the top for a bit of ornamentation, I know that there will be a plant hiding most of it but...an advantage with working for friends is a flexible timeline and room to experiment.  After all if my idea doesn't work, it will be hidden by a large flower pot.  

cheers ianw

Spring is here? a cold spring, but sunny