Jewelry Display Commission…or my haunted Halloween project from Hell

It’s pretty nice, Douglas.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

It’ll be nicer when the check clears, but thanks, Tom. I could have fussed with this for another week. I’m ready for fun, low impact Christmas projects without the commission worries, the 8 hour day job and 4 hour night job and the fear at any point that I would make a grievous mistake and blow the whole project with no time to recover.

As it was, to set the barrel hinges in the 5/8˝ thick panel doors I had to bore the holes in the carcase, start the holes in the doors and then grind the brad-point off the bit to get my depth without poking through to the front.
Every ding needed a dye touch up, would the hinges sag…blah blah blah.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Douglas, this is very nice and, I’m sure, very exacting to make.

Now here’s my question; is this a small box, because if it is my friend, I just love small wooden boxes, but if it’s not, well, I like it anyway. LOL

-- CanuckDon "I just love small wooden boxes!" http://www.hilsbiblechurch.org/

It’s a jewelry-display-case-cabinet-box! It’s great Douglas! You are the finish KING in my book. NO MORE STAIN!!! Hip Hip…well you know where I’m going with that…

!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

ROTFLMAO

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Hi Doug;

seems to be a lot of projects ffrom hell lately. Must be the full moon!

Looks just fine to me. Great job. Ah, life as a cabinetmaker, under paid, overworked, never appreciated.

I love it.

Nice project!

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

Douglas,
That is one very fine display case. Those double dovetails are exceptional. Sure, you did them with the Incra but that isn’t easy in my opinion. The design and the finish are just excellent. Be happy with it my friend, you did it proud. As for the pay…..some times we just get$3/hour and say, “Oh, well…..I was a fun project and I got to try something new.” As for the deadlines…..it’s one of the crappy parts of commmission work. Those deadlines are why we all wish we could just do the things we want to do and have them all sell. However deadlines and commission work are our life blood in this business. On to the next one.

-- Thos. Angle

I like it!

-- miles125, Alabama.."Architecture is frozen music""

Douglas,
You could always tell clients what I tell them in the saddle shop; ” Good work takes time, I assure you you will enjoy it much longer than you waited on it.” so I just set myself up with a project that has to be done so a new store can open. YIKES!!

-- Thos. Angle

Soooo, now your wife wants one too, right? And that’s including the ten strand pearl necklace. LOL!

I like the double dovetails detail as it throws some more color into the piece.

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

Thanks guys. I think it was the time pressure that turned the tide for me. And with the finishing faux pas I had to put the rather nervous expectant groom off a day and a half. When it came time to settle up he forgot the written estimate and would have given me an extra fifty. I was too stupid to make a joke about a tip, I just reminded him of what I agreed to make the box for. Pam about killed me when I told her.

I’ll chalk it up to a learning experience. Don’t really feel I can turn away work that comes calling from out of the blue. My wood store folks recommended me. So like you said Tom “on to the next one.” And I will not be rushing out to give up my day job. And probably ought to have my “business manager” handle the closings.

As soon as I use the last day of decent weather here to re-glaze a window, I will get to start up a raft of desk organizer projects like the ones made by Jeff (the artist formerly known as Caliper)

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Yeah, I recognized the stress of the commission as I was reading your entry. Still nice work. We always can pick the work apart. Usually if the overall piece is good looking, people don’t notice the details that the craftsman does. YOU have an intimate relationship with the piece and know of its flaws in detail. Their relationship is the initial impact when they see it. If that is good they typically will be very happy.

Our self-critique and awareness always drives us to be better.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

Nice job Douglas.
It’s a tough life being a Xmas Elf.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Dadoo she reminded me how much see liked my “piano finish” (never posted), ebonizing dye over black toned lacquer. Guess I won’t get to throw out the jugs of dye just yet (I bought a gallon each of Campbell Black, Corinthian and Walnut Microtone and a quart of Behlens Solarlux yellow in one fell swoop a few years ago).

I forgot to mention the counterbored screw holes in the top are plugged with purpleheart and there is a purpleheart and cork device glued into the interior (rub joint) that captures a little tab on the bottom of the manikin. This will allow the jewelry store people and the bride to pull the whole thing out should that be desired.

Thanks Bob. I enjoyed hearing about your karate demo at the woodshow with Mot.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

I will be doing some dye work on the project that I am on now. It can really set your work apart from the standard stained look.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

Todd, I bought a couple of dark gel stains when I was making testers for this project, and absolutely hated the way they looked over walnut, even with a washcoat of shellac. And oil-based just wasn’t in the cards timewise. I think I should have given the rottenstone packing 5 days instead of 3 to dry, and padded my shellac instead of spraying after the first sealing coat over the alcohol/acetone based toner. I am further sold on that waterborne lacquer.

But as winter descends on the great plains, it’s shellac or wiping varnish season for me in Nebraska.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Cool looking piece.

purpleheart and walnut look beautiful together.

looking forward to seeing more of your work.

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

Douglas That is a beautiful presentation piece. I’m glad you liked the rottonstone and BLO. It does a great job on the pores. I tried using rottonstone and Danish Oil also because it dries faster.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

That is a sharp piece..you would never know by the end product that you had so much trouble with the finish. The double dovetails is a cool detail. Nice work and Todd is right…it seems every piece I build when I look at them my eye goes right to every mistake I made no matter how undetectable they are by anyone else!

-- David, South Windsor, CT "I love the smell of sawdust in the morning"

“It’ll be nicer when the check clears, but thanks, Tom. I could have fussed with this for another week. I’m ready for fun, low impact Christmas projects without the commission worries, the 8 hour day job and 4 hour night job and the fear at any point that I would make a grievous mistake and blow the whole project with no time to recover.” – Doug

Doug,

I like that statement! Those are the words of an honest craftsman. At least they would expess my sentiments anyway.

I like the “I’m ready for fun now..” part. That’s the trouble with some of these “commissioned” projects. They can be downright stressful.

Nice work, Doug – now go have some fun!!!

-- Tom, Surfside Beach, SC - Romans 8:28

Yes Sir! (I’ll show this to Pam if I need a hall pass).

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Great result in the end, Doug. You’re making me happy I don’t do this professionally, though. :-)

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Me too. It’s a side deal. I don’t think I’ll be giving up the day job and the health insurance any day soon. =:^•

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Very Nice. I demand progress pics from now on.

-- -John "Do I have to keep typing a smiley? Just assume it's a joke." www.flickr.com/photos/gizmodyne

Okay, John.

Long live Jambi.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Mekka Lekka High, Mekka Hiney Ho, Meka Leka High, Mecha Chiney Ho,
Ah.. Pee Wee.

-- -John "Do I have to keep typing a smiley? Just assume it's a joke." www.flickr.com/photos/gizmodyne

Douglas – did you build the case that your head is displayed in?

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Yep. Cheapest pixels I could get.
Sad about old Pee Wee…

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

What happened to Pee Wee?

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

The bust, plummeting from children’s TV star heaven. etc. He has seemed to come out okay, but damned if I didn’t love that show and Hey Vern, It’s Earnest. And I was in my thirties…

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Oh, I thought something more recent happened to him! I thought you were going to say that he died or something! I saw him in some movie recently – can’t recall which though! I was suprised when I realized who it was – thought he was toast since the bust.

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

And now, back to your display case…

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

.... and do we know what the bride thought ?

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

I blogged this right after I handed this over. She gets the case as she is dressing for the wedding. Nov 10th.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

oh now isn’t that romantic—as she’s dressing for her wedding…
sigh…

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Her mom will be bringing it to the wedding site. I will spare you Pam’s impression…

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

It is really pretty. Too much work or not.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Nice Doug very, very excellente’. mike

-- Mike. mwurm13@yahoo.com

Douglas

Are your ears really pierced ?

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

Just two of em Dan.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

The virtual pair only.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Very nice… I chose to go with the cabnet maker system from Jointech rather than INCRA… Hope I will be able to do such joinery… (if this is not your best work then I am really impressed…)

Drew

-- Drew, Pleasant Grove, Utah

They weren’t so evenly spaced up and down and side to side as I would have liked, but they are passable. I generally try and use a wood that I would describe as gummy (weird choice of adjective). One has to fit the accent wood over the first cut of the dovetails, and it is endgrain that shows, so if the fit is too tight and the wood doesn’t compress then the accent piece tends to break across the short grain. I actually had some not-full-thickness cracking in the purpleheart accent piece (purpleheart is hard as a rock and brittle), but it held up well and the glue-up cures a variety of ills.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Ohh — I just noticed an unfortunate similarity between my “Jambi” picture and

La Vache Qui Rit®, the famous French laughing cow, especially around the snout. Oh well, too late now.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

don’t knuckle under on the price no matter how they whine. most non-woodworkers have no idea of the time and effort involved in the projects. ironically, the only ones who understand the difficulties and effort involved are people who could build it themselves.

remember- custom…...costs ‘em!!!!

-- ernieb westerlo, ny

Douglas…just how did the cow come to mind? In a dream state?

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

It was just the first thing that came to mind upon seeing myself with earrings- that and I used to have a Laughing Cow T-shirt years ago (the 70’s). Go figure.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Did you say figure? I love your good neighbor box!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Name dropper. He He. That just bowls me over!

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Oh, you mean about your clocks?

Or are you talking about your box?

With socks?

Okay, this is getting too Seussian for me!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

That happens to be my favorite picture of that box…BTW!

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

too much fun here. think I’ll keep checking back.

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

Dorje made me do it… I’m surprised Deb doesn’t make us go to separate rooms.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

I’m wearing my dunce cap as we speak.

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Didn’t mean to get you sent to the Principal’s office…doh!

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Well in addition to this perfect little necklace vault , I really enjoyed all of the back and forth comments and the humor within them : ) The finish is just wonderful and would you consider the cabinet to be Shaker inspired by any chance ? The third picture across the top appears to have that wonderful Shaker beauty and simplicity to it . The double dovetails are a great addition to the piece . Great job indeed !

-- You know you're getting old when you know the difference between you're (you are) and your (belonging to you) AND how to use them in a sentence .

Thanks, Dusty56. This is the second old project of mine that you have drug out of LJ obscurity. Thanks for the bump! It was indeed fun to go through this post again. Dorje makes a excellent partner in crime (in addition to being a talented craftsman) =^D

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.