Honour Board

[wizer]

Hi Guys.

This was my first ever commission. My Dad wanted it for his golf society. Halfway through I had my finger tear-out and MarkW got me out of a hole. Thanks mate.

The sign writer finished it and I'm not impressed. Tho it might just be a bad pic. I didn't enjoy the first half of making this, I've learned that I don't want to do this for money, too much pressure and I couldn't muster the enthusiasm for it. The second half was good because I had Mark's help. It cost me £200 in wood and tooling. I earned enough for a lovely candle lit take-away curry for me and the missus! :roll: :wink:

 

[Waka]

Looks good Wizer, whats it made of becasue I'm surprized that theres £200 woth of wood in it?

 

[wizer]

Solid oak, 6mm oak veneered back. To be fair, the Thumb mould router cutter cost me £56 which I'll probably use again and there was a large off cut of the back which I will use somewhere else. The board is about 5ft by 3ft.

 

[OPJ]

Nice work WiZeR. I share similar concerns with regards to doing this for a living, but I'd still like to give it a go at some point. Not all jobs will be like this one and I can't honestly think of much else that I'd rather be doing! :wink:

 

[BradNaylor]

Looks fine - but I agree about the finish!

If you found this stressful then I think you've made the right decision about taking further on commissions!

I wouldn't be able to charge more than about £250 for an honour board like this. To make it profitable I'd have to get it made and finished in a day using less than £50 worth of materials.

Ideally I'd try and sell them two and get them both done in a day for £400.

Cheers
Dan

 

[gidon]

Well done Wizer - I'm sure it would get easier if you did further commissions - experience and all that. And it sounds like you you didn't make a loss - so that's something!
Cheers
Gidon

 

[woodbloke]

Looks fine - but I agree about the finish!

Nice job, but like Dan I find the gloss finish too glaring. A matt or semi-matt finish would have been better, but maybe they specified a full gloss varnish? - Rob

 

[wizer]

I wasn't involved in the finish at all. My Dad was umming and arring and in the end I wangled a deal that he would finish it. He promptly off loaded that job on the Sign Writer who, by the looks of it, didn't have a danny! It is possible that the camera has taken a particularly bad shot. Next time i'm in there I'll have a close look and see.

Dan the veneered back board came to £30 so it would have been hard to do it for £50.

I may have rounded up on all the costings, but not by much. I also added a small percentage for 'overheads' like electric, blade sharpening, etc

 

[BradNaylor]

Dan the veneered back board came to £30 so it would have been hard to do it for £50.

I'd basically make it from a piece of 18mm oak veneered MDF, lip the edge with oak, and add an oak moulding around the front.

Half a sheet of board - £15.00
1 cubic foot of oak - £30.00 (3 boards 8' x 6" x 1")
1 litre of lacquer £ 4.00
Glue, Screws,Brads etc £ 1.00

Total £50.00

Cheers
Dan

 

[wizer]

Yes that's certainly an economic way of doing it. Interesting to hear it from a proper trade angle. I did it to their spec and their quoted budget. It was a favour, so I wasn't necessarily looking at the best way to earn money.

 

[Chris Knight]

Tom,
Well your are a pro now - poorly hand notwithstanding!