Puzzle Chest Critique Please

[DOOGYREV]

I would welcome opinions as to whether or not anyone thinks this kind of thing would sell?

I built this about 5 years ago, and ever since then my friends and family have said “you should put that in a magazine” or “I can’t believe you haven’t started a website to sell them yet”
Well I’ve never done anything about it, but as business has been slow for the last couple of years, and since recently joining this forum and seeing how helpful and knowledgeable all the members seem to be, I thought this was the right time and right place, to see what the experts think.

This is what I call my Puzzle Chest

This is a prototype so to speak, I made it for myself for storage, but mainly to test out some design ideas that I had for various things including, the overall aesthetics to accommodate my original puzzle chest idea, secret compartments, hidden locks, mechanisms, magnets and so on.

It has 20 drawers, some of which can only be accessed if you open other drawers first.
It has 4 drawers concealed under the false bottom of other drawers; these can only be accessed by sliding the front left or right before opening.
It has a secret shelf on the underneath
It has a Large Very Secret compartment with a hidden magnetic locking mechanisms and a magnetic key disguised as a small box replica of the unit.
It also has a small Very Secret compartment which can only be accessed with the magnetic key and correct drawers being open.
It has a few more too, but if I told you then they wouldn’t be secret any more.

Well I hope you like it, and are not too critical.

Cheers Doogy

 

[joiner_sim]

I don't think it will sell, as its design in my opinion isn't in keeping with today's trends. It's more of a bespoke piece that may appeal to one or two people. You could update the design though and then maybe you would have a good product. Instead of timber, maybe formica, glass, mirror or plastic? And maybe push to open draws on soft open/close runners? Just need to ask yourself who you want to buy it and for how much? Mass production/ small profit OR Bespoke production/ large profit. Thats my thoughts on it as a product.

However, my thoughts on it as a piece you have made is thats it very clever and it does look pretty good.

 

[Blister]

Wow

I think the design is very good as long as the draws run free and don't hang down when open

Agree wit JJ that instead of red brick fronts that part needs updating to something lighter / brighter / cleaner / more subtle

Imagine the storage potential / and a coffee table built in as well =D> =D> =D>

I really like it :mrgreen:

 

[Chataigner]

What a brilliant piece! I am full of admiration for the ingenuity and detail of the drawers, however, much as i admire it, I would not buy it, it does not fit with our traditional interior.

Does it fit with modern interiors? Cant really comment, not my scene.

Nice work though.

 

[motownmartin]

I think this is an excellent idea and you must have put a lot of thought into it but it does look very much look like a brick wall in the middle of the room, which is fine if you like brick walls and I am sure that there are a lot of peeps out there who do, I wonder what it would look like in different timbers, smaller gaps between the bricks or even bigger bricks but I suppose you have already drawn those ideas.

It definitely has a lot of scope and a web site with clever marketing could make you a fortune.

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

Very cleaver, I do think you have a product. If you could use different looks/faces. Maybe even a system where the faces could be changed once brought.

A website would cost around £300, £200 for a photographer and studio. Maybe another £500 on advertising just to start with. I bet you could make that back in 5 sales? I could see the design you have selling but I could see other designs selling better.

 

[Karl]

I really like it.

The comments along the lines of "not to my tastes" are a bit irrelevant, IMO. If somebody could come up with something which is to everybody's taste, they'd be very wealthy! As long as it appeals to some people (ie your target market), that's all that matters. And I would imagine the externals could be modified to give different aesthetics, increasing market scope.

Cheers

Karl

 

[goldeneyedmonkey]

I like the idea, but I think to make any money out of it then you would have to sell a lot of them and do small batch production runs. How long did it take you to make?
It is an excellent piece, not quite to my taste (but as said previously this doesn't matter, as long as there are folk out there that do like it). If it was slightly more sublte in its overall appearance, and maybe didn't have quite so many drawers I think it might work.

I assume it's just got those wheels on as it's a prototype? If not, then concealing them or getting more up market ones fitted is a must in my mind.

I like the ingenuity of it, I've always wanted to make a piece with boot-lifters in it, so that a certain aspect of it will rise up at the touch of a magnetic push-latch. - Yet to happen as I'm just in the process of starting my business. But I like the way you think in this project and it's started the creative juices flowing in my head again

Top-man, very clever, get refining it

Cheers _Dan.

 

[gasman]

I think it is amazing - I love the concept of multiple secret boxes drawers and compartments - something I try to put into each jewellery box I make but I agree with some of the other comments about the difficulty in transcribing this concept into a money-spinning business venture
How long did it take? What are the light and dark woods? How much did it cost in materials? I am sure you will find people prepared to pay for such skills but they are likely to be few and far between
A magnificent piece - thanks for sharing it with us
Mark

 

[OPJ]

I really like the design and, in particular, the fact that the drawers all vary in width. It reminds me of Michael Wainwright's Brick Chair, which I saw at an exhibition last July. The only 'exciting' feature about that though, was that you can open and close the small window! :-D (No drawers, or anything.) He's also made a Brick Table, which I haven't seen in person. On Michael's website, there's also a Coffee Table made in a similar style.

I'm sure it's the kind of project that would interest a magazine, if you had all the work-in-progress photos (or, were prepared to make another and document the build). It's no way to make a sole living in doing this but, the extra bit of cash can be handy towards future purchases of tools and timber. ;-)

 

[Corset]

I guess with many of these things you have to see how long it would take to make. As if the time is intensive then the cost is hiogh and the people whom like it enough to buy it will be reduced.
|Owen

 

[monkeybiter]

IMHO it's very well made and ingenious, and [don't take offence] would do well as a toy box/play room tidy in Surrey where all the money is.

 

[Creampuff]

WOW... just WOW thats seriously impressive, the differant design possibilities are endless.

I must confess if i thought for one moment i had the cash for something like that i'd buy one.

Very impressive indeed.

My advice as to selling them would be why not make a couple and see if you can sell them on for a fair profit, I think if you find the right people you'll be suprised what you could sell them for.


Andy

 

[barkwindjammer]

Staggering complexity Doogy, I wouldn't even know where to begin making a puzzle like that :shock:

Critique- it looks like a brick wall !
Its got that 'Indiana Jones' thing going on with the concept, maybe take the uniformity out of the drawer/tray sizes-or dress it up 'goth' style with very thin acid etched brass plate applied to the fronts in a random (ish) pattern

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRLyVOEfKQk

 

[woodbloke]

This is an intriguing piece of work and I like the idea of lots of secret drawers and compartments, but the actual design, for me at least is a complete non-starter. As others have rightly said (in my view) it looks like a brick wall...would I want it as a centre piece in my lounge? Definitely not and I suspect that might be the market view as well - Rob

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

IMHO it's very well made and ingenious, and [don't take offence] would do well as a toy box/play room tidy in Surrey where all the money is.

My first thought on target market was young bachelor that likes to have mates around and play console games. Teenagers gaming room!

 

[DOOGYREV]

First of all thanks for all the comments so far, (phew not as bad as I thought they may be)
Some very good Information, constructive criticism and praise thank you.

There have also been a lot of questions and comments, I will try to address all of them, as you have been kind enough to take the time to comment, apologies if I miss one or two points, and I won’t put the original quote in as it will be far too long.

Joiner_sim
Thanks for your input while I was making it I did think about other materials, some would be quite easy to substitute for timber, as the tiles(bricks) are ½” thick with the bottom edge chamfered to act as a handle and ½” gaps (as small as I could get for fingers to pull out the drawer comfortably) I thought I could use 12mm Corian (other brands are available) maybe gloss white on matt black, might look good, although that wouldn’t be to my taste, Marble or granite has also sprung to mind with shiny chrome mirror finish where the black is now, although that would add to the cost prices could easily be taken into account for those options.
Push open draws and soft close runners wouldn’t work with this design, although I am aware they are very good sales gimmick, and it’s something I will bear in mind for a future designs.
Ideally I would like Bespoke small batch production with a reasonable profit margin
Thanks for the advice

Blister
Thanks, and the drawers don’t hang down unless they are fully open.
So if I were make another one, a show piece, what is fashionable at the moment, what material/wood/finish would you recommend.
Storage is amazing, in fact I’ve got so much in it that one of the 4 wheels buckled now it’s on 6!

Chataigner
Thank you very much, I thought it was quite contemporary; I have done a few jobs for people and they have wanted a similar style, ie: clean lines, square edges, chunky, no mouldings or fluting.

Martin
Thanks martin, I do agree that some people think it resembles a brick wall, and I think it’s some thing I will address if I make another one, I did draw up lots of different possibilities, the two designs that came close were much longer tiles same height, and various sized squares and rectangles, the reason I settled on the Brick looking design is the puzzle aspect, the fewer the tiles the more obvious it became which ones were draws, and the tile dimensions I settled on worked out to be very versatile for the draw sizes I wanted, ie; the smallest being the width and height of 1 tile and the largest being 4 wide and 3 high, and everything in-between, but it was experimental, a commercial piece could have less drawers and doesn’t need to be so puzzely .

Hudson Carpentry
Thanks, different faces would be easy, interchangeable would be possible but would need some thought, thanks for the website costs etc… I do also have many other designs and ideas I would love to be able make, refine, and sell in the future, this piece would be the start.

Karl
Thank you Karl, yes there is a lot of scope for versatility especially externally.

Dan
Thanks, small batch production runs, 5 up to 10 at a time would be my ideal.
The original Idea was probably floating around in my head for about 5 years before I put pencil to paper, and during that time had got much more complicated, and involved a lot of unnecessary experimentation, about 6months thinking about it, 2weeks sketching design to cutting list (hour or 2 in the evenings, and about 2 weeks to make, could have done it in a week without all the experiments, If I did 5 at a time I think I could get it down 5 every 2 weeks.

The wheels are hidden, you only see them in a couple of pics because the camera is level with the top and at a distance, and yes I think I would get more up market ones for the finished article.

Thanks again, boot lifters, I like it, will post some pics of the top compartment, the key, and the way it opens.

Mark
Thank you Mark, it took about 2 weeks,(see above) The light wood is White Oak the dark wood is Wenge, the materials cost about £200
Your welcome

Olly
Cheers, unfortunately, as usual it’s when I have finished something that I think about taking a photo and how I should have taken some along the way, so there aren’t any in progress pics.
I am thinking about making another one though so I will remember to.

Mike
Thanks Mike, none taken, that’s pretty much what I use it for now.

Andy
Wow Thank you very much Andy, I think I might make another, and if you know the right people we could always split the profit.

barkwindjammer
Thanks very much, will probably adapt the design to look less like brick, like the idea of brass plates on random draws as an option

Rob
Cheers, yes it would seem that ‘the brick wall look’ is not very desirable in the majority of peoples opinions, and it is something that I will be addressing if I do decide to pursue this.

Hudson Carpentry & monkeybiter
That’s interesting so if I were to advertise I should go for ‘Mother & Toddler Monthly’
and ‘Gamers World’

Thanks again for the input so far.

 

[No skills]

A great piece imo, obviously the exterior style will either fit right in to some peoples places or just stick out like a sore thumb but thats life - theres plenty of variation to be had on the exterior style so perhaps having the standard draw/box workings ready made then going custom on the exterior to suit the individual customer??

What are the exterior dimentions?

 

[DOOGYREV]

A great piece imo

What are the exterior dimentions?

Thanks No Skills, yes could easily make drawer carcus and clad it in whatever customer wants.
The dimentions are In mm are W-1086 D-638 H-440

 

[Orcamesh]

Amazing Doogy! I also agree with many of the other comments. But you definitely have something there. It is all too easy to see only the first one that you have shared with us, and only comment on how that one looks. But given some time with further designs, as I'm sure you know, you could come up with loads of ideas. One thing you could try and do is to get it modelled professionally in computer graphics (something more powerful than Sketchup) so that different designs could be visualised in 3D? Then you could basically show these 3D models to prospective clients and ask them which one they would choose. These 3D models could become part of your website. Then people will not be guided only by one or two "looks" or "designs". Alternatively make several very different chests (i.e. using very different woods &/or materials) and then use these as marketing tools. Another idea would be to make some scale models in different timbers/materials. These could be carried around with you and shown to prospective clients?

Anyway, well done, it is a great piece and must make your family & friends go nuts trying to work out how to find everything!! :lol:
cheers
Steve