Where Do We Start?

[BradNaylor]

Bloke came in the workshop yesteday with a very blurred photo of this and asked if we could make him one. Of course we said 'Yes!'

A price was agreed (£3,000) and a deposit pocketed. After he'd gone we then retired to the pub!


I've worked out how I would tackle it but I would be grateful for any other suggestions.

Worst of it is that SWMBO has seen the photos and now she wants one too! :shock:

Cheers
Brad

 

[SBJ]

good luck :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[2tone]

don't sweat it. this will be a piece of cake for you.

You should be able to replicate this Without to much of a drama - head down to your local half decent wood yard, with a ruff profile in mind, they will run as many length,panels as you want.

Most decent yards should have a digital moulder/cutter. Once you have the panels - build it as you would any other dresser.

i think your price is pretty good as well. Bearing in mind the hard work has already bee done. (design/Sizes Etc) All you you have to do is cut to size and assemble

 

[Mr Ed]

No problem to a man like you Brad!

Ed

 

[Chems]

Looking at the picture of the door it looks like each section of the laminate is about 3inches thick, so couldn't you find knives for your spindle moulder that do that, plane the stock up as usual and run it all through before dominoing it together to asure perfect alignment? If you made sure the joins where on the high sections as they are in the link then any minor height difference could be sanded out easily by hand.

Seems youve basically given the gentleman half price!

 

[woodbloke]

Brad - firstly I'm glad you adjourned to the boozer 'cos I think you've way underpriced this one.

I'd make in modules, with the substrate as 18mm mdf. The 'cladding' looks to be ABW, or a walnut of some sort, which has been 'castellated' (battlement profile) I'd build these up on the substrate by having a pair of special blanks ground for the spindle and making each piece (say 50mm wide) in turn which can then be offered up to the substrate...don't forget to mitre the corners
Whichever way you slice it, there's a lot of work in this one and there's going to be some serious hand work needed to sand and finish in all the profiles.
The feet seem to be cast ali (highly polished) or even cast stainless, which might leave you minus one arm and leg (do you need more) to sup your ale - Rob

 

[mailee]

Yeah, no problem Brad, just stick a few decking boards together with the Domino and Bob's your uncle. he he.
Seriously though, might be a job for the router table and indexing dado using a spear shaped cutter maybe? Just an idea like. :?

 

[Mr Ed]

I think the legs could be fabricated from square tube - if you had them welded up out of ali they could be polished up nicely. Its a couple of hours work for a local fabricator.

Ed

 

[Karl]

Can't you ask him for more money :lol:

Seriously though, the pic in your post doesn't show half the detail shown in the pics in the link, so how did you work out the price?

Looks like a nice amount of work, and making two at the same time will cut down on overall costs :lol:

You can borrow my shooting board and mitre plane for those corner joints......

Cheers

Karl

 

[BradNaylor]

the pic in your post doesn't show half the detail shown in the pics in the link, so how did you work out the price?

I just thought "2 weeks work, £500 worth of wood, £100 to have some legs made, 3 grand"

In the pub, John told me that he'd had exactly the same figures in mind as we spoke to the punter.

So he can't blame me!

Actually, I'm looking forward to it. It's nice to wander outside of one's comfort zone once in a while!

 

[squib]

How does this work if you copy someones design or is it just a case of changing a few details?

 

[Aled Dafis]

Brad

The legs will be bread and butter stuff for any decent fabrication shop. I'd have them welded from 1"/1.5" box section stainless (1.5mm wall thickness will be plenty), and have them finished so that the "brush" meets at the mitre. It's the kind of work that fab shops involved in the catering industry do day in day out.

As far as the panels go, it might be worth looking at the CNC options, otherwise, get a spindle cutter ground up, and domino the sections together as others have mentioned.

Cheers

Aled

 

[wizer]

Brad, I might be able to run off the door panels with a similar profile in 14inch wide (or tall) sections. PM If you'd like to find out more.

 

[Aled Dafis]

Brad, I might be able to run off the door panels with a similar profile in 14inch wide (or tall) sections. PM If you'd like to find out more.

CNC???

:roll: :roll:

 

[wizer]

now now

 

[Richard Findley]

Hi Brad

The best advice I ever got for projects like this (not that I've ever had a job quite like this!!!!) is to keep it simple so I would think a simple MDF sub-frame/general construction with either individual strips or panels cut to the maximum repeatable depth of your spindle moulder applied to it.

Best of luck. I'd be interested to see how you get on, or even a WIP if possible!!!

Cheers

Richard

 

[BradNaylor]

Brad - firstly I'm glad you adjourned to the boozer 'cos I think you've way underpriced this one.

I don't agree. The retailer selling this for £7000 (including VAT) is undoubtedly buying it from the manufacturer for around £3000 (excluding VAT) - that is the kind of margin furniture retailers need to work on in order to cover all their overheads and turn a profit. I don't need to worry about the VAT as I am not registered.

Granted, the factory in Italy making these is no doubt a very high tech operation and is already tooled up to turn these out. However, those set-up costs have to be recouped and I doubt whether the overall market for this sideboard allows much scope for true mass-production methods. I bet that each one is made individually to order by a small team of specialist cabinetmakers in a section of a very big factory.

So not too differently to how any of us would make it, then.

Thanks for the suggestions guys; keep 'em coming!

 

[petermillard]

The retailer selling this for £7000 (including VAT) is undoubtedly buying it from the manufacturer for around £3000 (excluding VAT) - that is the kind of margin furniture retailers need to work on in order to cover all their overheads and turn a profit.

I see your logic, but don't forget in this instance you're also the retailer - the customer (presumably) doesn't have the option to buy direct from the factory in Italy, and even if he did he'd have to pay substantial shipping costs, as well as getting screwed by the current £/€ exchange rate.

As for the construction, personally I'd have the profiled panels made up by someone who's tooled up to do that sort of work, then apply them to a standard carcass. Ditto the legs - there are plenty of people around who'll make this type of thing, I'm sure.

Even having all the donkey-work done by someone else, this is still complex enough to keep you amused for a while. If you don't already have one, Festool make a linear sander that mimics hand sanding - you can get profiled heads, including a 'make your own profile' kit that might make the finishing easier.

Let us know how it goes.

Cheers, Pete

 

[Mr T]

Hi Brad

I think I would ask someone with a CNC to machine up grooves in the base panels so you can fit strips in them, possibly finishing the panel before fitting the strips. Once you've sorted that the job is more straight forward. However I think you could have upped the price a bit (if only to make my prices look more reasonable!). I'm intrigued that you gave a price without any thought as to how you were going to make the piece.

Does his wife know he's having it made, cos' it's going to be a bugger to dust!

Chris

 

[wizer]

Does his wife know he's having it made, cos' it's going to be a bugger to dust!

:lol: That was my first thought! Feather duster, I presume