Today’s “17 Step Commute” Dashboard…
Temp: Spring in Florida 😎 68-78 degrees. Perfecto!
Humidity: 3 on the “Soup” scale. (1=light broth, 5=thick chowder)
Today’s Playlist: Dire Straits shuffle. Love that Mark Knopfler guitar!
Conditions: Blooms everywhere. Over-ripe loquats dropping from the tree make for slippery conditions. Birds drunk on over-consumption.
Estimated Travel Time: 20 seconds
Food: Banana and a turkey & swiss sandwich for blunch. Chicken fajitas slated for supper 😋
Coffee Level: Full Tank
On the Workbench…
Some projects that sound simple on inception and acceptance evolve into extended affairs that you just want gone.
When I was asked to convert a cherry finished, overhead kitchen cabinet to a TV console (countertop and feet), I envisioned a 4 to 5 hour deal. I had some leftover “rose quartz” Formica for the top and cherry wood on hand for the legs.
My first problem was saying “Yes” based on a couple photos.
Next was space. My little shop is set up for making little things. Inserting a 3’ x 3’ x 1’ foot cabinet and allowing room to maneuver it for each process takes up a lot real estate in such a shop.
Then… because of the cabinet’s construction, the cherry wood legs I had envisioned would be too wobbly. So, I designed some bracket feet. They turned out nice and are a lot more stable, but added about 8 hours to the job. The cherry I had on hand was lighter in color than the stain used at the factory the cabinet was made. I do not use stain in my shop, so I didn’t have any on hand. Cherry will darken naturally with time, so I am relying on that. If they don’t like it, they can always paint or color themselves.
The countertop went smoothly and contrasts nicely (as expected). Although, with machine changes/setup time turned into 4 hours.
Final assembly, with gluing, screwing and clamping times totaled about 4 hours.
Overall, it will serve as needed and last for decades, but those lighter feets disturb me. As much as I love my cousins, 16 hours was a little more than I expected to spend out of my week.
Delivery tomorrow, lessons learned.
Sneak Peeks
Thanks for checking in. Here’s a view of this week’s Etsy orders.
For customers, this should ease your mind that your order is quite important to me and being attended to, not sitting on a clipboard or in the to-do pile. Also, if your order is being sent as a gift to a recipient at another address, you get to see it before they do.
For subscribers, this will give you an idea of the physical things I create and ship worldwide. They keep me sane and help me find my peace.
Every order is carved individually by hand, in the order that they are received. Some weeks are busier than others. I usually carve and ship within 3 to 5 business days.
If you are enjoying what you see… I like it hot and black. 😉
Please join me Monday for a new “17 Step Commute” blog “Pricing Your Product: Part 2”, and every Friday for the week’s “News & Sneak Peeks”. Subscribe for FREE to get them sent directly to your inbox.
I sure hope whoever asked you to convert that cabinet really appreciates it. It’s beautiful!!