Kaleo’s Workshop

I was recent reading a thread on the Wood Net Forums about what a certain table was worth. The poster said that his friend was thinking about buying a dining table from a furniture maker for 12,000 dollars. This poster’s question was “is this table worth 12,000 dollars?” So this got me thinking…
How do we determine what something is worth? Easy enough, add the material cost with the labor cost and about 10-20 % mark up and “bob’s your uncle”. Well it’s not that easy at first. Whether you are a hobbiest or a professional, if you are going to sell your work you need to come up with your hourly rate. This can be done many different ways, but what I have done is look at my expenditures. How much money do I have going out every month. When I say how much I mean everything, you choose what you want to spend. If you want to buy a coffee everyday, then you need to add that in. Add what your shop cost, what your machinery cost, and if you want to upgrade sometime. With this all together next you have to figure out the total amount of hours you want to work in a given year. So there are 52 weeks in a year, let’s say you want a 2 week vacation and the 10 holidays about the same in possible sick days (now remember that you are the owner operator, therefore holidays and sick leave are yours to figure out.) So that leaves you with 48 business weeks that you have to work a year. At 40 hours a week that makes 1920 hours a year you have to work. Divide 1920 by 12 and you get 160 billable hours a month. Lets say that you need to make minimum 5000.00 a month. Divide 5000 by 160 and you get 31.25, now that is the minimum amount you need to charge an hour to break even.

So lets say that I have decided that I am worth 55.00 dollars an hour. In that 55.00 an hour I have worked in not only all of my overhead, but also my profits that I want to make. When I go to bid a job I take the material cost with the amount of time it will take to make and there you go. So for example my last project was my “Hollow” entertainment unit, it breaks down like this:

-MDF for foam core torsion box… 50.00
-Veneer… 200.00
-Glue… 20.00
-Castor Feet… 45.00
-Oil Finish… 30.00
-Labor…(100 hrs) 5500.00
Total… 5845.00

That is what I need to get in order to make any money on the project. That price doesn’t account for what a gallery is going to add on top. So if you work with galleries you need to know what they mark up. Because if you sell this same piece to a customer privately for your wholesale price, the gallery will never display your work again. But that is an entirely different subject. So to some that seems absolutely absurd, some might think that I must be crazy. But remember that Mr. Sam Maloof gets 50,000 dollars for one rocker.

I think that as makers of furniture we under value our skills and talents. We all know the stories of the customer that saw a piece at IKEA and wants the same thing except made out of solid hardwood and for cheaper. You and I cannot compete with China, we have to offer something that China cannot, that is quality and customization. So is a 12,000.00 dollar dining room table worth it? I say YES IT IS. What do you say?

So here’s a quick video of the show. I tried to get a little footage of most of the steps. The thing that I didn’t film was the actual plinth making. But there is a quick shot of the painting and then the delivery. The rest of the video is set up and the final walk through.

I just want to thank all my fellow students for all the work that went into the show. It came off very well, there was a great turn out to the opening.

So until next time friends… Don’t sweat the technique..

Well there is one week left to get all the stools done and ready for our exhibition.  So the pressure is on.  And to put more pressure on myself, I’ve decided to go to the wood show in Hobart for the weekend.  So tomorrow morning (Friday) I have my Uni class in the morning.  Which is a web design class.  And I have to say that I love that class.  I think it has to do with all the design stuff I am learning here.  But the coolest thing that I think the class is offering my is, that not only do I design all the content (i.e. I design all the furniture and make it) I also design and control the way in which it will be viewed on the Internet.  So be on the look out with in the next couple of months for fouronefive designs website.  (at least that’s what I am calling my potential company right now.)

But where was I, after that class in the morning I will have a couple of hours before we leave for Hobart.  It’s a 2 hour drive down there. I know what you are thinking ” 2 hours that’s nothing.”  You are right normally.  But he in Tasmania with little one lane roads and tons of road kill and the most curved roads you will even see, the trip is not that fun.  So we are going to stay there for the weekend.

But then that leaves me Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to finish.  Because are suppose to present on Thursday and prepare for the exhibition.  Also the National new team is in town that day and are going to come and due a piece on us.  So I might get on Australian TV.  Wooo Hooo.

But as of right now things are looking good.  I have all my timber ready and at it’s final dimensions.  I have cut all the joinery.  All I have to do is assemble the frames and glue them up.  Then I have to laminate the seat with some nice bending ply and saddle leather on top.  Then cut them into slats and attach them to the stool.  I am pretty confident that I will get the set of four done, and hopefully one extra in a different timber also.  We shall see.

Anyways, have a great weekend and play nice.

Kaleo

Well this past week was a really good week.  It ended with some final design decisions on the Cantilever Stool.  I guess at the moment that is what I am calling.  Only because I have yet thought of a better name.  But as soon as I do I will rename it.  This stool has evolved from a stool with arms and a back, to a chair and then back to a stool without the arms and back.  As my instructor said it, ” your design has evolved more than any other in the group.”  He’s told me that I have bitten off the biggest bit in the class, by attempting to build seating in this unit.  So I took that as a compliment since he really likes my design.

I guess some of the major changes that have about about are:  I have raised the seat to about 610 mm which translates to about 24 inch’s.  The stool is a kitchen stool rather than a bar stool.  I also shortened the width of the stool from 440 mm to about 410mm.  I know that doesn’t sound like much but that about 1 1/2 inches.  I also had to add a foot rest.  This was the hardest thing for me to do.  Because to this point I have been resisting doing this.  I was resisting more for designs sake than anything else.  But once I made a full size prototype, and saw that the stool racks from side to side alot, I knew that I needed something that would stabilize it.  Once I added the foot rest all the rack disappeared.  Which is really good, because I think that this stool visually give you the appearance that it will not be stable.  So the last thing that I need is for not to be.  But now it is solid as a rock.

But being the minimalist that I have become, by adding one thing I had to get rid of something.  So the bottom back foot bar, that ran between and connected the bottom feet at the back is now gone.  Which from a design aspect is great. Because that bar across the floor really grounded the piece and made it look really heavy.  I have also decided to make a special bracket that connects the slats to the seat, but gives the impression that the seat or slats are floating above the frame.

So starting tomorrow I have until Thursday of the following week to produce at least 3 of these stools.  My goal is to make a set of 4 of them.  And also to try to make one other one in a different timber so one can see them in different timbers.  So I hope to get them all done.  I am rather confident that I will get at least the 3 stools done.  But wish me luck anyways.  I’ll post some progression pictures during the week when they become available. I am heading down to Hobart ( the capital of Tasmania) this upcoming weekend for the regional wood show.  I’ll let you all know how that goes also.  So until then, from the inspired words of one of my classmates, ” I made it alittle bit bigger, or it will be to small.”  So simple, why didn’t I think of that.

I know that I said that I was going to try and update this every week.  I apologize for the fact I haven’t been very good at it.  But I promise to be better.  Especially since I found that Fine Woodworking’s website has put a link to my blog on there site.  So first I would like to thank Fine Woodworking for doing that.  I hope that I can help inspire others to follow there dreams.

I have to be honest, this evening I went out to dinner with a guy named Chris that I met on a Australian woodworking forum.  He was the one that told me that Fine Woodworking had put a link to my blog up.  I haven’t stopped smiling yet, thanks Chris!

So where am I with my latest projects.  Well right in the middle of things.  The class has voted and I will be making my bar stools for this unit.  Which I am very pleased about.  But the design has evolve greatly since I last posted.  I have gotten rid of the back rest and arms.  It was becoming to much of a chair.  I have lowered it so that you won’t need a foot rest.  I also plan to laminate some slats, so that they curve down in the front ( making it easy to get out of ) and curve up in the back ( so you know when you have gone to far back ).  But I also plan to laminate a really nice thick piece of leather on top of each slat.  I think this will give it a really nice and elegant look.

I plan on putting a nice curve in the front legs, because they are being made really wide.  And I don’t want them to look chunky.  So I feel that putting the curve in them removes a lot of the size, but gives me enough meat at the finger joints where it will be needed.  Also I’m going to curve the top and bottom arms.  But the curve will start out at 60mm wide and then curve up and through to a 20mm wide section.  So the curve will flow through and not come back on the ends.  (like the pictures show).
I will be making an actual prototype hopefully by Wednesday.

Other than that things are flat out here.  We have about 3 weeks to make all the jigs and produce at least 3 of everything.  I hope to make 1 set of 4 stools all the same.  And then make just 1 stool different.  I plan on using celery top pine for the set, which is a very blond almost white timber.  And then have either a nice dark brown leather or a jet black piece of leather.  The the one extra stool, I want to make in Tasmanian Blackwood.  I will use the same leather for that one.  I just want to be able to give people a choice and a visual of the same stool in different timbers.

I had a discussion with on of my fellow students today.  He’s a really good kid, but he is an 18 year old kid.  He was complaining about the timetables for this project that we are doing.  Telling me that it is impossible to get these things done with the time that we have.  And that why should he even try when he knows he’s going to fail.  I felt so sad for him and this thought process.  I know that it is a valid defense, but I guess I have never felt that way before.  So I guess my little fortune cookie message for you all is this.

“By trying you either succeed or fail, by not trying you just fail”.  And personally I would rather fail trying then just fail.

By the way if you like that little saying it’s mine so don’t forget to quote me.  I hope to get some more pictures up soon of my final prototype.  Until then.

Well this week has been very interesting.  We finally started officially.  Our first lecturer has arrived.  His name is Jono Everett.  He is a designer maker from Canberra, which for those of you that don’t know is the capital of Australia.  He has done a lot of design work and making of fine furniture all over Australia, but right now works under contract at the Parliament house in Canberra.  But he is a great teacher and is very inspiring.

So we have to come up with a production item.  The good things is that it can be anything and cost whatever we want it to.  I was under the impression that we were going to have to make some small for the tourist market.  But luckily that is not the case.  But we have to come up with three different things.  So I have thought of my “8″ table from last year, but redesigned a bit, another chair that I don’t have any pictures of yet and The Stool.

Now I know what you are going to say.  Is that even possible.  Well first off, in these pictures there is no seat or back rest.  But there will be, and they will be slats that are shaped. They will be attached to the front rail and float off the back.  There will be one that attaches all the way from the back to the front.  Thus give the whole stool alittle more strength.  The joints on the front legs fro both the arm rest and the feet are finger joints.  The reason for this particular joint is the fact that it gives the most long grain to long grain glue area.  This the strongest type of joint.

By the way, the pictures are computer rendered and the stool in the picture has a chrome effect on it.  So I know that it looks like it’s metal, but it won’t be.  That is the beauty of this stool.  Is that if it was made of metal then nobody would question the strength.  But with wood, well lets just say we are pushing some boundaries on wood design with this one.

Now will it work I don’t really know.  But today I actually made the two front legs exactly the size that I want the stool.  I glued the joints together and tomorrow I will be putting the whole prototype together and I will make a mocked up seat and sit in it.  And if it holds all 110 kilos ( 240 lbs ) of me.  Than I think it will hold almost anyone.  But we will find out tomorrow.  So I will most likely update you all again then.

Wish me luck, I will post some pics of the whole thing.  Until then?????

Well first of all I need to say sorry for having not updated my blog for awhile.  There really hasn’t been much to report on.  Although we are back at school, our lecturer doesn’t show up until Monday.  So the last few weeks have not been to exciting.

The Lumber Jocks online contest came and went, and sadly to be reporting to you that I did not even place.  Needless to say there were days of crying and gnashing of teeth.  But I am finally over it and am ready to start making some more furniture.  So <span style=”font-weight:bold;”>THE NEXT BIG THING</span>….   What could it be??

I have been spending these last 3 weeks designing a piece that is for what we call our production unit.  A piece that can be reproduced rapidly.  And I have come up with something that is going to blow your minds.  It is a….. ( wait for it )  bar stool.  That’s right can you believe it.  I bet you weren’t expecting that.

Anyways at this point I have been doing a lot of drawing.  Right now I am getting ready to mock it up to see what it will look like and make some final design decisions.  Sorry I have no photos of this yet.  But needless to say they will be something that you have never seen before.  My goal with this production unit was to come up with something that if someone wanted to by it, they would have to buy more than 1 of them.  Nobody buys one bar stool for there kitchen counter, they buy 3 or 4.

But today I took a break from mocking up this stool, to think of <span style=”font-weight:bold;”>THE NEXT NEXT BIG THING</span>….  (your thinking what could it be this time)  here we are:

That’s right Chopsticks.  I had an idea today to make a set of chopstick.  So the first ones that I did I tried to turn on the lathe, lets just end this part of the blog right here.  And never talk about it again.

The second set, I developed a jig to hold the wood and then pass them through the spindle moulder ( for you in the states it’s called a shaper ).  Thus allowing me to make hundreds of these things in a matter of a couple of hours.  Then I thought that I needed a way to hold them together.  So I fashioned a piece that has a small groove cut out of the back.  Thus the set of chopsticks slide up and because of the taper in the shape on the sticks they wedge themselves against the sides of the groove.  The holder also becomes a place to set your sticks at the table.

I am going to take these to a couple of the tourist shops around town here and feel out the market.  I think that they would sell, especially if I ask like 20-30 bucks for them.  This allows the gallery to make it up alittle bit more.  I’ll will let you all know how things go with them.

Well until next time my friends, Happy Valentine’s Day.  Give that loved one in your life a special set of Kaleo’s chopsticks.  Nothing says I Love You better.

Kaleo

Well the year is just about done here at the school.  As of right now there is not much going on.  We are building a set of 8 “Uno” chairs to try and sell them next year to help fund our final exhibition.  So that is keeping me busy enough.

As for much else there isn’t alot.  The 2nd year exhibition was really nice.  I was told at the last minute that my table was not going to be displayed.  The reason was it was thought that it would look funny if only 1 first year was displaying.  Needless to say I was really disappointed.  Actually that’s not true I was really pissed off at the whole thing.  But it’s over and all is well.  Now it’s nothing to do for a few days amd then we are off to New Zealand for 10 days.  After that I will be looking for a part time job.  So wish me luck.

I’ll let you all know how the trip goes.  Until then be good and eat all those veggies.

Kaleo

Well it’s finally done. I spent the last 3 days sanding and touching up and oiling and repainting that then oiling again. Only to find that I missed a spot and had to sand back and reapply paint, only then to oil again. I’ll tell you this, I will never paint again. It has been a nightmare. But I have it done in time for the exhibition, and that was the goal. Only other 1st year student finished there table. Although there are still 3 unofficial weeks left in the semester. So I guess they could get them done. But we had the critique yesterday and the grading happened.

So anyways let me give you the write up about my table.

Wanting to challenge the look and feel of a traditional hall table I embarked on designing something unique, something that you might not have seen before. Not wanting to have 4 distinct legs, I turned to the design of the Uno chair by Neil Erasmus. Drawing from that chair, I decided to use frames as means to support the table. I was also turned on to Charles Rennie Mackintosh. His use of strong rectilinear shapes suited my own design aesthetic. This is where “Stark” was born. Named “Stark” for it’s stunning contrast between the ebonized Tasmanian Blackwood and the jaw dropping Huon Pine top. With this piece I wanted to let the design talk for itself and not let the timbers do all the talking. My desire was to have people be drawn in by the design and then notice the little beauties. Things like the beautiful bird’s eye huon pine top, the hand cut dovetails that cut ever so slightly through the front of the drawers. I especially want people to notice the back design and see the very intricate array of pieces that were each cut and hand fitted together individually, then left with a slight bevel on the front edges. All to subtly highlight the beautiful bird’s mouth joints.

Sounds pretty nice huh? Well it is pretty nice, there are somethings that I would change if I did it again. But for being the first major piece of furniture that I not only built, but completely designed, I am really happy with the results. I have already received really good feedback from it, the head of the school of architecture was in the other day and I overheard him tell my instructor that he thought it was just stunning. I hope all goes well Friday night at the exhibition. I’ll let you all know. Until then

Last week I set off to Melbourne to go to The Working with Wood Show.  It was a really good trip.  I couldn’t believe how fast it was to fly to Melbourne.  Almost as soon as week reach flying altitude we were heading back down for landing.  The flight was 46 minutes.  So the traveling wasn’t bad at all.

The show was pretty good.  It was like almost every show that I have been to, but a little smaller.  It was full of different displays, things like people selling wood, to new clamps and router bits.  To big machinery and small handheld powertools.  The most interesting part of the show was the exhibition.  The Victorian woodworker Asso. held an exhibition.  It was really interesting to see the work.  It really gives me a lot of hope.  As I looked through what was there (being a furniture maker) I had a really critical eye.  And what I saw gave me hope that I will be able to make it in this business.  Most of the pieces were really good.  But all of them except for about 3 had what I would call, “only because I built furniture” mistakes.  A little chip out here or a joint not quite all the way in, cabinets not finished underneath.  Little things that the normal eye wouldn’t pick up.

My favorite part of the show was the schools booth.  I loved talking to people and explaining what we did at the school.  Showing off my box and explaining the details.  I especially liked when people asked how much my box was and the look of disbelief when I told them.  I was asking 1200.00 for my box. (only because I really didn’t want to sell it.)  I was told though that it should sell for around 800-1000.

It was really nice having a few days off.  But now I feel so far behind on my Hall Table.  I have to make up some ground this week.  As of today, I have finished gluing up the back design and dry fitted everything except the drawers together.  By the end of this week I hope to have the entire piece expect the drawers glued up and stained pure black. (except the top of course that stays natural)  So until next week.