NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1983, No. 43, $3.50 Making ... - Wood Tools

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<strong>No</strong>tes and Conunent {continued} woods have generally been preferred, what furniture functions have sold, and what price range is comfortable. At Workbench, our typical customer is buying one-of-a-kind furniture for the first time. He or she wants a piece that is easy to integrate with an existing environment. Consequently, we sell many stOols, benches, coffee tables, mirrors and plant stands. Dining tables, game tables and desks are also popular, although the major barrier to this type of sale is the custOmer's uncertainty about picking a chair to match. We've learned to get the woodworker to recommend a commercially made chair, or to sketch one that he or she would like to build. Most of the furniture we sell is in the $800 to $1500 price range, though mirrors and stools generally cost from $300 to $650. Desks and dining tables sell for $1500 to $3,000. For the general public that Workbench is introducing to handmade furniture, price is a major barrier. Consequently, our gallery is nonprofit, and has the unique, albeit controversial, policy of selling direct, without adding a commission. Our customers seem to like and buy Photo: Sotheby Parke Bernet 106 fruirwoods (mainly cherty and pear) and light-colored maple. Padauk and rosewood are popular, oak is not. Painted furniture sells well, but veneer makes New Yorkers suspicious. Learning a shop or gallety's aesthetic point of view is as important as knowing its sales histoty. I am not suggesting that you design to fit the gallety's taste and needs; rather, that you find one compatible with your own design philosophy. At Workbench, we aim to show impeccably crafted, functional pieces that embody original artistic statements. We do not show reproductions, and saleability is not a necessary ctiterion. We like a real mix-large scale and small, personal statements, real wood and man-made materials, and designs both flashy and discrete. Some gy galleries have an exhibit and sales strate geared tOward collectors, while others aim for those who seek only sensible, practical alternatives to mass-produced goods. The stOre's preferences ought to be obvious by what's on the sales floor, and you can always ask. Once you've researched, designed, built and delivered your furniture to a Too much? Why does a piece of furniture set an auction record? This cabinet, built by Adam Weisweiler in 1784, once held the personal papers of Louis XVI. It accompanied the deposed king to the Tuileries while he was under house arrest, awaiting execution. 0 Maybe that explains why somebody from New Jersey paid £990,000 for the piece last July at Sotheby's, London. gallery, your job is not yet done-not if you really want to sell. Beautifully designed and meticulously crafted furniture does not sell itself. Galleries and craft shops work hard just to bring in prospective buyers. Closing a sale is tricky because handmade furniture is usually priced, function for function, like attractive antiques or fashionable Italian imports. What can give the woodworker a competitive edge is the appealing fact that he or she is alivenot dead for 150 years-and not anonymous like those slick foreign designers. So, when you deliver your furniture, tell your sales representative about yourself and your work. Explain why you became a woodworker, what influences your design, how a specific All piece was made, how you fantasize about building an entire billiard room. of this is interesting to a potential custOmer. I don't suggest a dancing bear act, but picture this scenario, with the gallery owner and client standing in front of your sleek, well-crafted, $800 pearwood end-table: Client: "Nice table." Sales Rep: "Yes, it really is." Client: "Sure is a nice table." Sales Rep: "Yes, it certainly is." Client: "Well, I'll think about it." And now the same scene, except that you briefed your sales representative: Client: "Nice table." Sales Rep: "Yes, the artist this found that pearwood in a chicken coop in Vermont and had only enough for one piece." Client: "That so?" Sales Rep: "Yes, John's shop is in Massachusetts, and he likes to work alone. He usually builds one-of-a-kind furniture favoring simple, understated lines, so the figure of the wood can speak for itself. " 0 Client: "Well, he sure succeeded. I'll take it for my living room." Festival tent sells where galleries can't by Michael Gilmartin Many Georgians received a surprise last spring while tOuring the annual Arts Festival of Atlanta. Amongst the usual craft-show fare was an exhibit in a separate tent devoted to fine furniture. Entitled "IMPOSTERS-Sculpture Posing as Furniture," it consisted of 30 works that somehow related to furniture, made by six Southern artists. I organized the show, and my reason was twofold. First, I'm disenchanted with the ability of local galleries to properly display and sell sculptural furniture, and second, I saw a chance to tap intO a
Once you've used the SkU Cordless Screwdriver, you won't want to go back to your old screwdriver. The SkU Cordless Screwdriver weighs mere 500 ounces and is so small it fits into your pocket. Yet its high torque motor has the power to drive up to screws 3 on a single charge. The SkU Cordless Screwdriver recharges in hours or less and even has a special built-in feature to help prevent stripping of screws. And since it's cordless, it's perfect for everything from everyday fixups in or out of the house, to serious be do-it-yourself projects. With everything it can do, you'd think the Skil Cordl elt' Screwdriver So would the expensive, but it's not. <strong>No</strong>t at all � surprisingly low price makes it a great gift. The forget about all stripped screws, tired arms that went with your ordinary screwdriver. SkU Screwdriver just made them obsolete. ��t. We build that last and last and
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1 1 1 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1983, No. 4
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FINE WOODWORKING Editor John Kelsey
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& PHILADELPHIA & November 11th, 2-1
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HARPSICHORDS &: FORTEPIANOS Harpsic
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Forstner Bits- �:I.� === Planl
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HILLER HARDWARE CO. ASSURES ITEM PU
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Nu-Life Sanding Belt Cleaner • In
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Delmhorst Wood Model Moisture G-30
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How To Make National Builders Hardw
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Keen-Edge Co. presents Oldham Carbi
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A by Roy Underffill new The Woodwri
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______________________ ____________
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I" by Black & Decker Black & BRAND
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offers a complete range of small, b
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30 3/a" 6010DL CORDLESS DRILL KIT P
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________ �Wrking_ ��::::::--:
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Miters, tape and glue I use ordinar
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ox, then cur the lid off later, com
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· .1: Fig . Proportions · section
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57 Fig. 2: The five parts of a tote
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.;A Shop�esting Five Jointer-Plan
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duction motor, the Emco has plenty
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· , Four lmpowered bed rollers sup
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JOInter is nice, but what good is i
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Cutting Dovetails With the Tablesaw
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Goats Get Jitn Pritchard How a home
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Bookmatched doors hinged on conceal
Page 56 and 57: Scribe strip fits bumpy walls In a
Page 58 and 59: After glue-up, the fiberboard and e
Page 60 and 61: Itnproving the Fretsaw Pivot guides
Page 62 and 63: Which Glue Do You Use? Chemical typ
Page 64 and 65: Adhesive Hide glue (hot)· (Behlen
Page 66 and 67: Disc Sander Sculpts Tur nings A way
Page 68 and 69: After the grooves are cut on the pl
Page 70 and 71: Spoon Bits Putting 17th-century hig
Page 72 and 73: piece. Drying takes four to eight h
Page 74 and 75: 74 Martin In this gate-leg table, a
Page 76 and 77: Entitled "The Nash House, No. 1 Cor
Page 78 and 79: 1: Fig. Proportions of the Ionic or
Page 80 and 81: S.c., Adapted from an original buil
Page 82 and 83: . HJUSE 131 -12th Avenue S.E., Calg
Page 84 and 85: Building Your Own Kitchen Cabinets
Page 86 and 87: Some Great Magazine Gift Ideas Fine
Page 88 and 89: HAND-HELD LAMINATE AND VENEER SLITT
Page 90 and 91: 90 A Subsidiary of VA VIiAMONT AM.A
Page 92 and 93: 10" CONTRACTORS TABLE SAW Cast Iron
Page 94 and 95: The World's F-mest Chisel Has Been
Page 98 and 99: 98 • LU REM Combination Woodworke
Page 100 and 101: Woodworking Plans & Projects A full
Page 102 and 103: NOTES AND COMMENT Have you outgrown
Page 104 and 105: Notes and Connnent (continued) 2x2
Page 108 and 109: Notes and Connnent (continued) read
Page 110 and 111: Notes and Connnent (continued) mote
Page 112 and 113: Events 15 15; ALABAMA: 15 15. 15, 1
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