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#21: sometimes easy: simple projects, happy customers

9/7/2014

 
I have this long list in my "hall of shame" file, a hazard of custom work. There are many days, though, when the job simply gets done, no fuss, no great challenges. These are pleasant, the bank manager is happy. Challenge gets me out of bed, though, so there's a happy medium, somewhere. Since I'm working towards a 7 1/2 foot tall bronze man project today, I'll describe a happy, easy project.

For some time I've been a supplier to a site called Custom Made. They supply a place for the listing of odd projects of any description. Makers like me get listed as trusted suppliers. We look at job boards and quote on work. The site takes a small percentage to handle some of the trust factor, but the whole transaction happens directly between customer and supplier.

Shawn Broaddus, an interior designer and furniture designer near Atlanta, GA , wanted some custom cabinet pulls made for a credenza that she was building. She wasn't sure just what she wanted. She sent me a photo of a rough version of her project, and I sent back quick images from Rhino 3D:
Picture
I have overlaid an image of my first proposal of door pull. We went back and forth a few times on the design to get it right.
Picture
a first design
The job simply flowed along as if we'd done this for years. I sent a few more variations on this design, and it was set. Custom Made has a quoting system that works pretty well. I made the master pattern, got it cast, finished the castings, threaded the backs for holes and supplied brass bolts. Easy. I sent photos to Shawn:
stewart patterns cabinet pulls bronze
@stewartpatterns cabinet pulls custom bronze
Within the hour I had full payment via Paypal, and shipped these to Atlanta in about two days. Shawn sent back this photo fairly quickly, a happy customer. 
Picture
Custom cabinet by Shawn Broaddus, of B Design in Alpharetto, GA.
One of the great things about Custom Made is that the customer reviews are public, so prospective customers can see unbiased comments on projects, along with photos, etc. It all helps!

..., and, whew, not all projects are this easy. Hardly a day goes by when I'm not researching some technique or gizmo to help save my bacon. Today I discovered a pretty good looking 3D printer. I've tried to avoid expensive tools, preferring to job out this work, but this is getting tempting. I wasn't that long making the master pattern for Shawn's job, but this would have reduced the work to a few minutes. Hmm, maybe I have a few minutes to spare. Perhaps I love the smell of fresh wood, and don't love the smell of burning ABS?

    stewart smith

    I'm a woodcarver, turned sculptor, and morphed into a pattern-maker for cast metals. These days I hesitate to define my work, avoiding words like 'artist' or 'craftsman'. I just love designing and making things, keeping a bit of time free to downhill ski, paddle my kayak, and sing with my fellow choristers.

    Stewart Smith
    Stewart Patterns
    New Hamburg, On 
    email stewsnews@gmail.com

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